-- Story written by Assistant Coach Derek Spanellis --

You never truly know how much you'll miss something until it's gone. Fortunately for Cardinal hoops' seniors Antone Walker and Jordan "Jimmy" James, this year is less of a goodbye and more of a… see you later. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, both would-be seniors decided to forego the 2020-21 academic year so that they could preserve their eligibility and return to Middletown to finish both their Wesleyan degrees and their basketball careers. 

This layoff is just a small bump in what has been a long journey. Both Antone and Jordan were highly recruited coming out of high school. When deciding to come to Wesleyan, both cited the search for the combination of excellent academics and high-level basketball. Jordan noted that other schools that were recruiting him also met these standards, but "It was the people that separated Wes from the rest of the pack."  

Antone added that his visit with the basketball team, specifically, had a huge impact on his decision, "seeing how close the guys were, really had an effect on me. The environment they created was so welcoming… I felt like I was on the team already."

Both have been central pieces of the program since they set foot on campus. Together, they have been a part of 52 wins, two NESCAC tournament appearances, multiple Little Three victories, and getting the honor of hosting two NCAA tournament games for the first time in program history. 

On an individual level, Jordan has been rocking the rims in Silloway Gymnasium since day one. He has dunked his way to a career mark of 616 points on 64% shooting, to go along with 377 rebounds and 87 blocks. Antone has used his quickness and high basketball IQ to amass 881 career points to go along with 186 assists. 

Both Antone and Jordan believe their basketball experience at Wesleyan has helped shape them into the men that they are today and has helped to prepare them for life after they leave Middletown. Antone cited that the program has "a culture of pushing each other both inside the lines and outside the lines… when I went to the library to study with the guys, I knew I was always going to have someone to motivate me to try and do the best I could in my classes."  

Both of these young men are also excellent students. Jordan is a psychology and economics double major, and Antone is a music and economics double major. Jordan has made the dean's list three times, while Antone has maintained a 3.4 cumulative GPA throughout his career. They have managed to parlay their good work in the classroom into fantastic professional opportunities. 

During their year away from Wesleyan, Jordan and Antone have been living in an apartment together in Philadelphia, along with student assistant coach, Leo Clibanoff '22. Both have found ways to be super productive in advancing their lives outside of Wesleyan.

Jordan has been working as an intern with the CAVA Group, LLC. He has mainly worked with the HR department and has assisted in the development and implementation of diversity initiatives within the company. This great opportunity comes after Jordan has already held previous internships with Uno Restaurant Holdings, LLC (Financial Planning), and Yale Conferences and Events (Operations Coordinator). He has used this experience to land a 2021 summer position as an analyst for Evercore, with their mergers and acquisitions office in New York.  

Antone is working on some entrepreneurial self-employment opportunities, as well as creating original music. He has impressive internship experience in his own right, having worked as a content creation intern with the Players' Lounge start-up company in New Orleans, as well as being an A&R intern with Atlantic Records in Los Angeles in the summer of 2019.  

Antone and Jordan are also very focused on impacting the communities around them. Antone hopes to one day be an A&R executive so that he can discover artists and help them reach people through music. Jordan hopes to go into investment banking, and maybe one day own his own business or be a venture capitalist. He says he will be happy as long as he can look back and know that he made a difference in the world.  

Both of them have already begun doing just that. They were each instrumental in the founding of the Athletes Taking Action Challenge, having raised over $80,000 dollars for social justice efforts.  

Both young men credit their overall experience at Wesleyan for putting them in positions to succeed and create change. Antone spoke of his personal development saying, "my time at Wesleyan taught me to be my own person, to be okay with who I am, and to be proud of who I want to be." 

Jordan noted that coming to Wesleyan was one of the best decisions of his life, saying, "if I could go back and make that decision 100 more times, I would pick Wes again, 100 more times."  

We, as the Wesleyan men's basketball program, are very proud of these two exemplary young men, and cannot wait to have them back in Middletown for their final season.