Boys' Basketball Player of the Year: Sequoia's N'Jai LeBlanc

A three-year varsity starter, LeBlanc started his Sequoia career as a shooter and, by the time he finished his senior season, had developed into arguably the best all-around point guard on the Peninsula, thus earning him the Daily Journal’s Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year honor.

“Junior year was real inconsistent because of my mindset and physicality. If you look from my freshman year to senior year, I’m a completely different player,” LeBlanc said. “That’s from playing a lot of basketball, but also being physically able to do the things I wanted to do.

“Losing that weight opened up so many more lanes for my game.”

LeBlanc led the way during the Cherokees’ 25-6 campaign. Sequoia finished second in the Peninsula Athletic League’s South Division — finishing a game behind regular-season champ Menlo-Atherton as the teams split the regular-season series.

But the Cherokees and Bears weren’t done yet. They met for a third time in the PAL tournament championship game, with the Cherokees posting a 68-65 win. A fourth meeting came in the consolation round of the Central Coast Section Open Division bracket and again Sequoia came out on top, 66-63.

And just for good measure, the Cherokees went out and boat raced Serra in the CCS consolation final by a 75-62 decision that was not as close as the final score appears. In LeBlanc’s final high school game, a 70-66 loss to Folsom in the Northern California playoffs, LeBlanc shot 59 percent from the field on 10 of 17 shooting, finishing with 28 points — the ninth time he topped the 20-point mark this season.

Sequoia coach Fine Lauese said during LeBlanc’s sophomore year he knew he had his point guard of the future, but he had a lot of growing to do — both on and off the court. But as LeBlanc started to show the necessary dedication in the classroom, that transferred over to the basketball court.

“He’s grown in many ways, especially as a student,” Lauese said. “He’s come a long way. His junior year, he picked it up and senior year I didn’t have to check (his eligibility) any more.”

Lauese, however, knew there would be even more growing pains LeBlanc’s junior year, when the coach basically dumped everything he wanted onto his burgeoning point guard, knowing full well there would be some bumps in the road.

“His junior year we had him doing a whole bunch of stuff,” Lauese said. “I think we were asking way too much.”

But the added workload prepared him for this, his senior year, and with a firm grasp of the Cherokee’s system, the team took off. LeBlanc averaged 18 points per game, good for 10th in the Central Coast Section overall, according to MaxPreps.com, and third among point guards. He was fourth in the section in 3-pointers made. LeBlanc had a knack for stuffing the stat sheet for the Cherokees this season. In addition to his 18 points per game, he also averaged nearly five assists and five rebounds, and just over two steals per game.

The point production should come as no surprise. It’s the one aspect of the game that he worked on the most as he was growing up. He said his dad would take him to the basketball court at the local playground where he would run liners and shoot free throws. The thinking being you don’t shoot the ball in the game of basketball without being tired.

“[My dad] would have me run, more than anything. If you’re shooting when you’re not tired, you’re not shooting,” LeBlanc said. “I’ve always been comfortable (shooting). If I’m open, I’m shooting it. Sometimes I don’t even know where I am on the court.”

That was most evident in Sequoia’s PAL tournament first-round matchup against Westmoor, when LeBlanc went for a career-high 33 points in an 85-61 win. He was 12 of 16 from the field and 7 for 8 from behind the 3-point line.

While LeBlanc has refined his shooting stroke, he’s also added the nuances to the game that don’t often show up in the numbers. At only 6-feet tall, he plays much bigger than his height and, while he lost some weight, he’s still a big guard. He’s learned the little intricacies of the game — a little nudge to find space here, use his lower body to root a defender away from a rebound, give a little push off there — all the nuances that enabled LeBlanc’s game to flourish.

“I’m way bigger than most guards, so I had to learn how to use my body,” LeBlanc said. “Junior year, in all honesty ... I was out of shape. I couldn’t make plays down the stretch. Losing weight actually made me stronger.”

That weight loss has made LeBlanc stronger in so many aspects of his life.