Episode 2, Season 1: Fueling the Fire Within – DJ Boardley on Resilience, Focus, and Rising to the Top

In this powerful second episode of The Royal Vision Podcast, we sit down with DJ Boardley to explore the mindset, discipline, and unwavering focus that drive success. DJ shares his journey of overcoming obstacles, staying mentally sharp, and pushing through adversity to reach new heights in his sport.

Throughout the conversation, DJ reveals how he maintains resilience in high-pressure moments, the key habits that keep him at the top of his game, and the lessons he’s learned about perseverance, self-belief, and personal growth. He dives deep into the mental strategies that separate the best from the rest, offering invaluable insights for athletes, entrepreneurs, and anyone striving for greatness.

If you're looking for inspiration to strengthen your mindset, push past limitations, and ignite the fire within, this episode is for you. Tune in to learn how to rise above challenges and take control of your vision!

DJ Boardley

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Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the kingdom guys. I'm your host coach Matthew. This is episode two of Royal vision podcast. We've got a very special guest today. He's a forward out of Washington high school here in West Virginia. He's from. Prince George's County. He made first team All EPAC in West Virginia last season. Give it up for DJ Boardley. DJ, excited to have you on here. How you feeling today? I'm good. That's good. So, you're a basketball player. How long you been playing basketball, man?, for, uh, How? I'd say, I mean, I was born playing basketball. So, like, you had one of those, like, Fisher Price hoops. Definitely, yeah. Yeah, in your, like, your playroom, and then, you know, just dunking on that. That's how you learn how to dunk and whatnot. That's cool. What kind of got you into the game? Is it kind of something just like you had this ball in your hand? I mean, my dad played. Okay. My dad played in Maryland, so. Oh, he played at UMD? No, he didn't play in Maryland, but, , he was going to go to Maryland, but, you know, stuff happens, whatever. But he was good. I got you. My dad was good. I gotcha. What position did he play? I think he played the same position. I mean, he played everything, though. Like, when he was,, growing up, he played center. He was only 6'3 but he was, like, aggressive in the paint. That's why they put him at center. And you're, what, like, 6'4 6'5 Yes. Okay. So, , I'm, just from hearing it, it kind of sounds like that's kind of been your role model for basketball. He's kind of taught you everything. Yep. So, like, what have you learned from your father as far as basketball? I mean, everything. I mean, ever since I was a kid, you know, working out, doing certain things. He's on me all the time. Like, everything I do. Critique. I mean, yeah, everybody thinks I'm a good player, but he can critique any little thing, any little flaw in my game. He'll tell me I need to do this, this, this. You know what I'm saying? And how do you normally take that? Or is it, Obviously you're as a player, you know, all you ever wanna do is get better. So, but how does that, how does that kind of work for you? Not gonna lie, sometimes I don't want to hear it.. Yeah, yeah. I get that. But I mean, he's my dad. He knows it. What's the best, he played the game longer than me, so I gotta listen to him. Yeah, I get that. So as of right now, I know that you don't have any offers, but , when was there, when did the moment hit where you were like, you know what? I'm pretty good at basketball and I could continue playing this for a while? Middle school. I mean, when I first started playing, I had what, 20 some points in middle school. I was like, I think I'm good. I think I can play this out very long time. And just, just from watching you play, like, I mean, we talked that,, the Martinsburg game where you guys want to think about like 15, like you went off that game. It was just your ability to create shots off the dribble and just knock them down consistently. Like I, that was the, that's what impressed me the most, honestly. And so Starting off playing basketball, what was like one of the early defining moments that kind of like challenged you the most? I ain't gonna lie, when I was playing basketball, one of my biggest flaws I had in my game, I was never going to do basket like at all. Like I could shoot. I always was able to shoot. Like my dad could shoot. Everybody in my family could shoot. But I never went to the basket at all. I used to be so scared of contact. Like it was crazy. Like middle school,, I wouldn't even lay the ball up. I would just float it. Like, I was like, nah. That's funny. That's funny. So when did you get to the point where you started attacking the basket like you do now? After I think my 8th grade season, my dad. in the gym. He was like, he grabbed the pad. He was like, no, you ain't doing this no more. Kept throwing me to the ground, throw me to the ground. So I was like, I got to do it. Yeah, that's why I got finishing and I also couldn't use my left hand. But now you can use your left hand though. So what middle school did you end up going to? North, , North middle school Martinsburg. Yeah. Okay. And,, just for, just from being an athlete and an elite athlete like yourself, what sacrifices have you, Have you, have you made just to get to the point of where you're at? I mean, family time, you know, I don't get to spend a lot of time with my family., there's a lot of things, uh, I don't, I don't really know, but it's not really that much I have to really sacrifice. But yeah, this is my family time, but my dad's always working anyway, so it's kind of, works out. But,, is there,, anything where you feel like You, do just to get better. So, like, what sacrifices do you make typically just to get better? How often are you on the court on a daily basis? In the summer. I mean, in the summer I was in the gym every day. Most of the time, all the time in the gym, getting my shot ready, getting everything I have to do. I mean, it sucks sometimes, I don't want to get up and do it, but I have to do it anyway if I want to be good. There's a difference between being mediocre and being good. I want to be good. Like, I want to exceed good, like I want to be a really good player, like, you know what I'm saying? You almost could say you want to be great. Yeah. Be legendary., so like, kind of walk me through your routine. You said get up early, so what's that mean, like 6am? It depends, . It really depends. Summertime, I used to wake up that early, shoot, go to the gym, but you know, always, always, keep faith in God though. Cause I mean, without God, Jesus, I wouldn't be able to do any of my talents to display anything on the floor. So that's true. That's true. I think that's one thing that, when, you know, when you're trying to pursue something in success, you know, having faith and, you know, just pushing forward that's always good to have. But, um, so, You obviously, you were talking about how your, your father, he's hard on you. He's always critiquing you. And, you know, sometimes it, uh, it could be a lot, but like, how do you always, how do you handle that pressure from, from, from the critiques, from the expectations? I mean, I was been growing up on it. He's been always telling me to do something like, I mean, you could say, yeah, I don't agree with this. I don't agree with this, but like once I actually do it, I've seen him tell me stuff and it actually works. So that's how I kind of just go, but I already know it's going to work for a long run. I may not like it right now, but yeah. In the future, I'm gonna need it. So, yeah, it's kind of like what