Josiah Heath loves to play basketball. But his family and education are equally important to the 6-foot-8 forward from Irondequoit High School. So when picking a college, he took those three things into consideration.
The result he came up with was Canisius College of Buffalo. Heath verbally committed to the Division 1 school of the MAAC Conference and plans to sign an official letter of intent over the next few weeks.
“It has always been a dream of mine to play Division 1, but that wasn’t the most important thing,” he said. “I wanted a place that had a good basketball program, that had a good history of academics and a place where I could be close to my family where they could watch me play.”
Heath had a huge senior season in leading the Eagles to their first sectional title in 66 years. He averaged 21.1 points over the regular season and had 26 points and 27 rebounds in the sectional finals over Greece Athena.
“Josiah has never been afraid to work hard,” said coach Chris Cardon. “Earlier this year he said to me I am not leaving here without getting a sectional title and he brought the team together and went on a run. He has great hands for a big man, probably because he played baseball for a long time. He has real good core strength and has the ability to get stronger. He definitely has what it takes to be successful at the next level and will work at everything it will take to make him better.”
Heath said he was told by coach Tom Parotta that everyone that comes to Canisius has to work for playing time and he liked that about the coach.
“He was a real straight shooter and kept it real,” Heath said. “You have to work for playing time and those who do and are the best will get the most time. The door is open but I am prepared to work for anything that I need to.”
Heath’s brother Jordan plays basketball at Roberts Wesleyan and gave his younger brother some good advice.
“He said college is an experience and there will be parties and other distractions, but that I am an athlete and need to focus on my academics and athletics and not let other stuff get in the way.”
Heath will enter school undecided on a major and will try out some courses before making a decision. He will be living on campus.
Josiah Heath loves to play basketball. But his family and education are equally important to the 6-foot-8 forward from Irondequoit High School. So when picking a college, he took those three things into consideration.
The result he came up with was Canisius College of Buffalo. Heath verbally committed to the Division 1 school of the MAAC Conference and plans to sign an official letter of intent over the next few weeks.
“It has always been a dream of mine to play Division 1, but that wasn’t the most important thing,” he said. “I wanted a place that had a good basketball program, that had a good history of academics and a place where I could be close to my family where they could watch me play.”
Heath had a huge senior season in leading the Eagles to their first sectional title in 66 years. He averaged 21.1 points over the regular season and had 26 points and 27 rebounds in the sectional finals over Greece Athena.
“Josiah has never been afraid to work hard,” said coach Chris Cardon. “Earlier this year he said to me I am not leaving here without getting a sectional title and he brought the team together and went on a run. He has great hands for a big man, probably because he played baseball for a long time. He has real good core strength and has the ability to get stronger. He definitely has what it takes to be successful at the next level and will work at everything it will take to make him better.”
Heath said he was told by coach Tom Parotta that everyone that comes to Canisius has to work for playing time and he liked that about the coach.
“He was a real straight shooter and kept it real,” Heath said. “You have to work for playing time and those who do and are the best will get the most time. The door is open but I am prepared to work for anything that I need to.”
Heath’s brother Jordan plays basketball at Roberts Wesleyan and gave his younger brother some good advice.
“He said college is an experience and there will be parties and other distractions, but that I am an athlete and need to focus on my academics and athletics and not let other stuff get in the way.”
Heath will enter school undecided on a major and will try out some courses before making a decision. He will be living on campus.
In the meantime he would like to polish his game even more.
“I want to work on all aspects of my game, but mainly my ball handling and my shot from the perimeter,” he said. “I feel like I would be that tougher of a matchup if I can improve my outside game. I want to get stronger and be ready for college athletes.”
Heath said his time at Irondequoit has prepared him for what is to come.
“Playing for coach Cardon has been great, he really wants us to be great people before great basketball players,” Heath said. “I owe a lot to him.”
Cardon said the two will continue to work to improve Heath’s game.
Canisius finished 15-15 overall this season and 9-9 in the conference. The MAAC includes teams like Siena, Niagara, Fairfield and Manhattan.
