On Jan. 31, senior shooting guard Mason Jean Baptiste hit a new milestone in his basketball career; at 2:02 minutes into the game versus Vermont State Castleton, Jean Baptiste shot an easy three, marking 1,001 points in his career.
According to the Keene State Athletics page, Jean Baptiste is the fourth member of the 1,000-point club for Keene State, making him the third active member on the team along with junior Octavio Brito and senior Jeff Hunter.
Jean Baptiste is a captain of the men’s basketball team and is majoring in exercise science and sports and rec management.
“I started playing basketball when I was in third grade,” Jean Baptiste said. “ I started off just playing with my football team. We started an AAU team and we were all football players, and then we just started playing basketball. I kind of just fell in love with the game.”
Jean Baptiste said he stopped playing football and baseball to focus on playing basketball.
“I just enjoyed it the most. And ever since then, I’ve been playing on all sorts of travel teams, AAU teams, and of course, I played in middle school, I played in high school, and now I’m here in college just playing. I’m playing the game that I love for basically my life” he said.
Student assistant coach Nicholas Napolitano, a friend of Jean Baptiste, reminisced on his playing.
“The thing about Mason is the back-to-back State Championships in high school; you kind of knew he was going to be a good player in college and I’ll be honest, I knew his game would translate to the next level,” Napolitano said.
Napolitano added, “ I don’t know if anyone else, but me and him, the way we used to talk about it, saw it really panning out how it panned out. I was on a podcast last week, and I truly believe that he is the best two-way player both sides of the ball on our team and possibly in the conference.”
Jean Baptiste attended Lynn English High School in Massachusetts, and during that time, he was a two-time Division 1 State Champion, according to the KSC athletics website.
“It would probably be my junior year of high school. That was the first time we won the state championship. That was our first time in like 80 years in my school, so that was the most memorable moment in my career so far,” Jean Baptiste said.
Men’s basketball coach David Hastings explained why 1,000 points is an important accomplishment for a player.
“It’s always exciting when any of these guys reach that, it’s a milestone kind of thing, it shows how long and hard they’ve worked to attain a goal like that,” Hastings said.
Hastings named Jean Baptiste a captain for his senior year, saying that he chooses the person who shows up every day and can lead the team, and he believes Jean Baptiste represents that.
Hastings said, “I think he is going to be successful in a sense because he’s approachable as a person and he’s articulate when he talks, and he’s just a fine young man.”
Hastings continued, “Considering [Mason is]one of the best defenders in the league, maybe even in the entire country, for him to score 1,000 points and to also be a great defender, shows a lot about him as an individual player.”
Jean Baptiste made it clear that he would not have gotten this accolade without his teammates.
“Coaching staff, my friends, family, all have given me that support and confidence to keep going and you know, it’s a testament to my teammates, showing them how hard I worked, and them giving back to me,” Jean Baptiste said, “It’s not just me, I’m the one that makes the shot, but there are many things that go into it.”
Jean Baptiste said he has enjoyed playing for Keene State for the past four years.
“I like playing here; I’ve been playing here since my freshman year, so you can’t ask for anything more than that, so just going into college you’re just focused on playing time and getting better at the things you can do coming on and off the court,” Baptiste said.
Jean Baptiste said his goal for his remaining time at KSC is to win a National Championship.
“That has been my goal since my sophomore year,” Jean Baptiste said. “That has been a realistic goal and we’ve just been getting closer and closer every year so hopefully, we get over that hump and get it done.”
After college, Jean Baptiste wants to continue playing basketball, “I just really aspire to be a professional basketball player, whatever that looks like, maybe going to a different country, or wherever it is. I just want to keep playing basketball for as long as I can.”
Molly Lu McKellar can be contacted
at mmckellar@kscequinox.com
