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Youth Players
Julianna “JuJu” Mesinas is capturing the eyes of local scouts and coaches in the State of Arizona because of her incredible basketball skills for a player her age. She attended the recent ELV8 Rising Stars Showcase at Pueblo High School in Tucson, Arizona, and she solidified herself as one of the top players in the 2031 class.
JuJu started playing basketball about 4 years ago. The late superstar Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi were killed in a helicopter accident in January of 2020. The death of Kobe and Gigi Bryant is what inspired JuJu when she was a small kid. “Kobe and Gigi were the main reason for why I started playing.” Mesinas has adopted several traits of the basketball icon and legend. “Kobe had a passion and love for the game, we both have that in common, she said, and the Mamba Mentality is my lifestyle and whenever I play and train I like to honor them through that.”
JuJu says her goals in basketball are to continue to get better and eventually win an 8th grade championship next year and someday play in college. She also has some other lofty goals. “My ultimate goals right now are to play Varsity High School basketball as a freshman and to go on to play college basketball one day.”
Mesinas is already laying the groundwork to reach those goals. She spends at least 5 days a week on her training and practicing. She works out with a shooting coach 2 days a week, and she works on agility and conditioning 2 days a week. Her club team is Humble Savage and they are playing almost every weekend in local tournaments. Needless to say, as a 7th grade athlete, she has definitely adopted the “Mamba Mentality.”
This was Juju’s first Showcase experience which is much different than most organized basketball events. She performed extremely well especially considering the fact that she was one of just a few 7th graders playing against several 8th graders. “I liked the challenge. The pace, the competition, and being tested against other serious players pushed me to lock in and raise my level of play.”
JuJu Mesinas is not only a terrific Basketball player for her age but she is genuine, she is caring, she is tough, and she is humble. She doesn't just talk about “Mamba Mentality,’ she embraces it and she lives it. My guess is that Kobe and Gigi Bryant are following Juju as she lives her basketball journey and that they are two of her biggest fans. For the record, I am a big fan as well.