Four years ago, senior James Ormond told senior Dylan James Kavanaugh that he would be trying out for the freshmen basketball team. Kavanaugh laughed disbelievingly. A month ago, Kavanaugh laughed again, this time in joy, when Ormond received a call telling him he had a spot on the Carnegie Mellon basketball team.

When one sees Ormond dunk the basketball during a Men’s Varsity game or block a shot, the term “benchwarmer” would probably not come to mind. However, Ormond will always remember the days when he was the worst player in the entire PHS men’s basketball program.

“My parents and I knew I was pretty terrible,” Ormond said. “There’s no beating around the bush about that.”

James Kavanaugh, who played on the freshman team with Ormond, said it seemed like Ormond was new to the sport.

“He didn’t play very confidently, and his skills lacked a lot,” he said.

Ormond had already been playing for three years at that point.

That was five inches and fifty pounds ago, during Ormond’s freshmen season when he played a total of one minute and thirty seconds. At least that’s what it felt like to him and his mom. Ormond played only in the final minutes when the team was either ahead by a large margin or losing badly. The entire season, Ormond was treated as a liability rather than contributor.

“It was the most frustrating time of my life,” Ormond said. “By the end of the season, I didn’t even want to go in.”

Ormond’s basketball past was even less significant—he played on the middle school B-Team for two seasons, one of which the team lost every single game—but at least he got playing time.

Yet at the end of the freshmen season, when Ormond’s mom asked him if wished to continue playing, he responded with a matter-of-fact, “Heck yes. I love it!”

Ormond loves the game of basketball for its high-scores and its requirement of a wide array of skills to be a good basketball player including dribbling, shooting, and running..

Sitting at the end of the bench, however, was “just not satisfying”.

“I wanted to prove to myself for sophomore season to be a starter on JV,” Ormond said.

So he began working out with a trainer at Ant’s Mind & Body, where elite high school and professional athletes train to become recruited.  He began a protein regiment to fuel his growing muscles. The summer before his sophomore season, Ormond grew four inches.

“The biggest thing that training gave me was strength and the confidence on the court,” Ormond said.

Even with his increased size and strength, Ormond still felt scared to “try new things in the gym for fear that the coach would be mad.”

“I never took risks, and that was a big impediment in my improvement,” Ormond said.

Ormond started multiple games on JV, but was still not satisfied with his role on the team.

Going in to his junior year, Ormond increased his training by working out three times a week and attending open gym basketball. He made the varsity team and even started the first 10 games of the season, but was eventually moved back to being a reserve player.

Again, James lacked confidence and he was not satisfied with his performance. So he asked if he could participate in the women’s team open gym. For the entire spring season, Ormond spent three and a half hours in the gym, six days a week. At open gym he practiced dribbling, shooting, and rebounding. He ran through drills with the girls’ team and worked with the women’s coaches to improve his game. Three times a week, Ormond worked out at Ant’s gym.

His schedule was school, basketball, gym, dinner, homework, then sleep at nine in order to rest his body.

“He said he wanted to get ‘x’ number of workouts a week, and I want to play on an AAU team,” his mom Lisa Riddiough said. “He would say, these are the things I want to do, and I would just help him with the logistics.”

On weekends Ormond played tournaments with his AAU club team, the Bay Area Blue Devils. During this period, Ormond not only improved his skills, but built up the confidence that he lacked on the court.

“I was enjoying improving. People who I was playing a year ago that could take me to the basket every time, now I could defend them consistently,” Ormond said. “Now I was taking them to the basket.”

James remembers when he dunked for the first time ever. It had been at his club team practice, where his coach placed him in a dunking drill with some of his teammates who could all dunk. However, James had never dunked before because he couldn’t do it.

His coach yelled at him, cussing at him to dunk the ball. Angrily, James rose up with both hands, and slammed it down for his first dunk.

The following season in the home opener, Ormond elevated for a dunk. When he looked back, he saw all of his friends in the stands screaming in disbelief.

“It was the best feeling ever,” he said.

James Kavanaugh said, “I was a little taken aback. I wasn’t expecting that to happen.”

After a summer of tournaments, showcases, and practice, James now starts every game on Varsity. Whereas Ormond might have been lucky to play for a minute freshmen year, now Ormond is lucky when he is relieved for a minute of rest.

“He made it his goal that he was going to be the best he could be and improve as much as he could, and that has helped our team a lot,” James Kavanaugh said.

Ormond was recruited by Carnegie Mellon University, and will now play for their team which competes in Division III. Though he has exceeded all expectations for his high school career, his motivation has not wavered.

“I’ll still be in the gym every day. I’ll be going to Ants. I’ll be playing AAU. I’ll be working on my skills with my friend and mentor.” Ormond said. “I want to leave my mark [in college], whether it’s being the first freshman to start, or leaving a record for most points scored.”

“Two years ago from today, I would not even have considered being where I am now,” Ormond said. “Who’s to say where I’m gonna be 2 years from now.”