Student-Athlete of the Week – Jonathan Guardiola
"It makes me feel like I've been doing something right, you know?" Jonathan Guardiola said.
Guardiola's leadership on the Cathedral City basketball team earned him the nomination of Student-Athlete of the Week.
"Being able to perform out here, and in the classroom, and help out my teammates and all of that, it feels amazing," he said.
He's a high school coach's dream.
"He comes to practice, does what you ask. He's in the classroom, doing what you ask. He's a great student, never any issues," said his coach Nick Lee.
But he also has a sense of humor about him, and he knows the just right times to let it shine.
"I sat in front of him on the bus on the way to our last couple of games and, I mean, it was a mistake, because he messed with me the whole way, so he constantly just makes you laugh. He's just an awesome kid," Lee said.
But he wasn't always that strong leader.
"Freshman year, he was quiet Jonathan, wouldn't talk. I would ask him a question and he would whisper," Lee said. "Now he's a leader on the court, off the court, I mean, he's killing it."
"Coming in, I didn't want to talk to nobody," Guardiola said. "I was just shy and now it's just, we're all so close together, it's like talking to my brothers."
Coach Lee says his leadership was an integral part of the team's playoff run, especially through adversity.
"You have to have somebody like that to take control, to lead the team in tough situations and that's Jonathan," he said.
"In those tough situations, like a minute left, tie game or anything like that, you just got to stay clam and not let the players, like the other team, you know, sometimes they talk, you just can't let that get to your head," Guardiola said. "You just got to play the game."
This might be the end of his playing career and what he says he'll miss the most are the memories with his teammates.
"To me, it's not just like a game," he said. "I come out here with my teammates and get to bond with my teammates, so I see more than just a game of basketball."
Over the past four years, Guardiola has come into his own, and he knows he's going to take those memories with him as he embarks on this next chapter in college, and even beyond.
