LYNN — St. Mary’s senior guard Josh Perez’s skills on the court were always growing throughout his time playing for the Spartans boys basketball team, and it’s not something that happened overnight.
“I was really struggling for three or four years but I was always putting in the work,” Perez said. “That work I put in really showed off my senior year. I was working my butt off to get to that point and it paid off.”
During his senior season, Perez became one of the Spartans go-to players on both ends of the court on a run to the Division 2 state semifinal. His high-caliber play caught the eye of coaches at the next level as well, with the Lynn native committing to continue his basketball career at Regis College in Weston.
“Regis has been recruiting me since the beginning of my senior year,” Perez said. “Their coach was there at our games right at the beginning of the season. He was the first coach to really show that interest in me and for him to come out to home and even some away games meant a lot.”
Regis’ program also practices many of the values St. Mary’s does on and off the court, Perez said.
“Their program really runs like a brotherhood,” Perez said. “It’s not just about basketball, it’s about more and that’s how things run at St. Mary’s too. The coach is really about his players and I respect that.”
The extra work put in before and after practices is a big part of the mark Perez left on the Spartans program for head coach Dave Brown.
“I’ve said it before, in my seven years at St. Mary’s no other player got himself in the gym more and put in that extra work more than Josh did,” Brown said. “Whether it was getting in there before school started or after practice for a few hours to get in that extra time.
“He made big steps throughout his four years here,” Brown said. “He started as a sophomore, junior and senior. He was part of a program that won 80 games throughout his career here, so he played next to some really good players. He always played his role and even better I never heard anything about him academically.”
That was the same message Brown relayed to the Regis coaching staff when talking about Perez.
“I told the coach there, he’s not going to have any problems with Josh,” Brown said. “Whatever he’s asked to do he’ll do it to the best of his ability, whether that’s defensively or going down the court and scoring. He’s going to have a tremendous career there.”
Along with his work ethic, having Brown as a coach and playing with his teammates helped shape Perez into the successful player he became at St. Mary’s.
“Coach Brown taught me a lot of life lessons and a lot about the game of basketball,” Perez said. “My teammates at St. Mary’s always stood by my side even in the years I was struggling.”
And as he shifts his focus to the next level Perez, who will major in Global Business Management, plans on bringing the same mindset that helped him find success at St. Mary’s to Regis College
“My work ethic is what got me to the position I’m in today,” Perez said. “I’m definitely going to keep working that way. It’s the one thing that I always do in everything, even if it’s not basketball. That way if I fail I can’t be upset with myself because I did everything I could.”
