Girls: Ford Is High Performance
With her game improving seemingly every day, 6'2" forward Julie Ford (Cooperstown '18) is slowly starting to become one of the more impressive post players in New York so it's no surprise that college coaches are now starting to pay attention as well.
A lot can change for a player in a year. Last year at this time Ford considered herself someone who hadn't actually developed a game yet. She went out and played, and used her size to her advantage in most situations, but she wasn't truly a basketball player at that point.
Fast forward to now and Ford has become a true dominant force in the paint, averaging a double-double this past season for Cooperstown H.S., and showing that hard work does truly pay off.
"I have gotten a lot better over the past few months I feel. I'm boxing out and I am posting up and I am able to show off real skills," Ford said about her improvements.
Ford still says that while he back to the basket and face up offense game is good, comfortable scoring either way, it's her dribbling focus that she wants to work on even more this summer and improve on to become a true all around weapon next season for Cooperstown.
On the AAU circuit with the NY Havoc this summer, Ford is thriving as someone who can not only score with ease around the rim, but someone who can also step up and show off a very strong midrange game, an area on the floor where Ford says she can play and thrive at when asked.
"I will play wherever really," Ford said. "I have guarded guards at times where I had to stretch myself more outside and I was able to do that, but I really do consider myself a 4 and a post player."
At this point last year Ford said she had just a couple Division 3 schools interested, but with her ability to control the paint as she has proven on both the H.S. and AAU levels, she now says she has a shoebox of letters that she has recently received, with Hofstra, Monmouth, and Delaware among the most active in recruiting her at the moment.
Even more should be on the way as well, along with her first Division 1 offer as she is currently showcasing her skills at the USJN Nationals in Washington D.C. with the Havoc, and while she admits she has improved a lot over the past year, Ford says she doesn't reflect back on how far she has come, wanting instead to focus on the future and what may be coming ahead for her.
"I don't really look back. The past is the past. I really only look towards the future and the player I hope to become."
