Not many people can say that basketball has changed their life, but for junior center Gregory Echenique the game has been a defining factor in his journey thus far.

Echenique was born in Caracas, Venezuela where he lived until the age of 15. At 14 Echenique was invited to a basketball clinic in Caracas where Sergio Rouco, the former head men’s basketball coach of Florida International University, recognized the potential in the young man.

“He talked to my parents and said he had contacts in New Jersey that would allow me to play basketball and go to school there,” Echenique said. “I could also live there because it was a boarding school.”

So at the tender age of 15 Gregory left Venezuela for St. Benedict’s Prep in New Jersey. It is often very tough for freshmen in college to leave home for the first time, but doing so at just 15 years old and going to a foreign country where you do not speak the language very well was incredibly difficult. Luckily there were people ready and waiting to make sure that Echenique transitioned as smoothly as possible. Scott Smith, a former assistant coach for St. Benedict’s, acted as a mentor for Echenique during his time in high school.

“During high school since I didn’t have any family here one of the assistant coaches, Scott, let me come over to his house on weekends so I used to stay there,” Echenique said. “

He understood that it was hard to stay at the school. He has three children close to my age so they eventually became my host, family and to this day I am still very close to them.”

One way that Echenique has been able to stay in touch with his family and his home land is by playing on the Venezuelan national team. Echenique’s father, Jose, played in Venezuela for 17 years and spent three years with the national team. Echenique has carried on the family tradition and every year since he was a junior in high school Echenique has gone back over the summer to play with the team.

“It is a very cool program,” Echenique said. “I got to know a lot of cool places. It’s something in the long run that is going to help me. I am able to help my country and that is something that a lot of guys don’t get to do so I feel very fortunate about it.”

As one of the youngest guys on the team, Echenique has learned a lot by playing with older players and hopes to continue to learn and grow so that one day he can help foster a young player himself. He said he also hopes to bring all the skills he has learned over the summer to the Creighton team this season.

There are a lot of expectations for the Creighton men’s team this year and Echenique is a big part of that. If you haven’t heard the Jays are currently ranked No. 1 in the MVC conference and No. 34 in the country.

“It’s exciting; people are respecting us more,” Echenique said. “It’s a great program with a lot of history and hopefully we can bring that back. It is definitely a motivation; it puts more pressure on us to practice harder. The idea of having to perform and accomplish something is present every single day.”

There is definitely anticipation in the air as the team gets ready to kick off the season. The team has set a goal to get back to the NCAA tournament and bring back that old Creighton glory to the program. Echenique says it is important to set those goals but to also take it one step at a time.

Although the junior has had incredible basketball success, he remains very humble and lives by the simple motto that his father shared with him as a youth.

“My dad told me that everyone on the court is the same,” Echenique said. “On the national team, the professional players should have the upper hand, but thinking that everyone is the same gives you the upper hand and more confidence. This allows me to never be nervous or scared of who I am playing against. “

Echenique’s basketball journey has taken him from Caracas, Venezuela to Newark, N.J. and now to Omaha, Nebr. He has shown that through hard work and determination anything is possible. I look forward to the great future ahead of Echenique and the Bluejays and hope to see them on my bracket in March.

“If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything”- Marty McFly