ST. JOE’S BASKETBALL THRIVING WITH BLENMAN

The St. Joe’s varsity basketball program has been flourishing in 2024-25, and while basketball is a team game one man has undoubtedly been the catalyst for the Marauders.

His name is Nate Blenman, and he’s one of the best players in Western New York.

Blenman, a junior in his first year with the Marauders, has been averaging 15.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and two blocks per game through 12 outings. In that time St. Joe’s has gone 10-3 overall and 5-1 in Monsignor Martin play, and coach Cooper Calzonetti has liked what he’s seen so far from him.

“When he decided to make the move to come over, he's added not only his size and his skill to us but I was really just excited for what he could be,” Calzonetti said following a recent win over Bishop Timon. “I think he's one of the best players in Western New York, and he’s obviously the best big man in Western New York. 

“Our guards like Jahmeir Goosby, Gionni Zelasko, Mekhi Gidney, Mahli Shabazz – these guys have never played with a guy like him. But also, he's never played with guards as talented as ours. So there's been some meshing every day, it doesn't look pretty but it looked good tonight.”

The 6’6” power forward was lauded by his coach for his leadership skills and his work ethic.

“Nate comes to work every day, and he stays after practice every day and he shoots,” Calzonetti said. “He wants to be coached. He's energetic. He's an awesome kid. His parents are awesome, and he's gelled with these guys so much more. You see it every single day. 

“The biggest thing for Nate is, I'm really impressed by how vocal he's become as a leader. That’s hard when you're transferring in and not knowing these guys, but you grow up with them. He's telling guys to lock in. He's asking questions. He's correcting guys on the floor, and guys are listening when he talks. He's just growing up.”

Blenman’s contributions to the Marauders’ program have been immense, and his play has lifted the ability of all his teammates. While he may be the focus of other teams’ scouting reports, he can also take comfort in knowing that his teammates can lift him on an off-night and that their collective work ethic can take them as far as they want to go.

“When you add him with guards like we have – four really good seniors – every single night they know it's gonna be a different guy who can make a difference,” Calzonetti said. “It's great to see these guys grow as people and as basketball players.

“The one thing I'm really excited for is that we have six seniors that play for us. Five of them are going to go play college basketball, and our practices are really college-like. We have a lot of talent, and we don't play our first five versus our second five in practice – we mix and match guys, and I think that only makes us better. I'm just really excited for this group and where we can go.”