Eric Swoope
In every big game this year, boys’ basketball could count on Swoope to carry the team. He averaged 35 points per game against Loyola and led the Wolverines to their first undefeated Mission League record in 13 years.
Q: After such a successful career filled with plenty of individual accolades and team success, what thoughts come to mind when you look back at your Harvard-Westlake career?
A: Overall the things that come back as memories are all the hilarious times I had with my teammates spending all the time getting to where our dreams and ambitions took us both on and off the court. All the moments that have helped turn me into the person I am now and the hunger I still have for beating some of the teams we lost to.
Q: How do you think you grew as a player and a person during your Harvard-Westlake tenure?
A: Basically every aspect of my daily life was heavily impacted, meaning my mental focus to achieve small goals as well as big aspirations in games and in the classroom. My ability to be a leader and develop leadership qualities grew through my experiences, as well as learning how to help teammates. This year especially I developed an overall killer instinct and I especially thank the coaches and my big brother for that because they really stayed on me about sacrificing everything to push myself to play the best I can. Lastly, I saw just how much fun the game of basketball is even with all the pressures of college recruitment, academics, stress etc. At the end of the day basketball is always what I want to play and be involved in.
Nicole Hung
Hung was so good at basketball that it was easy to forget that she played tennis, much less as the number one doubles player. However, Hung’s most significant achievements undoubtedly came on the court, where she was the go-to scorer for the state champions.
Q: What is the transition like from playing tennis full time to playing basketball?
A: Usually the first two weeks when I come back to basketball are pretty rough. The difference in conditioning from doubles tennis to basketball is huge. Usually I am able to work on basketball technique during tennis season but I don’t have time to do a lot of conditioning like running on the track so I am always pretty out of shape at the beginning of season.
Q: What do you think is the most important thing that you have taken away from competing on two different varsity teams for four years?
A: I think that both sports complimented each other. Tennis is tougher mentally and that helped me in the basketball season but then basketball was about cooperating with other people and being more part of a team so I just think that I was able to take aspects of both sports and use them to my advantage.
