Starting from the age 5, senior Dante Mayo Jr. has been in love with basketball, drawing inspiration from his dad and his mom who bought him his first mini hoop. From ages 5 to 8, he played for his local recreational team. At 9 he joined his first club team, Germantown Heat until his sophomore year when he joined Inspire Elite Adidas Gold, where he still plays. 

Dante Mayo steps back to strategize his next move at RM’s home game against John F. Kennedy High School. In the final minute, Mayo scored his and the team’s last 3 pointer of the game, overtaking Kennedy for the lead. 

Since his freshman year, Mayo has secured a spot on the varsity team at every tryout. Different than his rec. teams, playing for the high school team “feels like more of a family than the club, because we all go to the same school and we spend a lot of time together each day during the season,” Mayo said. Throughout the season the team has traveled far and wide to tournaments and showcases, building their bond even stronger than the average team. “A lot of us have been friends since the beginning. We have such a great relationship and this makes our chemistry better too, which is why I love playing with this team so much,” he said. 

As the game comes to a close, Mayo seeks advice from his coach, and RM faculty member, David Breslaw. 

With tensions high and the clock ticking down, Mayo scans the court in effort to plan his next moves. 

A lot different than rec teams, playing for the high school presents a fun, and close-knit atmosphere for its athletes. For Mayo, he has been not only playing with most of these people for his whole life, but he has also been friends with them and that makes the bond of the team that much better. Whether it is on the court during practice or going out to lunch, Dante always enjoys time spent with the team.  

With under 4 minutes left in the game, Mayo dribbles around the defender in search of an open pass to score another point for RM.