they say, like, do the things that you don't want to do now so that you can do what everybody wishes they could do later. So, I mean, kudos to you for that, man. It's. Being successful, it's not, I don't want to say it's hard, but it's definitely not easy. It's one of those things you gotta persist and you gotta push through and some days will be easier than others. So, but, for games, I watched you play against Martinsburg. I also watched you play a couple other times. So, like, before those games, how do you mentally prepare?, it just depends, you know what I'm saying? I always gotta, always gotta keep, be level headed before the game. Like, can't be all, I don't, I'm not really like energetic when, before a game. I'm just kinda like, in my own space. I listen to music. Okay. I'm kinda just in my own world, but, listen to what my coach is saying, obviously. But let's go out there and do what I'm supposed to do. And I feel like, , our team's pretty good. So, if we just go out there and do what everybody's saying, or what our coach is saying to do, we'll be fine. So, kind of walk me through your pre game ritual. So you guys, you guys live in Washington., which is, that's normally like 25 minutes away from all the other schools. So, on a game day, what's your pre game ritual from, you know, get on the bus to get into the school? Are we talking about away? Are you on an away game or a home game? Either one. Home. I mean, we gotta be at school by like 4 30, you know what I'm saying? Get to the school, we walk through whatever we gotta do for the team we're playing, shoot shots or after that, get shots up, watch JV play. And then, you know, we're already ready for our game away. It's kind of the same thing, but I can't really put shots up because we're at other person's gyms. That's true, that's true. So like you were talking about music, what's your go to song? Do you have like a go to song or playlist? It really depends. Like some games, I just want to like be more energetic than others, but sometimes I just want to be more chill. I don't really have a go to. I just kind of shuffle my playlists. Okay. So, let's just say you were,, let's say you're playing Jefferson because that's one of y'all's biggest rival. What's,, what's one song that, you know, you want to hear? I gotta look at my phone. Hold on, . We can always come back to it., but, , I know, do you have any like, superstitions though before the game? Like, you know how LeBron has the chalk throw? Do you have like a pre-game ritual Supert? Uh, nah, I don't, I don't have one of those. I mean, we're not in NBA, so No. So no like pregame prayer or like a Oh yeah, I pray. I mean, yeah, I pray before the game. Okay. I always pray before the game. Okay.'cause obviously without God I wouldn't be able to do what I have to do. I always do that for every game. That's normal though. And so, up to this point in your career, because you've been playing, I mean, we're talking about Lil Tykes, like at the beginning, what's like one of the hardest or biggest obstacles you've had to overcome between the start of playing basketball to now? Okay, there's always one obstacle, like I don't know why every level I play on, I always Before I start playing playing I always like sit the bench for some odd reason like I don't know why like More usually like when I was in middle school. I hadn't like my playtime was just Always and it always by the season. I always play. I don't know why like it's always been like that It's always like it's hard mentally as a player, especially because you put a lot of work as a basketball player So I don't know why it's always end up on the bench. I always have a starter but That's, that's worse than when I was younger though. Like I'm older. I mean, obviously I started like, yeah, I've been starting varsity and I was a sophomore, but it's just that, that right there. Like, that's crazy to me. I get that. But,, clearly you've not let that impact you too much. Cause you've been starting varsity since you were a sophomore, which is really hard to do. So what was kind of your, your mindset going into that? You know, you might've. Ben. On the bench to start, but what was the mindset you kept in order to get to that starting position? I'm one of those people where it's like, I mean, obviously it's not where I want to be right now, but if I, I'm one of those people where it's like, if you work hard, you keep doing what you gotta do and really lock in on what you're supposed to be doing at practice. And, you know, you gotta be with your, like your coach, you gotta be in his ear, bro. Like you gotta want to be on the floor. Like whenever it's like, when I'm on the bench, if there's someone that want to step on the floor, step on the floor anyway. Like they didn't pick you to be on the floor. I don't care, go on the court anyway. Yeah, I agree with that. I remember when I was in high school, I did everything to be on the court, everything. Like, I was super eager, , even if coach didn't want me on the court, you know, I'm stepping on the court because, you know, I want, I want to , get my reps. I want to get better. And you look like you, like, that's what you do. You try to get your reps. So with, shooting, with, , getting to the rim, like how many reps do you, do you normally do? Or do you have like a set rep? Yeah. Account in mind or do you just go into your like, you know, I'm exhausted It's really so exhausting like especially in the summer. Like I don't really have a certain amount of reps I mean, I don't want to be in the gym like mad long But I want to like be efficient when i'm doing whatever i'm doing. Yeah , and do you have like a like a trainer you normally use or you just kind of just you and your dad? It really depends like I can go in the gym by myself or I mean i'm old enough now I can go to the gym by myself. I don't know what i'm supposed to be doing But my dad be working me out all the time, too That's cool. And, I, I love that. I think that's, I think it's good that you have a good relationship with your dad. I know me, like me personally, I have a relationship with my dad and that's kind of how we bonded. We bonded through basketball. So I think that's, it's cool that typically like with sports, that's where people, where we're, you know, father son bond and I admire that about you., As far as like during a game, because during a basketball game, it's high energy, it's, it's high paced and there's ups and down. So when you're down, how does self talk really benefit you or, push you to, you know, get back in the game? I mean, when you're down, when you're down in a game, you can't just be like, dang, the game's over. Like, no, like you still have a lot of time, depending on how much time is on the clock. Like you always have time to come back. Like I always, Tracy McGrady. Yeah. I don't know what, I don't know what, how, how much he was down by. I forget how much it was, but it was like one minute. I forget how much he was down. Yeah. I think he scored like 13 points in 21 seconds. If he can score 13 seconds, you can't, you can't tell me that we can't come back from a five or six or seven point lead, even a 10, 11 point leads. You can come back, like if you chip at it, but yeah, you just gotta be able to know. Like, yeah, I mean, we're down right now, but by the end of the game, we're going to be up. So it's really kind of like a perception thing. You know, just. Staying positive and just knowing that it's not over till the final buzzer rings. I mean because I remember against Martinsburg Starting off, you know, you guys came out strong, but then they started to catch back up I think they even got like a five point lead on you guys and you just You know grind it and just ended up beating them