After a dazzling high school career at Deering High School, Jamaal Caterina has been wandering the country with basketball as his only compass.
His college career has been spent in search of a place to play his own brand of ball, and it hasn’t been easy.
A senior in his final semester of NCAA eligibility, the 6’6″ forward finally seems at peace with his playing situation, having returned home to Portland to play for coach Karl Henrikson and the USM Huskies.
Named Maine’s 2001 Mr. Basketball, Jamaal’s blend of size and ball-handling skills garnered attention throughout his high school years, culminating in intense interest from colleges around the country.
Sitting in his Fubu jeans and a sideways-cocked Yankees cap, his face is stoic as he explains what happened during his final high school season.
“Pretty much everyone but Duke, Maryland, North Carolina and schools like that recruited me,” he says, but unsure how to deal with college coaches, he ultimately appeared standoffish, which led to many schools signing other players instead.
“They call you and pressure you,” he says of the Division I coaches trying to recruit him. “And when I didn’t call them back, I started to get a reputation that I thought I was too good to call them.”
While playing for a New York-based AAU (Amatuer Athletics Union) team, Jamaal drew the attention of legendary Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.
But when Boeheim called Jamaal, the message got lost and so, too, did Boheim’s interest.
A few weeks later, at a New Jersey camp for elite high school players, Boeheim showed his dismay by ignoring Jamaal following a game.
With the interest of major college programs waning, Caterina’s next stop was an unconventional one.
He enrolled at Brewster Academy, a prep school in Wolfeboro, NH, and tried to reinvigorate interest from big schools.
Jamaal picked up right where he had left off, gaining valuable playing experience and earning the Prep School All-American Honorable Mention.
Despite his successes, he was unable to reenergize scholarship offers from top schools he was hoping for, but after a diligent recruiting campaign, he finally settled for American University in Washington, D.C.
“They called all the time and their coach had real conversations with my mom and she liked them, so I just signed.”
Upon reaching campus in 2002, however, it became clear that it was going to be an uphill journey.
Even though the coach had been resilient in recruiting him, Jamaal’s playing style, which he describes as “street-style,” didn’t quite fit in with that of the AU Eagles, and his playing time suffered.
“It was tough because I knew I was better than the guys playing,” Jamaal says. “I had never been kicked out of a practice before, but he kicked me out of three of four.”
After two years of butting heads with the American coaching staff, Jamaal wanted to find a way out. But in Division I ball, it’s not that easy.
With a four-year scholarship ahead of him, Jamaal had to ask the university for what the NCAA calls a release, which grants players permission to talk to other schools about transferring. Without the release, talking to coaches can make athletes ineligible to play college sports. American University granted him a partial release, but the schools he was most interested in, including Georgetown, Maryland and George Washington, were not allowed.
The wheels on Jamaal’s basketball bus did not stop until UNH coach Phil Rowe offered him a scholarship and a chance to play his own brand of ball.
Once again, Jamaal packed up his game and moved from D.C. to Durham.
And once again, things got in the way. The NCAA requires that athletes transferring from or between Division I programs sit out for one season. While complying with these transfer rules, the unthinkable happened-Rowe was fired, to be replaced by Bill Herrion, and Jamaal’s playing future was again uncertain.
“I knew from the beginning it was going to be the same as American, but I just wanted to play,” he says, his face still emotionless despite the frustration he must have felt.
Finally eligible to play again, Jamaal tried his best to fit into his new role at UNH, but because of the Wildcats’ lack of size, he was forced to play the low post-a position he was not used to.
When his mother was hospitalized in 2006 for a recurring illness, Jamaal’s decision was all but made.
Tired of playing in systems that didn’t match his strengths and ready to be home, he left UNH and enrolled at USM.
“It’s good to have your friends and family there and know you have got someone to root for you,” he says, belying the heart beneath his confident, unwavering appearance.
Jamaal has finally found a system where he fits comfortably and where his athleticism is utilized. No longer does he have to worry about feuding with his coaches and teammates, though fans have heckled him to “go back to D-I.”
Since his return to the squad following the fall term-NCAA rules required again that he sit out-Jamaal has used his transition-centered mentality and remarkable athleticism to help power the Huskies to their first five-game winning streak in eight years and a third-place standing in the Little East Conference.
“Jamaal is a remarkable athlete who can do a lot of things,” said coach Karl Henrikson followig his 18-point, 12-rebound breakout performance against Rhode Island College. “He can guard anyone on the floor and play almost any position.”
After a career of wandering, the self-proclaimed “street-style” that prevented him from meshing with D-I programs is a welcome change in Gorham.
See Jamaal and the Huskies at home on Saturday (Feb. 9) at 3 p.m. as they go head to head with conference rival Eastern Connecticut.