WASHINGTON, D.C. – Jaywana Bradley has high expectations for Jenny Ramirez this winter – perhaps unrealistic ones. The Long Island Lightning Dingle coach fully expects Ramirez to average more than 30 points per game for her high-school team.
“I told her, ‘You better dominate this year,’” Bradley said. “I told her, ‘The way you are here you better do the same thing at Lab.’”
Ramirez plays at Lab Museum United, a PSAL Class A program in Manhattan. The 5-foot-4 guard average 18.9 points per game this past season and led the Gators to the first round of the playoffs, where she dropped in 35 points in a loss to Seward Park. But, Bradley says, Ramirez has gotten so much better since last summer that she thinks she can not only be one of the best scorers in the ‘A’ league, but also in the entire city.
“She worked on her handle, it got 10 times better,” said Bradley, who also coaches at Manhattan Center. “She worked on her pullup, it got 10 times better. She’s become more of a complete player. Last year she could get any kind of layup for you anytime. Now she’s learning how to read the defense, pull up, go up strong.”
Simply put, Ramirez is blowing up this summer. Bradley expects Marshall to offer and the springy, speedy combo guard has a handful of Division II looks. She could end up being one of the best basketball players to ever come out of her small school.
“Division I, if that’s the best offer I get, I’ll go there,” Ramirez said. “But my options are open.”
Ramirez, who is also a top softball player, has been playing basketball since she was 8 years old and she didn’t choose Lab for its hoops program. The Bronx native is there for academics and that will also come into play when she chooses a college. Bradley has little doubt of her potential, though, especially if she can add muscle to her lanky frame.
“She definitely can play Division I,” the coach said. “They’re gonna bulk her up her first preseason anyway.”
Ramirez has always been athletic, but now she can create her own shot off the dribble. She’s also not limited to bulling her way to the basket – though she’s most effective at that despite her size. Now she can step back for a jumper with efficiency. Bradley said the next thing she needs to add to her game is facilitation. At her size, Ramirez needs to be a point guard in college.
That isn’t an option for her at Lab Museum United. She needs to score early and often when 6-foot-2 teammate Ashanti Plummer, who also plays for Lightning Dingle, isn’t finishing inside. Playing against limited competition in her league has its downsides, too.
“I don’t know if it hurts her, but it messes with her mind sometimes, because she kind of relaxes where she’s not really being aggressive all the time,” Bradley said. “I tell her, you have to be aggressive all the time.”
If she does that, Bradley said, those wild point totals will follow. So could a Division I scholarship.
“This is a better experience,” Ramirez said of playing with the Lightning. “I see summer as the place where I get better.”
