Senior Nick Sampeck has been playing basketball since 2003 when he was three years old. (Photo Courtesy: Nick Sampeck).
For most college basketball players, basketball is the only thing they have known since they were little. That couldn’t be truer for Dean senior Nick Sampeck since he has been playing basketball since 2003 when he was only three years old. Growing up, Sampeck was a three-point shooter and defensive player, also known as “3 and D”, up until high school. He started playing in high school at St. Anthony’s Catholic High School in San Antonio, Texas where he mainly came off the bench. It was not until his junior season that he saw more playing time when he switched high schools to Blanco High School in Blanco, Texas as his family had moved houses. During his time in Blanco, Sampeck became the starting point guard and leading scorer as he averaged around 17 points per game during his junior season and 27 points per game in his senior year.
When Sampeck was getting close to graduating high school, Dean College was the first school that showed interest in him, but a lot of luck was involved to get him to land on the east coast. “In Blanco there is no basketball gym, so I drove to a gym 45 minutes away in San Antonio and the guy there, Clyde Niba, was on a business trip for an engineering job in San Antonio, and he played at Dean when it was a JUCO and then transferred to Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I joined in with him when he was working out, and he asked me where I played. I told him I was going into my senior year and had no offers. He told me to send him my highlight tape and my information, and he messaged it out to coaches he knew, including Coach Cabral, who messaged me the next morning. If not for him, I would not even have known what Dean was or heard of it, and nor would I be on the east coast because a lot of the other opportunities were local Division III schools in Texas, Illinois, and JUCOs I had to do workouts for.”
Sampeck also chose Dean because of the welcoming environment that he felt when he first arrived on campus for a tour. “My connection with Coach Cabral and Coach Rico certainly helped me in my search. Once I came to visit, I liked the atmosphere since it was a place I could live and grow to be able to go to school. I also liked everyone I met and that was also important to my parents, as well as the fact that it is a community environment. I also like that they are partnered with The Kraft Group because that [sports management] is something I want to do after graduating. I also have family in Connecticut, and Dean was relatively closer than some other schools that were interested in me that were further away. Plus, I did not have as much of a relationship or talks with those coaches.”
While Sampeck is from Texas and goes to school in a different part of the country, he does not see as much of a difference when it comes to the culture in Texas compared to Massachusetts. However, he does acknowledge that the weather is much colder in New England than it is in Texas. “When I was first coming up to Massachusetts a lot of people talked about people from New England being not as friendly as people in Texas. However, I have not experienced that as much, and everyone is super nice. The only difference for me is that it is super cold, and everyone from my family that moved from Connecticut to Texas tells me ‘I don’t know why you are going back, you are going to hate it because there is a reason we moved to Texas.’ Although, I don’t mind it as much because if you bundle up you are fine. I like the snow too because when we get the first snow of the winter, I get a burst of energy and is my best day all year. In Texas it usually gets as low as 30 degrees with windchill as we are in the hills, and in the summer, it gets to 100 degrees. Before I moved up here, I only owned hoodies and no winter coats.” Sampeck does acknowledge that it could be possible that he does not see as much of a difference in culture considering that he lived in San Antonio for 16 years where he experienced a lot of diverse cultures, so he did not experience a culture shock when he first came to New England.
When Sampeck reflects on his time while here at Dean, he has no regrets, and he believes that if he were to go back to do it all over again, he would not change anything. “I have put 110% in at working hard and building my way up through the program.” Sampeck says his favorite memory while on the court for the Bulldogs would have to be his game winning shot versus Worcester State University this season.
With Senior Day approaching, Sampeck has some bittersweet emotions in his mind because while he is happy to be graduating, he is also sad to see his basketball career end as basketball is all that he has known since he was three years old. “I think it will be emotional obviously, but I will be very happy at the same time. I may cry. I try not to in those situations, but I am a sucker for that. I think I will be sad since this is something I have done for my whole life and is the only thing that I know. It is also the result of the hard work and commitment from the past 18 years of my life, and now it is closing this chapter of my life. I think it is also bittersweet for how hard I’ve tried and doing things others, including myself, thought I would not be able to do. It also goes to show what hard work can lead to from not getting as much playing time freshman and sophomore year to then becoming the captain of the team my junior year.”
Sampeck’s goal for the team, as well as individually, is to win the conference championship, and with their win on Thursday versus Elms College they will have their chance as the 12th seed in the conference tournament. “We really believe we are much better than our record says. The ball hasn’t bounced our way, but we still believe we can do something, especially in a conference tournament. We just want to take it as far as we can and win the championship because we believe we are better than the other teams in our conference.”
Sampeck is still in the middle of finalizing his plans for after he graduates in May, but he is looking at working in the sports marketing field or sponsorship sales either in the Boston area or back home in Texas. He would also like to stay involved in basketball as a skills trainer on the side.
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