by 15, which is good. So What do you feel like is one mental skill For athletes it's separate that separates the you know, the mediocre from the great ones I feel like it's more like grind, like more like grit to like want to do something. I feel like a normal average person, they don't really have nothing to like grind for. Like, I mean, you can grind for a better life and stuff, but like athletes, you always got to work hard, like working hard all the time. Like you just develop that as you're getting older, like when you're little kids and when you get older, like you develop, like you want to grind, you want to get in the gym, like you want to do certain stuff. More than the average person would, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, so like, what's your why? Cause you're talking about grinding, you know, wanting to do something, for like the ultimate goal. So like, what's your why? What drives you? To want to play basketball? To just, to play basketball, to pursue more, to just be the best. What's your why? My family. What do you want to do for your family? I want to try to get them out of a better situation. Like, even if I don't go to the league, you know, I at least want to go play overseas or something. You know what I'm saying? I want to get my parents, you know, to the point where they don't got to pay for nothing. Like, to the point where they're like, nah, we're good. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I admire that. That's, that's great. Honestly, I feel like that's any man's goal. Just whatever I can do for my family, you know, pay your mortgage pay your bills Like hey, I got you. Yeah, I always admire that and , so with athletes Struggling with that mental talk that negative mental talk. What advice would you kind of give to them? You just got to keep going I mean, whatever I mean people are gonna talk like you're an athlete people are gonna talk Before every game. I mean, obviously everybody Even if they don't think you're going to win the game, they're going to have something to say regardless. Whether you're doing good, doing bad, they're going to have something to say regardless. So why care about, you know what I'm saying, what they got to say? Just do you, you know what I'm saying? They're going to have something to say regardless. LeBron's the best player in the NBA. He still gets talked about. Mm hmm. I remember,, it's on like the first episode,, Caleb Thomas, he was talking about, you know, pressure's a privilege. Do you feel like that's kind of like a mantra that you've developed too, or? I mean, I, they're talking about you for a reason, you know what I'm saying? Like, because they, they know you're good, like mm-hmm So they gotta try to say something, make themselves feel better. You know what I'm saying? I get that. So like, what do you do when, when you hear stuff like that is, does it just like roll off your, your back or you just, you just gotta ignore it? Like, I mean, I, when you're, you're playing a high school basketball game, there's gonna be fans, there's gonna be people yelling at you, there's gonna be people just talking to talk. Like, but you just gotta be like, I don't. I ain't worried about that. You know what I'm saying? You can't let that affect your game because I've seen it a lot of times like people can talk trash. Yeah and then their games is Off that's what they want you to do. They want your game to be off. You know what I'm saying? What's the kind of like the craziest thing you've ever heard though, even though it didn't affect you? I remember, what my sophomore year I was playing for spring middles. Yeah, we warming up We warming up. I forget who it was, but I don't know. They had like a board, like student section had like a menu board of all our names on the board. That's funny. Like, I don't like, it's weird. Like that rivalry games and stuff. Like it's, it gets crazy. Yeah. The student sections that I love a good student section. Cause just the creativity. I don't know if you saw the, and coach Church was my coach,, in high school and I love him to death, but the,, I think it was Kim Jong un and they put his face on the on the poster. Oh, yeah I thought that was that was creative and I love that. He even took a picture with the people that made it Oh, even though I thought that was cool washington jefferson I thought it was spring mills and hedgesville's bad. Yeah until I went up here Man, the parents fighting in the in the hallway. I'm like, oh my goodness. I remember that So I was like, yeah, all crazy, man. It's just basketball. Like, just, yeah, like, I don't know. Yeah. And yeah, so it's, I'm glad you mentioned Spring Mills because you started off at what? Martinsburg? Yeah. And then you, , transferred to Spring Mills and now you're at Washington because you live in Washington District., kind of talk about that. Not so much., kind of just explain your experience from those three different schools. You have three different perspectives. I mean, Martinsburg, they, I didn't really get that much because I was a freshman at the time., but. They, I mean, they, Rogers knows what he's doing, but like, I feel like now, I mean, he's still a good coach. I'm not going to put shade on coach Rogers or anything like that, but I feel like now the game's just developed. You know what I'm saying? Like, he's kind of like old minded, different samples. Boy, Sam was crazy, yo, but that's my dog, though. He's the good thing about he's a good coach. He means well. Yeah, that's my dog. I'm so cool with it. That's my dog, though. But he's crazy. He's, he's. But he gets, he does get the most out of his players though. Yeah. Cause I mean, I feel like I think from, from your sophomore year throughout that, that entirety, I definitely saw you develop from there. So, you know, I, you could say that even though some, some coaches are, I guess, a little bit crazier than others, you know, they, it's the passion that, that that's really just bleeding through truthfully. And then my coach now Miller. Yeah. He's a good coach. Like he, he's a great coach. I think he's in one of my favorite coaches I've ever played for. Like, cause he gets a lot out of me. Like my junior year, like, I mean, when I was playing for Washington, we were all right, we went like 10 and 11. But, uh, when I came to spring mills that year, that summer, he was like, the shot selection is terrible. Like my shot selection was like terrible. My shot selection was not very good at all. And he's like, broke it down to me. It was like, when you get to college, this is what you need to do. Like, yeah, you get your shot off, but you got to know how or like when is a good shot or what like time in the game, you know what I'm saying, taking certain type of shots. So I feel like, I mean, he's a good coach. I like it. Yeah. Yeah. Or are able to get like the field goals that you want to take with, but at the same time taking high percentage shots. I get that. So when is a moment where you felt like either you were met with temporary defeat or you felt like you failed that you ended up overcoming? Yeah. Anything recently or? Oh yeah, uh, I think last year, Angle and my grades were low key. Slipping a little bit. Not terrible, like not like terrible enough. Yeah. Obviously, I want to have good grades and stuff, but , this year I'm like on it and on it, on it, like on everything. Yeah. I was struggling with grades and stuff. It was a lot of stuff going on in my like personal life. I messed it up, but I was ended up being good. So, so how do you end up, balancing? Cause I know being a student athlete, especially with basketball, basketball in the Eastern Panhandle, it's, It's crazy. It can be crazy. It's, it's very high demanding. So how do you balance that