Andrew DaCosta’s evolution on the basketball court into a confident leader has a lot to do with what he has done off the court.
After starting for the Bordentown Regional High boys basketball team as a sophomore, DaCosta began practicing meditation in his training regimen. The Scotties senior guard/forward felt good about his physical workouts that had helped him improve, and wanted to work on the mental side as well.
“I added meditating around my AAU games because I wanted to add more confidence to my game, and I wanted to be able to focus more on my game,” DaCosta said. “I wasn’t as confident or focused going into my games. I would sometimes get a little distracted, or I wouldn’t be able to focus on being the best player I could be.
“By meditating I was able to add a little more focus to my game, I was able to establish what I want. I was able to truly relax my nerves and go into games prepared.”
DaCosta is in the midst of another good season for the Scotties, who were 5-8 at the midpoint of the season, sitting only one game behind Burlington Township for the top of the Burlington County Scholastic League Patriot Division. One of three returning starters, DaCosta has raised his team-leading scoring average to 16.2 points per game after averaging 15.8 points per game in a breakout junior year.
“I feel like we haven’t reached our full potential yet,” DaCosta said. “I feel like we’re still putting the pieces together, still learning, still growing each game as we move forward throughout the season.”
DaCosta has taken on a bigger leadership role in his final season at Bordentown, and assumed the responsibilities of a three-year starter and experienced player while trying to more broadly impact the team.
Meditation helps him deal with the pressures of the season. He typically finds more time to meditate before home games, but also frequently makes time to meditate before going to bed.
“That’s something I find peaceful before games, after games, anytime that I’m truly bored I usually use that time to rest my mind and apply more focus to my game and apply more focus to everything in life as well,” said DaCosta.
DaCosta is also an avid reader in his spare time, which brings him a peacefulness and takes his mind off basketball. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he also took up cooking, and has found enjoyment in experimenting with different styles and preparing meals for his parents.
“Baked ziti is my best dish,” DaCosta said. “I’m able to use multiple cheeses and multiple pastas to make up a good pasta.”
Just as he has advanced in other parts of his life, DaCosta has seen steady growth on the basketball court thanks to his efforts. Adding meditation just augmented his development.
“I was able to gain more confidence for sure because I was able to relax my nerves and gain a little more focus as well,” DaCosta said. “I was able to get on the court and apply everything that I’ve learned to the game. I’ll say focus and confidence were the two main things I was able to add to my game from meditation.”
His game reflects his improvements. His scoring has risen each season. He also brings rebounding and defense to the Scotties along with his vocal leadership. DaCosta wasn’t shy about speaking up as a junior, but has taken another step forward this season. That’s something that second-year head coach Steve Perry appreciates out of DaCosta. He’s been reliable in every area of the game.
“First of all, he’s a great leader,” Perry said. “He’s always encouraging guys, even if he’s on the bench taking a break. He holds guys accountable. He’s vocal. That’s important first and foremost. He’s our leading scorer, he’s also our leading rebounder, he blocks shots, he’s a good defender, and he’s got a high basketball IQ. So all those things make for a really good basketball player.”
Perry has been coaching in the program for 13 years, and he has seen DaCosta’s development in the midst of recent coaching transitions in the program. DaCosta’s growth has been noticeable to the longtime coach.
“I think it was a little bit tough for him, even coming into last year,” Perry said. “I was actually the third head coach that he would have played for. There were a lot of changes. He’s always been vocal and held guys accountable, including himself.
“His confidence though has really rocketed over the last couple of years. How vocal he is, not just in terms of being a leader, but we talk about defense is about communication and things like that. He’s vocal on the court and his basketball IQ has gotten much better as well.”
DaCosta looks at the coaching changes in a positive light. Each coach was demanding and shared different insights that helped him develop. And older teammates pushed him to improve, and he embraced the chance to grow off the court. He’s a far more advanced player now as a senior than when he came into Bordentown.
“I feel like it mainly has been with my confidence,” said DaCosta. “As a freshman I wasn’t really prepared, I was coming in not knowing much. I was getting very little minutes on varsity. Going throughout the years, I began to gain confidence and began to be able to work with my teammates and be able to work on my game. I felt like that helped me grow my scoring, my defensive ability, my rebounding, all these essential factors that helped improve my game.”
DaCosta isn’t done growing yet. He is hoping to continue his career in college, where he would slide to his more natural guard position after playing one of the bigger spots for Bordentown. That would enable him to put more attention into his guard playmaking. DaCosta has shown his versatility in scoring and defending regardless of who he’s up against in high school games.
“He’s a three-level scorer,” Perry said. “He can get to the rim, he has a nice midrange shot and he can certainly shoot behind the arc. He’s also sneaky long. Once he gets up to the rim, he has a way of finishing around the rim that I think surprises people. He’s only 6-2, or 6-2½ so I think he surprises people, but he gets off the ground really well. That certainly helps with his scoring abilities.”
DaCosta came into Bordentown more of a driving threat, but he worked at his outside shot to be a more complete player. Scoring is an important part of what he brings, but he sees the value of being a leader this year as equally big. He’s hoping that he can guide the Scotties to be more consistent over the second half of the season.
“I feel like my overall presence in leadership ways — being able to be vocal, it can help bring more energy to the team,” DaCosta said. “If I always remain vocal and try to teach my teammates more and try to boost our overall confidence, I feel like that can help us a lot. If I can remain vocal and remain supportive of my teammates, we can all do better. Me just trying to work alongside my teammates, not try to be selfish, not try to do my own thing, but mainly work as one helps. If we all move well on the court and be one team, that can be important to our success.”
After starting 2-2, including a narrow three-point loss to Burlington Township, the Scotties lost three straight thought they were competitive in a pair of losses by a total of five points. Wins over Northern Burlington, Burlington City and Doane Academy around strong efforts in losses to Trenton Catholic and Holy Cross gave Bordentown confidence that they can play with anyone and push for a division crown.
“A couple essential factors that I think could play a role in more success for us is our rebounding and our defense,” said DaCosta. “I feel like if we can improve our rebounding and boxing out that can definitely add a couple more wins and definitely help us beat Township. There’s defensive factors as well. If we can stop the ball and allow fewer paint touches, allow fewer easier buckets, that can definitely influence the game as well.
“If we’re a little more aggressive going into these games, we’ll definitely get a lot more wins. Sometimes we go into the games up at half, and if we’re able to close out a couple more of these games with a lot more focus in these games we can definitely have more success, especially against Burlington Township, a team we know we can beat, that we were so close to beating as well.”
Andrew DaCosta averaged 16.2 points through Bordentown’s first 13 games this season.,
