LYNN — The St. Mary’s basketball team has had plenty of remarkable players step on the court over the years, so it takes a lot of work to become a standout player for the Spartans.
Sammy Batista did just that over the past few years on the offensive end, becoming a reliable scoring guard for a team that stacked up plenty of victories in that span.
Now Batista will hope to bring that impact to the next level with the senior committing to join the Nichols College men’s basketball team next year.
“Honestly I think it was just because (Nichols) is a really strong business school, which is what I’ll be looking to study,” Batista said about his decision. “That is what really attracted me.”
Academics have been a primary focus just as much as basketball for Batista since arriving at St. Mary’s.
“Sammy transferred to St. Mary’s as a freshman from Peabody,” St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown said. “When he first came here he struggled academically and he had to repeat his freshman year. But he started to work hard, improved himself so much in the classroom and became a great player for us.
“I’m really happy to see his dream of playing in college come true,” Brown said. “I’m excited to see him play at the next level, I know he worked hard to get there.”
A lot of that work through the years was assisted by Brown and the coaching staff.
“The coaches at St. Mary’s and Coach Brown are such good guys,” Batista said. “I know he really helped me ever since I came to St. Mary’s. I would say he had a big impact on who I am as a player.”
Batista hasn’t had much trouble creating offense on the court, and with a little more work in the offseason Brown sees how that could translate into the next level.
“He’s really strong offensively,” Brown said. “He’s a quick, small scoring guard that can create his own shots. He just has to get in the weight room and work on his defensive game at Nichols.”
Along with being a good fit for his future studies, Nichols’ basketball coach Brandon Linton and his staff also had plenty of interest in Batista over the years.
“On the basketball side they’ve been recruiting me since my junior year,” Batista said. “It was definitely a good thing to have them interested in me for that long. They’re really the only school that was really, really into me like that. They always stayed in touch and would call me every chance they got.”
Batista and the Spartans did plenty of winning during his time with the team, and if trends continue, that may not be changing much at Nichols. The Bisons’ men’s basketball program entered this season having won four-consecutive Commonwealth Coast Conference titles, earning a spot in the NCAA Division III tournament each year.
“I know their team is really good and they win a lot of championships,” Batista. “Over my time at St Mary’s I’ve learned to enjoy winning, so that’s something I’m really hoping we can do at the next level.
“I just want to be the best I can be. I want to work as hard as I can so that I can be as successful as possible when I’m there.”
Daniel Kane can be reached at [email protected].