school basketball life? Okay. So how experienced people's like, all right, basketball, that's your thing. Cool. But you got to do school first. School has to come first. Cause if you don't, if you don't have the grades to play, you, I mean, you don't have the grades. You can't play. Yeah. So you do school, school, then basketball, then your personal life. I put my personal life last cause When you're in basketball season and when you're doing basketball, like you get, that's what you have to do. Like, you're gonna have to spend less time with your family, but like you're gonna have to, I mean, your family signed you up for a reason and they tell you to play for a reason. So, you know what I'm saying? You gotta have that, , last. So that's how I feel about it. But it ends up kind of working out cause basketball becomes like your second family. Yeah. So like, kind of explain some of the bonds that you have on with your, , with your teammates. Me and my teammates are good. Avery, Avery, that's probably my, that's my dude right there. Like, I miss Avery. He was just here actually a little bit ago, but. Oh, is that? Oh, okay. I got you. Yeah. So, , kind of explain like the bonds that you've, that you formed throughout playing basketball. What's probably like the, whether it's with a coach, whether it's with a teammate, what's kind of like the strongest bond you feel like you formed just from playing basketball? Strongest bond. I have a lot of 'em though. Like, that's kind of, or just like the, the who's had the most impact on you, , outside of your father? My coach. Coach I have now. Yeah. Coach Miller. Yeah. How's he, , I know you were talking about earlier, kind of like elaborate on it., I mean, he sees me for more than just a basketball player. He sees me as a son, you know what I'm saying? Treats me like a father., I mean, I have a father, but like my second father, like, you know what I'm saying? Kind of like a, like a, a different perspective, like a mentor from a different perspective. Yeah. Which, which is always good to have., so you were talking about criticism earlier as far as, , like your dad, he can criticize you. So like, how do you, or how do you feel like an athlete would deal with criticism typically? There's two ways you could say, you either take it as like, yeah, he's just trying to get on me. He's just trying to, you know what I'm saying? Or you can take it as, okay, he's telling me this, I can do better. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it don't matter how good you are. You're still going to have something to work on regardless. Like, yeah, it don't matter. Like LeBron, he's the best player in the world still works out every day. Still got to do what you got to do. So, I mean, yeah. Yeah. I feel like criticism, like you were saying, criticism is all a perception thing. It could either, I can either take it as I'm not good enough. I should just give up or. You know, they're just trying to make a minor adjustment so that I can get a better result Something like that kind of like with shooting like there's minor things. I think what's his name lethal shooter. Yeah, he makes College players into like 35 40 percent three point shooters just by making like minor tweaks, which I think is kind of cool, too so, have you ever like experienced like an injury playing basketball? Like most time you get sprained ankles. Nah, not really. I think sixth grade, I think I had a boot, but I don't even think it was an injury. It was just like me growing. I think my, I had some like growth plate in my foot and I think that's what it was. Okay. So you never had to like experience anything that kind of like set you back? I never had like no major injury. No. Okay. Cause I remember my sophomore year I ended up spraining my ankle and I don't when it comes to sprained ankles, that's like. That's like my kryptonite ankles there. Yeah. Especially when you're like 200 and I think it was like 215 pounds, two 20 pounds. During, your, your sport, have you ever had to like shift your approach? Have you ever had a point where you were like, know this isn't working. I need to go at, go at it from a different angle?, I mean, scoring the ball, obviously. Yeah. You know, when you score the ball sometimes, like I used to just. Not even look at the defense. I used to just go do whatever I feel like. But like, you gotta look at it from a different perspective. You gotta look at the defense. You gotta look at how they're guarding you. Like, basketball is like a mental game. It's more like mental. If you can beat somebody mentally, you'll be fine. Like, basketball is not one of them games where you can just go out there and play. Like, you gotta think, too. Like, that's why it's called a game. Because you think. Yeah, for sure. So like when you're , so when you're off the ball kind of walk me through your mind What's going on on offense? Oh, yeah on offense when you're off the ball on offense You got cut and get open because most teams I mean last year and this year some teams deny me So you got a screen for others to get open for yourself So when I'm off the ball, you got a screen to get open because if you screen make contact you should be open You know, yeah, is there like a player? That you admire, that you kind of model your game after, or are you kind of like your own? KD. KD? What, what do you, what aspects from KD do you try to model? Midrange. Midrange game? Yeah. I'd agree with that. You do have a good midrange. Yeah, I love his game. And he's from the same place I'm from, so. That's right. He is from PG County. Right about that., I guess that's your favorite player too, isn't it? Okay, that's cool. I've always been a LeBron. I don't listen. I don't care what no one says. He's the best player. I don't care. Like you could tell me you can't tell me otherwise. I don't care about LeBron. I don't care about Michael Jordan. Kevin Durant is my favorite player. Like you put Kevin Durant against him. I don't care. Like I got KD with it. That's funny. I'm biased. So, as far as, , Who you are off the court compared to who you are on the court. How do you keep those identities separate? Or is it, like, is it something that kind of, like, remains true?, on the court, I would say I'm more of, like, an aggressive player. I don't want to get in your head. I'm gonna talk trash to you a little bit. Like I'm gonna mess with you a little bit on the court. But off the court, I'm chill. You know what I'm saying? Like after, after the whistle's blown, like you can be my best friend. I don't care. Once we cross the lines, like, me and you, we're not friends. Like off the court, I'll def you up, do whatever. But yeah. I remember doing that. Cause it's funny., some of my friends, I've been playing with them since I was like five or six and like the same thing on the court, you know., and then, and then like you step off the court and then like their, their parents are like, you know, you did this to so and so. And it's just kind of funny. Cause it's like, it's not personal. It's just like, I'm, I'm there to play. I'm there to win. Like good example of Loakkhae, love him to death. Yeah. That, that, that, I love Loakkhae to death. But when we play. Like, I don't care. You're not like, we're not buddy, buddy. Really? You're not dunking on me. Oh, nah, I tell him for every game. We play. You not dunking on me. Like, I don't care. I'm gonna foul you. And he can, he can jump out of the gym too. He's got at least like a, he's got to have like a 35, 40 inch. Oh, yeah. Like he can jump out the gym, but I tell him all the time. You ain't jumping on me. I will foul you. Like I will foul you hard. I'm not getting put on, Metro News the next day. No. Yeah, I get that. Or a SportsCenter Top 