By MATT ROTHSTEIN
With 6 minutes and 4 seconds left in the 4th quarter, senior Brandon Weiss scored his 1,000th career point in Jericho High School’s Sam Springer Gym. Weiss joined 12 other male and female players to reach 1,000 career points, he being the first since 2013.
Since kindergarten, Weiss put in hours of hard work and took thousands of jumpers to perfect his craft. “It feels really good to have all the hard work and dedication be recognized. I play my hardest during games and practices,” he said. His work ethic is something his teammates admire and respect about him. Senior teammate Jack M. said, ”He’s an exceptional player; you can easily tell he is the one who puts in the most work.” Weiss has been dynamic all season: rarely coming off the court, averaging 26 points through 9 games and leading Jericho to an undefeated record.
His teammates understand how historic his career has been. “Weiss is insane. He is the best point guard to ever play for Jericho basketball,” said senior power forward Phil P.
“He makes my life extremely easy—I just pass it to him and he scores,” senior point guard Jordan M. added.
Weiss credits those that supported him for helping him reach this milestone. “My teammates and coaches have helped me throughout my entire career. My dad always comes with me to the gym to get shots up and push me to be the best I can be,” Weiss added.
Senior Jason D. felt that the energy the crowd showed throughout the game was incredible. “It was an insane atmosphere throughout Brandon’s game. We knew the thousandth point was coming soon, and the stands were buzzing as he was getting closer to the milestone. Once I saw the ball go through the basket I heard an eruption of cheers,” he said. However, Weiss was not as focused on the milestone as the crowd was. “It was in the back of my mind but I tried not to think about it until the right moment came,” Weiss said.
Now that his goal has been reached, Weiss is focused on leading Jericho to a deep playoff run, and hopefully continue his success playing in college.
It’s so inspiring what Jericho students can achieve! Well done on a great journalistic piece. It’s always great to hear lovely success stories like this!
I agree! It’s so great to have someone at Jericho achieving such great things outside of the classroom!
Amazing article! I really enjoyed reading about my peer. As I stood in the stands, I wasn’t sure if Brandon would score his 1,000th point. It was an amazing experience, especially watching his teammates congratulate him.
It is great thing that there is such an amazing player but even greater that his accomplishments are being covered. Not many people are able to make it to the games and reading about the heat of the moment is extremely interesting.
This is an amazing piece as it really covers the impact that Weiss’s accomplishment has left on the team.
Congratulations! What a momentous accomplishment! Thank you for sharing his success with the JerEcho.
Agreed! What a year for Jericho athletics from the soccer and badminton teams to Weiss’s milestone.
Weiss seems like a fantastic player, and it’s really great seeing what he and his teammates think about his success.
Great job covering an important moment of an athlete’s career!
Great article Matt!