Glory Days Magazine publisher Dave O’Sullivan recently caught up with Ocean City senior forward Connor Laverty, an 18-year-old Upper Township resident, to talk some basketball, Garrett Jones’ hair and how Laverty would fare in a game of one-on-one against Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant. Sully: How has this season been going in your mind? You guys are a game out of second place in the CAL National. You guys have to feel pretty confident, right? Laverty: We feel like we are in a good position now. We definitely could have played a little better in a couple of games throughout the course of the season, but that happens. We won the games we feel we should have won, which is the most important thing. So we feel pretty good about where we are right now. Sully: How do you feel like you have been playing? You’ve been asked to do a little bit more this year and your game is evolving. How do you feel like you are playing now that you are a senior? Laverty: It’s great to be a senior. It’s definitely the best team I’ve had since I’ve been in high school. I have a real good group of guys around me and I feel like I’ve been playing pretty well. It always makes you better when you have good players around you. Sully: Is there anything in particular you worked on this offseason to try to get better for this year? Laverty: My sophomore year, I kind of shot a little bit more, and junior year my percentage went down a little bit. I took more shots, but between junior and senior year I focused on shooting. I’m going to have to work on that in college because I’m going to be more of a wing than a big man. So I just worked on that. I haven’t been shooting that great, but hopefully the hard work will pay off. Sully: What was it like opening the season against St. Augustine Prep? Sa’eed Nelson is probably the best player in South Jersey. Kind of a tough season opener for you guys, right? 
Ocean City senior Connor Laverty goes in for a layup against Pleasantville earlier this month. Laverty notched career point No. 1,000 this week. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) Laverty: It’s kind of good to open the season with a game like that. It wakes you up. They are definitely one of, if not the best team, in South Jersey. I’d rather play them opening night. They get better as the season goes on. We’d like to play them again. We didn’t play to our potential. Sully: What makes Nelson such a tough player to guard? I haven’t seen anybody who can really stay with him in South Jersey the last two years or so. What makes him such a special player? Laverty: He’s really just smooth. It seems like he switches speeds seamlessly. He can pass, he can shoot. I think the most important thing he did this offseason was improve his shot. Sully: Are you surprised to be averaging about 17 points per game, or is that sort of what you expected? Laverty: I’m just hoping to do what I did last year. I felt like I did what was necessary last year. This year, we have guys who have improved even more and are stepping up. Wherever the points come from, as long as we get the win, that’s all that matters. Sully: What do you think is the potential for this team? You guys have been playing well through the first 12 or 13 games, but it’s a tough stretch to try to get into that CAL tournament and the state playoffs. Do you guys think you can make some noise in those tournaments? Laverty: We’re confident and we’re working hard. Our goal is to prove that we are a good team, so that’s what we’d like to do, for sure. Sully: How cool is Garrett Jones’ hair? Laverty: It’s definitely cool. I think the summer of his eighth grade year is when he started growing it. It’s all real. Sully: Do you guys ever suggest different colors for the tips? Laverty: He started the season with blonde, and then at New Year’s he switched to red. Maybe for playoffs it will be something different. Sully: Are you mad that there isn’t a huge head sign of you in the student cheering section? Laverty: No. He definitely deserves that. I don’t have the hair like that. It definitely works better with Garrett. Sully: Who is the funniest guy on road trips when you have to take a 45-minute bus ride? Laverty: I’m going to go with two, (Jimmy) Flukey and (Andrew) Donoghue. Sully: Who is the best basketball player in the Laverty family? Laverty: My mom and I are probably tied. Sully: What about (younger sister) Brenna? Laverty: She’s getting there, but not yet. Give her a year or two. Sully: What’s the toughest thing about the winter season? It’s 25 degrees when you’re getting out of a game, you’re getting home late and you have to do homework. Does that ever wear on you? Laverty: Yeah, for sure. I focus on using my time in school as much as possible. Whenever I have free time in school I’m getting my work done so that when I get home I have the least amount to do as possible. Sully: Did you catch up on some movies during Winter Storm Jonus? Laverty: I watched a couple, yeah. Sully: What’s the best basketball movie of all time? Laverty: My favorite is Glory Road. And Hoosiers is probably up there. Sully: Who is your favorite NBA player of all time? Laverty: I’m going to go with two, Chris Paul and John Stockton. And Bird, too. That’s who I model my game after. Sully: Who would you want to play one-on-one if you had the chance? Laverty: Probably Kevin Durant. Sully: Think you could score on him in a game up to 11? Laverty: If he tried his hardest, I think maybe I could get one point. Sully: What’s the toughest thing about Ocean City High School when you get to May? It’s 75 degrees out, you’re right next to the beach. How hard is it to concentrate on schoolwork? Laverty: It’s definitely difficult, especially this year being a senior. I mean, it’s alright. The teachers even get a little bit lenient around that time. They want to go to the beach just as bad as we do. Sully: Has senioritis kicked in yet? Laverty: Nah, not yet. Probably after the season. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
I got the mic: Connor Laverty, Ocean City boys basketball