10. Yeah. No. Yeah. So, . At this point, I feel like you've, you've achieved a lot from like middle school averaging like 20 points making to making all you pack , as a junior. So what kind of keeps you going despite it having achieved so much? I mean, yeah, I mean, yeah, you achieve first team all you pack, but I mean, high school, I mean, it's just high school, like, Hmm. Nobody 10, 20 years from now is going to be like, yeah, he did this in high school. Like I didn't really achieve nothing grand scheme of things big. Like I didn't really achieve nothing big. I mean, it's big for here, but I'm more of an outside the box. You know what I'm saying? You got to think more than just here., when I, when I go to college, that's big, like that's something big, but like the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't mean anything. It's just an award they give you for scoring. Like I got you or like doing whatever., so like life after sports. Let's say you, you, maybe you play in the league, maybe you play overseas. What kind of like career would you see yourself doing, after sports? Would it involve sports? Yeah, I'd probably try to stay around the game, even though I'm not playing. I feel like I would try to be like a coach or something, like a trainer or something like that. Okay. Like, I would still want to be around the game. Yeah, if that makes sense. Yeah., cause you're going to go to college, so you probably want to either major what, like business? HPEX. I was thinking about sports medicine. Sports medicine. Yeah. Okay. So like, what would you kind of do with that?, I don't really know. I, this is something I just want to study. I, I've never, I still don't know yet. Yeah., that's something like quick. I could have thought of. Yeah. And you, I mean, you got time, so it's like you're what? 18, 17, 18. I'm 18. So you got time. There's, there's no rush for that. And so obviously you're not close to being done with sports, but what kind of impact,, how do you want to be rem remembered? As far as outside of sports or from sports. I want them to be, I want to be remembered as like, yeah, he was good on the court, but also off the court too. Like, I feel like off the court is, I feel like off the court is more important than on the court. You know what I'm saying? Off the court, if you're a good person, you know, you'll be fine. Like, I feel like off the court is more important. So like, how do you, I don't know if Washington's done this or if you've personally done it, but like, how do you kind of give back to your community or try to give back to your community? I mean, whenever, there, whenever chance I can, whenever someone brings it up to help community or anything, I'm always there. Like how, what's any, like, do you have any like recent examples? Not recently 'cause I'm in season, but I think, , before the season we did a team camp. I mean like a kids camp. Yeah, kids camp. We always do that every year to helping the kids, you know what I'm saying? Motivate them. What's your favorite part about doing those kids camps? Favorite part, man, helping the kids, like helping them learn it, like teaching them certain stuff. Because I remember when I was a kid, like, looking up to high school, like, people and stuff, like, older people. Getting, you know, getting pictures with them, signing autographs, signing t shirts, that's fun. Or, , I don't know if you guys got, like, the mini hoops, you know, lifting up the tiniest kid, picking him up to dunk. Those are always fun, because,, like, Coach Church, he's been doing his kid's camp, I think, probably almost 30 years. And it's, it's one of those things where it's like It's more than basketball. It's at that point. It's about like life lessons. It's about being a teaching them to be a good person, teaching them good morals, good values. They're in the end of their pillars, the gratitude, unity, passion, discipline, all those like it's kind of more about that. So if you could give one piece of advice, those young athletes, those ones that look up to you, what would that be? Regardless of how it may seem now, regardless of how it may seem, you gotta keep pushing anything you do. Don't, it don't matter what, even your own family can't even talk about you, like, you know what I'm saying? You just gotta keep going and keep in your mind, like, you know what I'm saying? I'm gonna be good, I'm gonna keep grinding. Always stay in the gym. Yeah, and then , so like being in the gym, I know we talked about, you know, you get up early, but how many days, or not how many days,, how long are you typically in the gym?, it depends on the day. I mean, if I was just in the gym like a couple days before that, not so long, but if it's just like a new week or something, I'd probably be in there for like hour, two hour, 32 hours, something like that. Two hours, 30 minutes. It, it really depends. Do you, do you have like a, like a mamba mentality where, , get up at three. Workout five. He's kind of crazy ain't gonna lie. Three o'clock is like that's kind of crazy like I'm not I'm not there yet But if you if you got the chance, you probably you know work I had the chance to get in the gym at three. I'll do it or even do it., do you ever do two days? Yeah, when I was younger used to do two days all the time. I don't know if you know, I'm sure you do with Marcellus Yeah, Marcel's basically. Yeah, I was a with that team , the legends when I was like, Oh, is that a AAU team? Yeah, that was everything. Most of all the best players that you see like now we're all on one team. Like me, Caleb, we were all on the same team. Josiah, Chris. We were like Keyshawn. We were all yeah. Keyshawn growing up. Yeah. Okay. So how long have you been playing AAU for like as long as you can remember? When did I start? I don't remember when I started playing AAU, but it was young for sure. I think it was probably like 7th grade, 6th grade, something like that. No, actually, no. Probably like 3rd grade. Gotcha. Because I remember playing B. C. Speed when I was little. So I was like 3rd, 4th grade. I think that's when I started. What's kind of, obviously with AAU compared to like West Virginia basketball, you have a little bit more freedom. What's kind of your favorite part about AAU? The different, I mean, different places you get to see, different places you get to travel. And the different gyms the different arenas the people like it's different you see different teams like this team could be florida But that team could be from maryland that team like it you get to play a whole bunch of different style players You know what i'm saying? Yeah, what's, what's probably the best? Top three places you've been it's for for a you Like like places. Yeah, like in a fort lauderdale pittsburgh, yeah one more I don't spooky note Spooky Nook. Is that in PA? Which one's been your favorite? Fort Lauderdale. What was it about that made it so great? I've never been to Florida before. When I went up there it was like It was crazy like Like how much people, like the boardwalks and stuff, the different stuff you can do in Florida is like I like it. So did you guys end up playing like an arena?, it was ballin on the beach. It was like It's a nice gym. It's a nice gym. It's like a big convention center. It was fun. Okay, yeah, that's cool. And so what's kind of like the The difference that you feel like between high school and AAU high school high school, I feel like it's more like stricter like it's more like You don't get as much freedom as you do like in AAU I feel like AAU you get a lot of freedom to like it's more about you like getting your name out there and doing what you gotta do, but for high school, I mean you're going for something You're going for a state tournament. You're doing Certain