Being recruited out of high school made Jamal Howard think more about the next chapter of his life. Jamal and his family decided that taking a year off to develop his game was the best decision.

“If this is your love, your dream, or your passion don’t let anything deteriorate you from it,” Jamal says. “If anything not being recruited should motivate you even more.”

The concerns of not playing at the next level in basketball have always been worries and lost dreams for many young high school athletes. According to Recruit Look, only .o3% of high school basketball athletes make it to the pros.

Jamal was in that same position as a senior in high school, but he took the year off to get better so he would be able to compete at the next level. The year paid off because he ended up growing 3 inches taller.

He’s had a passion for the game ever since he was a toddler.

“I honestly was born with the love of the game. I remember my mom used to tell me when I was a baby, that nothing could stop me from crying,” Jamal says. “My mom would hand me toys while I was in my crib but I would throw them out and not stop crying until I had a basketball.”

His older brother, David Howard, was a former player for the El Camino College Warriors and was asked to compete in a friendly alumni game when the college needed a couple more players for the scrimmage to take place. David asked Jamal if he wanted to play in the alumni game.

Jamal had just graduated from El Segundo High School and was not playing anywhere at the time. He was eager to get back on the court. He was on board for playing in the scrimmage but was five years younger than the guys he was going to be playing against.

“I got out there with confidence and did my thing,” Jamal says. “I actually got the attention from the coach as he asked my brother after the scrimmage if I wanted to play for El Camino.”

Jamal believes he was noticed by the coach when he accelerated up the middle of the court and finished a layup over the alumni defense.

“At least that is what my brother was telling me, that impressed some of the players and coaches,” Jamal says.

That’s when he knew he was going to be able to step on the floor as a college athlete for the first time, a move that could place him in the significantly higher 1.2% of college athletes who make it big, according to Recruit Look.

Jamal credits everyone in his family for believing in him to make it to the next level, but his childhood best friend, Eli Chaney, was one person that Jamal wants everyone to acknowledge as he has always pushed Jamal to play at his best.

The two have been best friends ever since Eli moved to El Segundo from Hawthorne when he was 11. It was Eli’s first year at El Segundo Middle School and he didn’t know anyone who attended the school.

“Three days in we didn’t really talk, we didn’t say anything to each other and I didn’t really know him like that,” Eli says. “My first week at El Segundo middle school we had the same four classes in a row.”

During their fourth period physical education class together the teacher had them do cross country. Eli said he knew Jamal was watching him while he was running laps around the grass field.

“I believe he was watching how fast I was, Jamal being Jamal came up to me and said ‘I didn’t know you were that fast,’” Eli says. “We started talking more and more, then about two weeks go by and we started walking to school together and home together.”

Eli had never lived within walking distance from his school before and he never had a friend he connected with that easily. They shared dreams of making it to the NBA. After high school, Eli had tried out for a team in Orange County and made it. Unfortunately, due to Eli’s schedule with work, he wasn’t able to carry on and play basketball in college.

Although Eli was done with basketball, he was still dedicated to Jamal’s success and making sure he was ready for the next level.

“For him to sacrifice his job and hours to hit me up and say let’s go to the gym and I will rebound for you or let’s go to the beach and I will put you through some workouts,” Jamal says. “That definitely helped motivate me because I am seeing somebody believe in me when people don’t see it.”

David has also played an important role in Jamal’s life as Jamal constantly looked up to him. David explained that Jamal’s passion and love for the game were far greater than his.

“Growing up knowing he shouldn’t be beating me, he would be mad and take every loss very personal, which just shows how passionate he was about wanting to win,” David says. “He was never satisfied.”

Many would think the two would be very similar but like all brothers, they had their differences.

David says that Jamal was always a little more emotional when they were younger, but he wanted to prove himself a little more being the younger brother and having that chip on his shoulder.

“His level of emotion when he plays, you know what he is feeling when he is out there,” David says. “I am more cool, calm and collected. You can’t really tell what I’m feeling unless you make me upset.”

Jamal’s drive to keep succeeding and to play at higher levels has influenced David to be better himself. David explained how he has always wanted Jamal to be better than him.

“[He’s] had me to work with and play against his whole life,” David says. “The better I do, the more I can give back to him. Just seeing him work and get better motivated me to not lose to my little brother.”

Of course, no older sibling has ever wanted that to be the case.

“When we were younger it was just me trying to be a good role model, but now I try to work with him and help him, but he is motivating me, even more, to keep working and striving,” David says.

During Jamal’s final season as an El Camino Warrior, he was able to become more of the leader of the team. Many teammates looked up to him as an older brother, especially the red shirt freshman at the time, Darius Alexander.

Darius is a 6-foot, 5-inch tall shooting guard and small forward for the El Camino Warriors. Jamal was able to take Darius under his wing for his final year.

“Jamal is a different type of basketball player, he is consistent in terms of being a great teammate,” Darius says. “You will never see him at practice being lackadaisical, he always has high energy, brings positivity and he is someone everyone wants to be around.”

One lesson Darius has learned from Jamal is that while playing basketball there will always be someone that will be able to defend you or block your shot, however, there is no one that can stop you from playing your hardest.

“If he had ever had a bad day on the court, he always played his hardest,” Darius says.

When Darius was practicing as a red shirt, Jamal made sure he still worked on his game as red shirts are mainly to practice with the team to get the team better.

“Jamal took on the big brother role with me and other teammates, but with me, he would tell me ‘work on your own game and always keep that chip on your shoulder,’” Darius says. “He will compete with me at a way that makes me better because that’s all he wants to do, is make people better.”

Jamal is still working out and preparing for the next level of his career but he still wants to see Darius and his other teammates succeed. Jamal and Darius still meet up to this day to work out and go through drills together to make each other want to be great.

“He’s the type of guy that works out even outside of school and basketball season, he loves to work out,” Darius says. “He is super coachable because he will never be the guy to talk while you talk as he will listen first and has a great ability for taking in all of the knowledge.”

For the next step of Jamal’s career, he is completing the recruitment process backward due to COVID-19. Now he’s emailing schools and looking to see which school will fit him the best. Whittier College has shown him the most interest, while a couple of schools out east have also shown some interest.

“The same way they would be recruiting you is the same way you want to recruit them because you know you would want them to be your next coach,” Jamal says.