Ayiloge motivated on the court

By JADEN FORTIER

Staff Writer

Since watching the NBA at a young age, Busola Ayiloge has been infatuated with the game of basketball.

She was introduced to the sport when she watched the Los Angeles Lakers win the 2010 NBA Finals with her family. When she saw LeBron James play in his first year with the Miami Heat, she was hooked.

“I thought he was just so cool and I looked up to him and how dominant he was,” said Ayiloge. “He was the embodiment of greatness to me.”

Ayiloge loved James ever since then, and was fascinated by him and other NBA players as she wanted “to be able to do what they did.”

With a growing love of basketball, at nine-years-old, Ayiloge’s parents put her in the Catholic Youth Organization or CYO, known for its youth sports programs.

Ayiloge has been a member of the Los Medanos College women’s basketball team since she enrolled as a freshman.

During her two years, she averaged the most points and rebounds for the team, and saw increases in every statistical category which she attributed “experience and consistency” toward her improvement.

“When you do something over and over again it becomes easier, so in my case the more and more I played,

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Calpine Corporation, was a representative at the event and was content with how busy their table was.

“It’s been great! It went much better than last time due to COVID-19,” said McBride, also stating that Calpine has “a lot of opportunities for students.”

Another employer had an interesting time at the event as they strive for students to become members of their company, as opposed to employees hired because they want to have a better relationship with their members.

“We need committed members to attend our five-year no-cost program. The minimum requirement is a C the better I became,” said Ayiloge, adding that the constant hours she spent working on her game and being on the team for a year helped her “understand the game better.”

Ayiloge prides herself in her abilities to stay hard-working and committed, as it separates her from others.

“I think I am very headstrong, I know what I want and I will go after it,” said Ayiloge. “With that comes being very self aware, and knowing myself well enough to put myself in a position to succeed. I understand my weaknesses and try to work on them.”

This aids Ayiloge on the basketball court, as it helps her never feel stagnant with her play and keeps her motivated to always improve. Ayiloge uses that motivation to develop into a well-rounded player performing at a high level on the court.

Determined to do whatever it takes for her team to succeed, Ayiloge describes her role on the court, as her “job is to score, but I know that I need to bring more to the table than just that for us to win.”

She compares her game to James, as he is known as one of the most well-rounded basketball players, and correlates her athleticism and ability to drive to the basket to him as well.

While Ayiloge’s progression as a player has mostly had its ups, grade or better in two semesters of algebra,” said Rachel Shoemake, assistant business manager at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers L.U. 302. she has gone through challenges of overcoming self-doubt. During stretches of the season when she wasn’t playing up to par, it affected her “love for the game.”

Even though some employers weren’t looking for immediate candidates, another employer seemed to have a few candidates who would be great for the position they are offering.

Eco-Services, an energy company that has catered southern California for over 15 years, enjoyed the personalities of the students they spoke to and also shared many of their own values to make it known for the students’ benefit.

“I think I put a lot of pressure on myself and wanted us to win so badly, so sometimes when we didn’t I would put a lot of blame on myself,” said Ayiloge.

However, playing for the LMC women’s basketball team allowed her to play basketball for fun and not feel as much pressure.

“My favorite part of being on this team is being able to play the game that I love,” Ayiloge said. “Basketball gives me such a rush and it’s an escape from any problems I’m facing in my life.”

Even though the team had its ups and downs this past season, Ayiloge was happy to see how resilient the entire team was and loved how she was able to grow not just as a person, but as a player.

“I have such a great relationship with all of my teammates and I think having such a close knit group helped us a lot this season when it came to chemistry,” Ayiloge said, adding that her teammates are some of the best people she’s met at LMC and her favorite people she’s played with.

Ayiloge is also grateful for the time playing under women’s basketball coach Richard Villegas.

“We are more of a smaller company, so we have more of a family environment within ourselves. Our top three values that we strive for are safety, family environment and integrity more than anything,” said Neil Baranik, controls and reliability engineer for Eco-Services.

The event was not just enjoyable to the employers, the LMC students who attended the event had great things to say about the job fair. Third-year student Raven Figeuroa, ETEC/ ITEC major, said he enjoyed his time speaking to different employers at the event.

“It was nice and refreshing learning about the different opportunities hits while the Falcons took the lead and never relinquished it.

In the top of the first inning, Naiya Watts singled home a run to give Solano an early 1-0 lead. However, their lead would not last long as Tamia Roberts led off for the Mustangs with a single and managed to advance to second following a throwing error by the Falcons. After stealing third, Roberts would come around to score on a wild pitch to tie the game at one.

In the second inning, Mustangs pitcher Charlize Howay struck out the side and swung the momentum back in favor of the Mustangs. In the bottom half of the inning, the Mustangs took a three run lead after run scoring singles from Natalia Sanchez and Melissa Becerra gave the Mustangs a 4-1 lead. However, the lead did not last long as the Falcons answered back with a three run rally of their own when Watts singled home two more runs and then later in the inning scored on a throwing error by Mustangs infielder Natalia Sanchez that tied the game at three.

In the top of the fourth inning, Howay had a runner on second with two outs and looked to keep the game tied at four. Bianca Belo-Diaz singled to left and the runner from second looked to score. Mustangs left fielder Isabella Gonzalez fielded the ball and threw the runner out at home plate. However, the runner was ruled safe and the run scored as the home plate umpire ruled Sanchez was in the way of the runner and obstruction was called, giving the Falcons a 5-4 lead.

The Mustangs immediately tied the game back up when Roberts scored on a single to left by Howay. However, this is all the Mustangs would score this inning. Priscilla Self singled to right and Howay tried to score, but was thrown out at home plate keeping the game tied at five. Solano retook the lead when Watts scored on a wild pitch that put the Falcons up 6-5.

The Mustangs bats went quiet as they recorded just two hits over the next three innings while Solano added another run in the seventh inning to secure a 7-5 victory over the Mustangs.

“Coach Villegas especially always showed up prepared and ready to give his all to the team whenever he was around us,” said Ayiloge, she added that he was very kind, and cared for everyone on the team as “people first, not players.”

Looking ahead, Ayiloge wants to be a nurse and hopes to transfer to nursing school within the next year. As of now, Ayiloge continues to train ahead of me,” said Figeuroa, also stating that his top three employers he spoke to were “Air Liquide, K2 Pure and UA Local 343.”

Another student also expressed his contentment with his experience at the job fair. David Diaz, an ETEC major, had a great time talking to employers looking for ETEC majors.

He wants to get a head-start on getting connections for his future after LMC and the job fair was just the opportunity to do that.

“I’m not applying to universities after LMC, I’m going to apply for jobs and get a fast start to know the different companies that I could potentially work for,” said Diaz, also and get better to make the team at whichever university she decides to attend. adding, “My favorite table at the fair was PBF Energy because the equipment that they work with is something that I know a lot about. My knowledge surrounding that equipment would help greatly.”

“I do want to keep playing basketball and I hope that when I transfer to a university I can walk on onto the basketball team there,” said Ayiloge.

As she continues to grow and develop as a player, Ayiloge has no plans on ending her playing career there.

LMC job fairs have been back in-person for the past three years after meeting virtually due to the pandemic.

Rodriguez mentioned another job fair will happen around May 4, focused on Nursing and Fire Department opportunities.

Similar to the Industrial Technology job fair but with different companies at each table, Rodriguez hopes for a similar turnout.