things for your state and for your team and stuff. And other than just yourself, you have teammates. You got, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's more of a collective. I get, yeah, I get that. High school is, is more, it's cause it's more structured, I guess you could say. So, but like, so playing AAU, that's typically the best players from, from their team. So that's a lot of competition kind of walked me through like the feeling about being part of that. I mean, it's good. I mean, if you're a basketball player, you like playing different competition, like seeing other things, playing other players, you know, getting different field from different players, talking trash to other teams from different states and stuff. You can hear, you know, like how different it is, but it's just a good environment to be around. I mean, you love basketball. You want to play against the best players. It gets you better. Like you play good players all around, like from different areas and stuff. One time I played a team from Canada. Never thought I would, but Hey, I It was cool. It was a good experience though. That's fine. Have you guys played broad forwarding? Christian Academy? Yeah. Yeah. Cause I, um, I remember in high school, we would play them and they have, they can recruit people. So, they got people from like Ukraine and Czechoslovakia and all those places. I just remember like running up and down the court and all of a sudden I hear like this, language that I've never heard before. And I'm like, what in the world? And it's cool. It's cool just hearing them talk to each other in different languages. Cause now at this point, basketball is Like on a, it's a global scale, like basketball played in just about every single country that exists. But then from, from like a competition standpoint, being on an AAU team, you've got all these kids in the area, especially if you're on West Virginia gold, where you on West Virginia gold, or did you play on a different team? I didn't play you this summer. Okay. I play, , I was just by myself in the gym. I thought I was good. I was going to play for, , WV gold, but I don't even think I remember going up to Morgan so I didn't go. Gotcha. But like to play an AU. How does , that like competition drive you? Cause you're, at that point, you're not just, you're not the best guy. You're one of the best guys., you just got to keep,, playing basketball. Obviously you're going to play against, other competition. You go and play, but it's going to be different from around here. From what you're used to. Some teams are going to be more aggressive than others. Cause that's where they come from. You know what I'm saying? You just gotta play your game, wipe it off. I mean. You still got to believe that you're the best player on the court regardless of who you're playing. I don't care if Michael Jordan is standing in front of me. Like, that's just the type of person that I am. Like, I'm the best player on the court. Like, this is a mental thing. Like, if you're not scared of anybody in front of you, you're going to be fine. Like, you can't be scared of competition. That's true. So, like, belief system really comes down to being successful. So, how do you feel like a belief, an athlete's belief system,, drives them or, like, impacts how they play? If you believe in yourself It's going to show on the court. Like if you believe in yourself, it's going to show on the court. Like, last season, I think it was like, my confidence was through the roof. Like that's my why I averaged, I think I averaged 19. 3 points a game last season. Yeah, that sounds right. Yeah. That sounds about right., cause I was confident, you know what I'm saying? You gotta be confident in your shots. Anything you do, even if your shots not falling, you got to tell yourself, all right, this one may not be fun, but you still got to affect the game in other ways that you can affect the game in other ways than just scoring a basketball. Like, okay, I'm not scoring tonight. I can still play defense, lock up the best player, you know, so you gotta have your mental state gotta be good. Yeah, because I always remember there's sometimes Depending on the team like if our shots weren't falling then defense Wouldn't it wouldn't translate when like when it comes to defense like defense You should try on a defense to translate to the offense. Sure, because I just remember You Martinsburg was always our rival and , I mean we never ended up beating them except for like one time at home we came close, but that was probably our best defensive game just I think it was like, I don't know. I think it was like a 35 to 37 finish something like that Every time I play a rival they always would come to play like yeah every time like they're gonna play trash for any other game But when that game comes and you play the rival team like everybody just get better All of a sudden, like, that's how it is. Yeah, who would you say you're probably your favorite team to play against as, in the EPAC? Jefferson. Jefferson? Yeah. What is it about Jefferson that's just kind of like, mean, it's the rival game. Like, everybody there, like, everybody in the county's there. Because Jefferson County's small. Like, you got two schools in the county. So, when we play each other, everybody's going to be there. Like, everybody from the county's there. Packed gym. The environment's just crazy to me. Like, I like it. I love it. Yeah, I love that.. Do you prefer, obviously everybody likes a home crowd, do you enjoy playing on the road? I'm more, yeah, I like playing way more. What kind of makes you want to play way more? Because like, the trash talk, everybody barking at you, always talking, but that's what I like. I like competition more, like, I mean, when you're at home, the favors aren't supposed to be on your side when you're at home, but I don't like it, I like competition. Proving people wrong. I'm like, I'm like one of them like the odds against me. Like, hey, you're gonna tell me Hey, you can't do this. You can't do this. And then I'm gonna show you that. Hey, I can't do this for sure I like that. I like That's kind of like a like a almost like a mamba mentality almost where it's like, hey, you want to talk trash? That's fine. Here my these 20 points will shut you up. Yeah, like I like that. So How do you feel You were talking about with , you know The trash talk and like the fans and spectators. How do you deal or how do you feel like an athlete deals with those external pressures? From the, I mean, from the crowd, they're gonna talk trash to you. I mean, you're the other team. Like, they're gonna, they're gonna talk trash to you. You just gotta play, play your game. Like, it don't matter. They're, at the end of the day, you're not playing against them. You're playing against the team that's on the court. Like, they're just saying stuff to get in your head so you can lose the game. Like, no, you just gotta play. Yeah. And, , I mean, like we were talking about, the fans say crazy stuff all the time. They talk about your mom. They don't care. Yeah, they don't. They don't. I don't think I remember somebody. Yeah. Cause I used to sweat a lot. Somebody was like, yell at you. Like he, like you sweat too much or something stupid., but at the end of the day, it ends up kind of just being funny. Cause it's like, you can laugh about it. Yeah. So what do you feel like? Is something that outside of basketball, like, do you play any other sports? No, basketball is the only sport you play. Yeah. Have you ever thought about or have you ever like desire to play another sport? No, I feel like I mean, I could play football. Yeah, I feel like I just wouldn't be like, I'm too small to play football. Like I'm tall, but yeah, but I'm