City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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For a select few, the draw of West Point is undeniable.

The United States Military Academy exerted that draw on Will Preston two years ago and on the day she helped drop her brother off to start his first summer as a cadet, Janie Preston felt it too. Will, who played football in high school at Conestoga, wasn’t going to West Point as an athlete but that day it was Janie, who was just starting to break out as a basketball player, who saw herself playing at Army.

Janie, a rising senior at Conestoga couldn’t refuse the draw of West Point, making the inevitable a reality when she committed to Army earlier this week and making her decision public Friday morning.

“This was where I always wanted to go, I was going to wait until after the last live period but I didn’t want to wait that long, I already knew what I wanted,” Preston said by phone Friday morning. “I didn’t want to take the risk of losing that spot.”

It’s been a breakout few months for Preston, who started the travel season with interest from a few D-IIIs including Scranton and some early talks with a handful of high academic D-Is. By the end of May, she’d picked up her first three offers from FDU, Albany and Army - she announced the offer from the Black Knights on May 28.

With a month left to go playing with a Lady Runnin’ Rebels White team that’s had plenty of college coaches watching this summer, Preston had originally planned to wait it out and make a decision at the end of the summer. Except that West Point pull remained strong and with Will - now through two years at the academy - home on a break to give his own push, Preston knew the decision was made.

She called up Army coach Missy Traversi on Monday and made her dream of more than two years into a reality.

“When my brother came home and I talked it through with him, I felt like there was no need to keep waiting,” Preston said. “I knew what I wanted and I only wanted to go to Army.

“(Traversi) sent me a video from the team to welcome me, it was short but my whole family was there so it was really cool.”

She’d actually been on campus and visited with the coaches a few days before they extended the offer. Preston said Will was her first call, her brother telling her to commit on the spot, and it was a feeling of validation and accomplishment.

Preston knew she wanted to play at Army the day she’d dropped off her brother. When the Prestons got home, she reached out to the coaches, essentially explaining the West Point pull had gotten her too and if it worked out, she’d love to be a part of their program.

Preston shared her dream with her high school coach AJ Thompson, who was expecting the 6-foot-1 forward to step into a bigger role. Thompson was elated to see Preston’s goal come to fruition, having watched the way she took something that easily could have put undue pressure on her shoulders and turn it into motivation.

“I think she put a lot of pressure on herself waiting for the offer to come and it weighed on her. When the offer came, she texted me to tell me she was going to commit soon and I could tell when I talked to her, she was so excited,” Thompson said. “I could not be more proud of her. She set this goal for herself and she just kept at it until she got what she wanted. As a coach, you just want your players to reach their goals and get everything they want out of their experience.”

The Pioneers have won a lot of games the last two seasons thanks to their defense, with Preston an integral part of it. She may be a post player on a roster sheet, but Preston is an extremely versatile defender, able to switch and guard on the perimeter while also maintaining the ability to protect the paint.

She’s actually had to do that a lot this summer with the Rebels. Playing alongside another skilled post in Grace McDonough, the two usually starting together, has given Preston an opportunity to show off her defensive toolkit but also that the versatility extends to her offense too, the forward extending her shooting range to include a reliable midrange jumper and an improving outside shot.

“I was only back-to-the-basket, I didn’t really do anything else but now I’m able to defend different levels of players and do different things on the court,” Preston said. “I’m not afraid to defend a smaller guard. If Grace was in the game with me, I wouldn’t always be on the post so I think that helped show who I was as a player and I think they liked seeing that.”

Attending any of the service academies is unlike any other college experience and the first summer and really full year on campus can be extremely challenging as cadets work to meet the academy’s physical fitness standards and ingrain into a new regimented lifestyle. Preston admitted that was something she wasn’t sure about but that’s where having an older brother who’d been through every step of it was the perfect resource.

“You’re not used to it and I didn’t know if I could handle it because I’d never had that experience,” Preston said. “Talking with him, he said everyone gets through it together. He said there were people in his class who weren’t in as great of shape physically but they got through it. It’s more mentally that you have to be willing to push yourself.”

Preston becomes the third local commitment in as many years to Traversi’s program, joining Taylor and Brooke Wilson of Archbishop Carroll. Taylor, a 2023 Carroll grad, played in 25 games, made three starts and averaged 2.9 ppg as a first year for Army while Brooke, a 2024 grad as of a few weeks back, is getting acclimated to the academy this summer.

Aside from her brother, Preston said the Wilsons have become another invaluable source of information. Preston grew up playing against Brooke Wilson in CYO then in high school and as Army started to reciprocate her interest, she leaned on Brooke and Taylor for some insight into a side of life as a cadet that her brother couldn’t help with.

“They explained what it’s like to be an athlete and not just a cadet,” Preston said. “They’ve been really helpful answering all my questions. It’s really exciting to be on the same team as them and not just competing against them.”

For the near future, she’s looking forward to finishing her club career and hopefully doing it with an HGSL title next month. Conestoga’s made big strides the last two years, reaching the Central League title game, District 1 6A semifinals and PIAA second round last year and Preston said she wants to close out her time with the Pioneers looking to accomplish even more.

Like so many others who have stepped foot on West Point’s campus, Janie Preston felt drawn to be there. She’s ensured she will be.

“When you get there, it’s like a whole different world, it’s so cool to see how much work those people have put in,” Preston said. “I know all those people are there because they want to serve on top of working really hard academically and athletically, it was a place I wanted to be.”