Henry Caruso '13 made his name as a great teammate on and off the basketball court during his years as a Serra Padre and beyond. Recently, the international hoops pro and member of USA Basketball 3x3 Men's Team added to that reputation with a visit to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula (BGCP).
Caruso was a featured speaker during a break in the action of a March Madness 3x3 tournament at BGCP's East Palo Alto Clubhouse. In addition to an adult tournament that day, two teams of middle school all-stars from BGCP's South San Francisco clubhouse competed against each other. Afterward, they basked in the light of a star who shared the same stomping grounds on his way to playing for Princeton University and Santa Clara University.
The MVP from each team received a commemorative basketball from Caruso. When he stepped up to the mic, his message to the youth players included a mix of basketball and life skills advice, including,
"If there were three things I could go back to your age to try to remember and continue throughout my career, number one would be to play the right way, second would be to set goals for yourself, and three, dream big."
Caruso serves as an example of what can happen when students do those three things! At Serra, he was twice named as a first-team all-WCAL player, earned all-state honors from MaxPreps, and graduated as the second-leading scorer in school history.
Since then, he has drawn on his Serra education to continue developing as a professional and as a person. According to Chris DeTrinidad, director of BGCP's Barry Carr Sports Leagues, Caruso had a great impact on the youth players.
"You could see them respond, and you could see how much Henry loved being with the kids, "DeTrinidad said.
That's critically important to BGCP, a non-profit that serves more than 6,000 economically disadvantaged K-12 youth in San Mateo County. The organization provides free academic support, mental health services, workforce readiness programs, and enrichment activities, including everything from sports to a culinary career program that delivers hundreds of hot meals to their students in need each day.
The Serra community can be proud that one of their own took the opportunity to positively impact and inspire the youth of BGCP.