just not like, I'm not I'm not like weight wise. I'm not a football player. I feel like I'll be fine, but I don't have to get out of bounds though. Yeah, I guess, yeah, like, maybe like run a slide, like get to the sideline, get out of bounds. Do you have like a workout routine, or do you like, do you hit the weight, the weight room often? Yeah, I hit the weight room. How, what's your, workout plan look like, or like how many days a week do you normally go? I'm not gonna lie, I need to get in the weight room more, I'm more of on the court, but I ain't gonna lie, I need to get, I do need to get in the weight room more. Especially, this summer, I gotta go to college next season, they gonna be bigger. Like, I'm playing against grown men. Yeah. Yeah, I gotta get in the weight room more. Sure. For sure. What are you kind of? So for college, what are you kind of looking forward to the most about playing in college? I just wanna see how different is the high schools. A lot of people say the speeds different, you know, I'm saying stuff like that. The crowd is different. I mean, I want to see what what it's really about. And like, at a collegiate level, what kind of impact are you looking to make at a collegiate level? I mean, my freshman, I mean, I'm gonna be a freshman, so , starting all over again. So, I mean, I, I'm not going to be like, yeah, I'm gonna score 20 points a game. This, this, this, but I want to try to, you know, whatever coach need me to do, whatever the team is lacking on, I just want to do it. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I get that. So it's really kind of just how you show up for like now, just be, be beside coach, , you know, Hey, like, let me stop. I feel like in college you can get, better more because you're, I mean, you get full access to the gym and stuff. Like, I feel like all the time in college, so that's, that's better. That's a lot better than high school too. So coming with, with college comes a little bit more freedom. Obviously you have like a stricter schedule. So how are you kind of looking forward to that strict schedule? I mean, you got to realize it's going to be different from high school. Like no one's going to tell you, Hey, do your work. The teachers aren't really care. They don't get, they get paid to do their job. They don't really care about you at the end of the day. Like you just got to do your work. I feel like that comes first anyway, anyway, you got to do your work., and then once you do your work, it'd be fine. And then so from like,, from a schedule standpoint, what's your schedule?, what's your daily routine? Like now? Yeah, what's your daily routine now? I mean, wake up, go to school, do my work. I got practice usually after school. And then after that, I just do whatever I want. Or if I have homework or something, do homework. So like in your free time when you're not on the court or you're not at school, what do you enjoy doing? Like, you know. I be, I be playing a game. What game do you play? I play 2K. Okay., Call of Duty. Which one's out now? The last time I played it was like Black Ops 3. It's in Black Ops 6. Black Ops 6? Cause I think it's been, it's probably been like 10 years since I played. I think that's the new one out. Yeah, yeah, it's Black Ops 6. So that one's your favorite? Probably Black Ops?, yeah. What do you kind of like about the game? It's competitive. This is like playing basketball. I be talking trash on the mic. That's funny. Can't tell me nothing when I'm playing Call of Duty. Do you guys do ever, do you guys ever do like, uh, I remember we would do,, it's like no scope, no scope battles where you're like going to nuke town or whatever and you just walk around and you just got a no scope. Snipers, yeah, for sure. That was always fun. Well, my NCAA. Football. Yeah. College football. Oh, yeah. I remember Caleb was talking about that. He said really smooth. Really smooth graphics, really. Smooth game. Gameplay. Me and Caleb be playing against each other. That's fun. So what's your favorite college team? To use? To use. Okay, see, I'm one of them players that's like, alright, you can't pick the best team. Like, we gon we gon pick some, like, mediocre team. I'll be using Boise State. Okay. And they ended up being pretty good., I use Texas. Yeah, Texas. Who else do I use? Kansas. Okay. Maryland. All right. Those are going to always use Maryland though. That's my, I don't, I don't blame you. I mean, being from PG County, I get it. Do you ever do like the, cause I remember when, when I would play weed, what do you do? Uh, I think it's three, three randoms and then the fourth one, you got to pick that team and sometimes do that too. Cause I would, cause when I would play MLB, sometimes you do that and like your fourth random would be like the pirates cause the pirates used to not be good. So as far as, Basketball. You've got regionals coming up because they've recently changed the format used to be a sectional tournament. Then you have the regional tournament now. It's just regionals. It's straight to States. So where are you guys? Where you guys sitting right now? I think you're what second place. Yeah, I think we're going to end up being second team. I mean, we just lose Jefferson. Get that. I think that's time. They get that game made me mad. But yeah, if we I feel like we went against Hedgesville Tuesday, we're going to be sitting at second. And so like going, stepping into playoffs, like that's a clean slate, you know, you lose, you're done. So what's your mentality going into that? Playoffs is more like, all right, you did, you did all this during the season, but everybody records 0 0 when you get to playoffs. Like, nobody, it don't matter. Like, you still gotta, even if you're playing the trashiest team in the conference, like, you still gotta go out there and handle business, regardless, because everybody's 0 0. You don't want to be like, yeah, yeah, y'all might've got second, but y'all lost in the playoffs. Like, no, you don't want to win. I want to go to state tournament. And so like last year, You guys, I know you guys, I think you were just about like around 500 going into playoffs. How was, , how'd you feel going into playoffs? I mean, I felt good going into playoffs. Played muscleman. I think first round we got what we lost, but This year we're a lot better. I think we we gonna be fine Like we know and I'm gonna see so you got like a probably got like a chip on your shoulder cuz like that's motivation Yeah, because this is my last year. I want to go like yeah Is it now or never so I don't want to be one of them kids that never got to go for sure And so with playoff basketball coming along. What do you what do you feel like? You're looking forward to the most the environment Cuz everything goes up, the fans go up, everything, like people, like, it's gonna be a different environment but you still gotta play basketball at the day, so. And so, with, with playoffs, you know, you win, you go home. How do you plan to, or how do you think an athlete should deal with, maybe, maybe a shot's not falling? How do you deal with like the adversity that comes to like a win or go home type of game? Win or go home, I mean, yeah, you gonna have to, I mean, you think about, you can't think about winning or going home. You gotta play the game. Like, don't even think about, what if I lose, what if I, no. You gotta, you gotta think, like, you're gonna win every single time. When you play but , you just gotta play more aggressive if your shot's not falling try to impact the game in other ways You know what i'm saying? Then just yeah more into basketball because I mean your shot might not be falling but your teammate shot may be falling You know what i'm saying? Yeah, we have players on our