Recruiting Report: Jake Betlow (2019)
Montverde looked a whole lot different this past season. The Eagles will once again this fall.
2019 guard Jake Betlow came down from New Jersey to play for coach Kevin Boyle and he earned a key role as a sharpshooter off the bench.
The 6’2″, 170-pounder says he had a lot of learning experiences in his first year with Montverde.
“Everything we did, was done at the highest level of preparation, effort and accountability,” Betlow told Prep Hoops Florida. “I experienced what it was like to be part of a close-knit unit that is the top high school program in the country who played the toughest schedule on the biggest stages.”
Betlow says every aspect of his game grew playing for the Eagles this past season.
“By taking advantage of the incredible resources, coaches and facilities, at Montverde, I’ve become stronger, faster, quicker and more athletic,” he said. “Also, by having access to great coaches during regularly scheduled practices as well as spending every free moment I had in the gym during individual workouts, I also have expanded my game by becoming a highly skilled combo guard and a more versatile scorer.
I’m a very good 3-point shooter, but as coach Boyle pointed out to me day one ”you want to be as versatile as a player as you can be”. One aspect of my game that I know I really improved is my on and off the ball defense. Coach Boyle is an incredible teacher of both individual and team defense. Combine this with guarding players like RJ Barrett, Marcus Carr and Andrew Nembhard every day and you have to get better and I did.”
Betlow called leaving his former high school, Gill St. Bernard’s a very tough decision. He called his freshman year very successful playing in one of the toughest divisions in the country in the Non-Public B South.
“Ultimately, my decision to attend Montverde Academy was driven by one thing, to be given the opportunity to go up against the best every day and become college ready,” he said. “Unless you are on campus and see for yourself as to what is required and demanded of you while at Montverde Academy, most people really have no idea of what it takes. The commitment both on and off the court is unparalleled.”
Having the year of experience with the program, Betlow says he feels that will really help him as an upperclassman.
“As for my role, I will be ready to contribute immediately next year, whether it is starting or coming off the bench,” he said. “The Montverde coaching staff expects every player to play the highest level of defense. Offensively, they expect you to “do what you do best and embrace your role.” For me, that means knock down shots, play lock down defense and be a leader on the floor for Coach Boyle.”
Betlow calls playing for coach Boyle hard, but he loves the challenge that comes with it because of the type of player he is.
“I think he knows that he can get on me harder than some others but he knows I can take it positively,” Betlow said. “There is no question that he has made me mentally tougher, which in turn has made me a better player. It is all part of becoming college ready.”
He joined Nike Team Florida on April 7th, his new AAU team. The workouts and practices came as soon as Montverde’s season ended at Dick’s Nationals.
Betlow is focused on getting even better this summer, contuning his work ehtic regimen which includes skill development and conditioning.
Juan Cardona is the head coach of Nike Team Florida and is someone Betlow called a great basketball mind.
“The approach and values that he brings to our team is very similar to that of some other great coaches I’ve been able to play for,” Betlow said. “He brings high pressure, up the line defense and active and constant ball movement, always looking to make the extra pass on offense.”
Betlow says there are pictures of him holding a basketball and shooting into a Little Tikes hoop at the age of 1. He pointed to age 5 as his first real taste of the team sport playing for his dad’s organized clinics in Mendham, New Jersey.
His father, Mark, was a former college basketball player at Muhlenberg College and a youth coach for many years.
Betlow says his biggest strengths right now are his ability to find the open are and knock down shots and his 3-point ability. He also alluded to these other areas of his game.
- Play with a high IQ. I feel like I am a coach on the floor and that is something I try to do for whomever I am playing for. My current coach for Nike Team Florida recently said this to me “we have a unique connection because we see the same things on the court”.
- Playmaking, getting others involved, my assist to turnover ratio has been very good. In a recent game vs. MeanStreets (Nike team from Chicago), I had 13 assists and one turnover.
Betlow says every day that he walks into the gym, he’s looking to improve every aspect of his game. He says he’s been in the gym every single day since coming down to Montverde.
“Whether it’s working on certain situational moves at game speed with one of my teammates, weightlifting and/or conditioning, getting open without the ball and shooting with one of my assistants, working on becoming more explosive by using the Desmotec or Vertimax or simply shooting on the gun by myself it doesn’t matter so long as I am getting better,” he said.
Two offers have come his way so far from Columbia and Stony Brook. Davidson, Virginia, Stanford, William & Mary, Bucknell and a few other Ivy League schools have shown interest in him.
Betlow is a bright young mind and he knows that he brings value to both Montverde and Nike Team Florida. He’ll thrive as a junior next to 2019 prospect Andrew Nembhard. Betlow is a talented passer and a rock solid outside shooter. His game is expanding and colleges are taking notice.
Photo credit: Brandon Dort