Nothing But Net Jasman Sangha

By Naina Grewal

their parents to support their son in exploring professional basketball. Eventually, Sangha’s parents began investing in him, pushing their child to give the sport of basketball his all. Sangha shares, “I remember my dad asking me who the best player in the NBA is and I think I named Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. He said you’ve got to be better than them.”

Excelling in sports, Sangha finished high school in Canada. Canadian universities wanted to recruit Sangha, but his heart was set on moving to the United States of America (USA). During a visit across the border to a local school, Sangha was spotted by a coach, who had trained the likes of Zion Williamson and Jaylen Brown. The coach offered to train Sangha all summer and open doors of opportunities. When Sangha got back to Canada, his parents were not on board; they wanted Sangha to accept a local Canadian scholarship offer. Of course, there were inhibitions about trusting a man that Sangha had only just met. His brother vouched for him yet again and even paid for Sangha’s flight, encouraging him to work hard and follow his dreams.

Sangha describes that it wasn’t all a smooth ride, “I had all these scholarship offers, but my coach told me that none of these schools would be able to take me since my grades were so low. Taking an alternative route, I then had to graduate from junior college first. Looking back, I realized I was way too focused on sports and friends in high school. I didn’t really balance things. I underwent a harsh reality check, but tried my best to turn things around.”

During his time in the USA, Sangha went through rigorous training. Moreover, Sangha was also putting in the work for prep school. As time went on, Sangha landed at Florida’s Pensacola State Junior College, where he was excelling athletically. However, Sangha received some bad news amidst his basketball season; his grandmother had stage four lung cancer and not long to live. When he heard the news, Sangha traveled back home to be with his grandma in her last days. After losing her, Sangha did return to his college, but his athletic performance declined, which led to him losing his starting spot. Soon after, COVID-19 shut down the world, giving Sangha the space to grieve and the time to renew his energy. After what he calls the toughest year of his life, Sangha emerged with a refreshed focus.