team that can We have players on team that can go for 20 like our top eight, you know, we can all go for 20. Yeah so regardless of , one of us not being able to score. I mean I can get the ball pass the ball get I mean Get other stuff, involved in the game and just scoring balls I get that. And, that's, that's one thing that I noticed about your game too, is just, even though, you know, you can get, you can drop 18, 20 points on a given night, you know, facilitating, getting your, hitting your open teammates. That, that's something I also admired. So like, kind of like walk me through that., how do you go about getting, hitting your open teammates? What's kind of your process? Okay, when I get the ball, obviously I'm, I want to score. I'm a scorer. That's what I want to do. But. But now I'm more mature, more, you know, grown up, you got to realize if you don't have it, swing it. Or if you want to create a shot, act like you're creating a shot for yourself, have the defense pull. And that's when you kick it to your teammates, you just got to, especially look up the floor, you got to have eyes everywhere when you're on the court with the ball. You know what I'm saying, you just got to have the defense pull to pass your teammates and have faith that they will hit the shot. Yeah. I think that's, that's the biggest thing is. Picking up your teammates, having faith in your teammates., as a Like, I feel like you're a pretty good teammate. How do you typically go about picking up your teammates? You know, maybe they've missed three shots. Maybe they missed a wide open layup. What's your kind of mentality for helping out your teammates? I mean, you still got to help out your teammates. Pat them on the back and be like, look, I mean, your shot's not falling tonight. We're a team at the day. Like, you got to still play your game. Like, you're good. You know what I'm saying? Next play, next play, you got to be, you know, talk to your team and we'll be fine. You just got to trust and believe they will be fine. Really, so it's really kind of just about staying together. Yeah, staying together, yeah. Staying together, picking each other up. So, for the next generation of athletes, we talk about kids camp, , talking about like, you know, your role models, being a high school basketball player, your role model for middle schoolers and everybody younger. So, what's your advice to the next generation of players coming up after you? Don't, don't be selfish, don't be selfish at all. If you're good at what you do, don't be cocky about it. Don't be running around saying, yeah, I'm this, I'm this. Cause at the end of the day, that can be stripped from you anytime. Yeah. That's a lot of things that you can do, mess up. You know, that, all that glory you get from people that all can be stripped away. That's true. That's, , never really, never become complacent. I'll always feel like there's always something to get better at. There's always something that you can tweak something to grow., one thing that I've learned is, you know, always learn to work harder on yourself. There's always something that you can do to provide more value. And, so do you have like a, like a mantra, a saying that you tell yourself every day that kind of pushes you to keep going? No, I don't got one. I don't got like it's something I tell myself every day, but., I'm not really like one type of people, , I don't really have like a famous quote or something, but I just tell myself every day, at least, you know, always believe in yourself. That's one of my favorite things. If I were to choose something, always believe in yourself. Yeah, because,, you know, there's a lot of people that don't believe in themselves. So like to those people that don't believe in themselves, what would you kind of, what did you tell them? You just, I mean, you just got to believe in yourself. There's no like, If you don't like , any given time you can,, feel sad, feel doubtful about anything. I mean, it's okay to feel like that. We're human. We're going to feel that way, but he's got to always, you know what I'm saying? Believe that you're going to be all right. And today you can't look about now. You got to look at the future. You know what I'm saying? You have a bad day today, but next day, you know, wake up, you know, your group and you'll be just fine. For sure. So talking about, but like believing yourself, I know your dad's always been like the, like the biggest role model for you. So kind of like walk me through your kind of relationship with him. Obviously that's like, that's your go to guy. So like, you obviously got a really good relationship and what's, what's it like? It goes in spurts, kind of like funny, serious, you know, but that's my, , that's my guy though. Like, even though I don't like him sometimes, I mean, I don't like him sometimes I don't like him critiquing me. I mean, he's my dad., you got to listen to him at the day. He's older than you, wiser than you. He's going to see stuff that you don't see right now. He's been in your shoes before. Yeah. And so, , you've probably played one on one against him a couple of times too. How long did it take you before you were able to beat him?, I think like 10th grade. 10th grade is when I first beat him. My dad's, my dad's nice. Like my dad was nice, man. Like , he's still, I mean, he don't hoop no more, but he's still got like, when he stepped on the cricket, he's not, it's like, he hasn't missed anything. He may be a little older, move a little slower, but he can still put the ball in the basket. So he never took it easy. It was always like, Hey, if I could beat you, but cause you probably probably play what? Like 11, 21, something like that. I think we played a 15 or something like that. And he just, yeah. So how many times do you feel like you either? When was the first time you scored on him? Because I feel like at one point he probably just shut you out. Middle school. I think like 7th grade, 6th was the first time I ever scored on him because like, when I was a little younger, that's when he was still a little younger. Yeah. He can move a little bit. But that was like, that was like motivation though. It was just like, you know, eventually, because I remember I think the first time I beat my dad, it was,, it felt good. I do think you let me win, but like, Yeah, definitely, yeah. Just, just trying to, , No, eventually win. Because that's the person who taught me how to play basketball. So, I get that. So, that's all the time we have, guys., DJ, I really appreciate you being on here., in case you guys want to go check out DJ, I would definitely go watch him play. He's got a couple games coming up. So, what is it, tomorrow, right? Tomorrow or Tuesday? Tuesday. Tuesday he'll be playing Hedgesville at Washington. So that game will start about 7. 30 so get there early so you can make sure you get a seat. That'll be a really good game. Then they'll be on the road, is it Thursday, Friday, right? Thursday, Friday they're gonna be in Southwest Virginia so they'll be playing Parkersburg South. I think Parkersburg South is like top 5 in the state, right? I remember Spring Mills, they played them. It was a really good game. And then, , They'll also be at South Charleston. And then Saturday to finish out the week, they'll be playing at home against Elkins. So got a packed week and you'll have multiple opportunities to go watch DJ and the Washington Patriots play. So DJ, do you have anything for the kingdom out there? Stay up, man. Stay up, keep grinding, stay persistent, never give up. Keep going.,, it might not get easier, but you will get better. That's the biggest thing. So I appreciate you guys. Thanks for watching royal vision podcasts. This is coach Matthew DJ Bordley. Peace out guys.