BETHALTO - Samuel Buckley has had a basketball in his hands from a very young age. The Civic Memorial High School sophomore’s hours and hours of practice have paid off.
For Buckley’s dedication and success so far this winter, he is the Riverbender.com Male Athlete of the Month for Civic Memorial.
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“I've been playing since 4 years old and ever since it really has never got boring,” Buckley said. “I enjoy it a lot because of the competitive nature of the sport especially in high school going up against the same matchups every year makes it a rivalry that makes the game more fun to play.
“I've realized over playing this sport if you want to get better at something you have to work for it nothing comes completely natural. Yes we start out at different levels but it's about the hard work you're willing to put in like anything else in life you work for it eventually you will get it.”
Buckley is an outstanding multi-sport athlete for the Eagles. He is a pitcher/third baseman/first baseman in baseball and also a member of the golf team. He said he loves playing golf on nice, sunny, summer days.
Buckley had only positive things to say about his head basketball coach Jared Reynolds and what the coach gets out of his players.
“My Mom who pushes me to do my hardest every day also my Coach Jared Reynolds who pushes everyone on the team to do their absolute best everyday in practice,” he said. “I would also like to thank my teammates without them I wouldn't be able to get better everyday at practice.”
“One major quality I would say I have is I give it one hundred percent every practice and put in work on the very few off days we have,” Buckley said.
The Civic Memorial sophomore said he hopes to play basketball in college after her concludes his high school career.
Buckley said at the moment, he wants to pursue a law enforcement career and “making the world a better place for everybody.”
“I want to say a big thank you to my Coach Jared Reynolds and my summer basketball coach Jose Silva,” Buckley said.Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
