Sports and genetics have an uncanny way of getting intertwined. When one is watching a high school prospect and observes how natural the game is for him, then it comes as no surprise that this prospect has parents who were athletes. Hence, the athletic genes were passed from one generation to another.
At the DJ Frandsen Memorial at Bellarmine, sophomore EJ Floreal of the Palo Alto High Vikings was exhibiting these athletic skills on the basketball court as a forward. Floreal demonstrated a natural ability to play with his back to the basket and conversely seem to have no trouble taking a few quick dribbles and taking the ball to the basket. At 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, Floreal has an impressive frame that will probably get a few inches taller and a few pounds heavier to be a college level forward prospect.
Floreal's parents have had extensive experience in competing in track and field. Floreal's mother is LaVonna Martin-Floreal who was the 1992 silver medalist in the 100-meter hurdles in the Barcelona Olympics. His father is Edrick Floreal who competed in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics in track and field as well. In addition, his father has been the Director of Track and Field since the fall of 2005 for Stanford University.
Floreal says, "Having Olympic athletes as parents puts a little bit of pressure to do great but it also helps me because they have been through the whole process of working hard for something they wanted and they try and pass that down to me. It also helps when they tell me a bunch of tips and quotes about how to better myself for the goals that I want to achieve."
Floreal is in his second year on varsity and his first year as a starter. As an 8th grader, he injured his ACL. He played without an ACL during his freshman year and had surgery after the season. The injury limited his club team experience with the Roadrunners. During his downtime, he works on his ball handling and shooting form as he wants to increase his offensive arsenal to be more difficult to guard.
Palo Alto High Coach Adam Sax says, "EJ is a great student in the classroom and a great person. He is very diligent about getting better and enhancing his game. He is coming off an ACL injury. He had surgery last March and is now really playing well."
In the current season, Floreal is posting a double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. He considers himself to be both a power and slasher type of player who can post up effectively or take a defender off of the dribble. He models his game after Ohio State Jared Sullinger who plays a similar style. Floreal considers his best basketball skills to be his hesitation move and his court awareness as he can make the right kick out pass when the defense collapses on him in the post.
With the ACL injury, Floreal has not had much college contact. He prefers to play for an up tempo style where he can use his athletic ability to get points, rebound, assists, steals and so on. He does not have a geographical preference. With a 3.30 GPA, he does want to get a good education though.
He considers the ACL injury to be an early, major learning experience. Floreal says, "At first, I was really bummed and thought my career as an athlete was over, but then I realized that I was going to use my injured time to become a better player and a better student as well. I worked extremely hard in physical therapy to get myself back and ready for the upcoming season and was able to make varsity. It was an experience that made me the player I am today."
Like his parents, he also runs track. However, Floreal would prefer to play basketball in college. Expect an Olympic performance from Floreal as a Viking basketball player in Palo Alto in the next few years.
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