DANVERS — Not every athlete takes the “student” portion of student-athlete seriously. But for St. John’s Prep senior Dominic Greaves, it’s the most important.
Greaves, who grew up in New York and moved to Lynn when he was in the fifth grade, has committed to studying and playing basketball at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania this upcoming fall. When asked what made Swarthmore stand out from other colleges, Greaves – without hesitation – said the academics.
“I knew, regardless of where I played, or even if I didn’t play in college, I wanted to go to a school that I was looking for academically,” Greaves said. “Swarthmore not only met those expectations, but they surpassed them. You get that opportunity, you can’t pass it up.”
“Basketball is a secondary blessing that I’m extremely grateful for, but academics were the first thing I was looking for when looking at schools,” Greaves said.
Swarthmore’s head coach Landry Kosmalski noticed Greaves at a basketball camp this past summer.
“Over the summer, we were doing a lot of camps and, after one, Swarthmore’s head coach Kosmalski and I started talking which led me to go to a camp in Pennsylvania,” Greaves said. “After that camp, around early November, I verbally committed to Swarthmore.”
Greaves talked about his growth during his three years at St. John’s Prep (he was a freshman at St. Mary’s) both on and off the court.
“I’ve grown up a lot at St. John’s. There are a lot of opportunities that St. John’s offers. For example, being able to take advanced placement classes my junior and senior year,” Greaves said. “On the basketball side, over 100 kids were trying out for the team, and being chosen as one of the 25 guys for varsity my sophomore year was a big accomplishment for me.”
Despite his achievements on the court, nothing comes close to an accomplishment he’s “proud” and “grateful for.”
“[During] my junior and senior year, I was chosen to be a panelist for my school. Basically, what we do is answer questions for newly-admitted students and parents to talk about your experience,” Greaves said. “There were four guys out of the 1,000-plus kids who go to our school; it was a big honor for me.”
Greaves reflected on a tough end of the basketball season for the Eagles, describing it as “underwhelming.”
“We didn’t have the outcome we all wanted. It was a tough loss in the first round. I think, in general, it was kind of underwhelming because we definitely had the talent – so, not getting the job done kind of sucked. But this is just how it goes sometimes,” Greaves said.
Although it was an early exit for Prep, Greaves is excited to join Swarthmore’s team, which recently made a tournament run before bowing out in the Final Four of Division 3 basketball.
“I’m looking forward to the competition at the next level. They made it to the Final Four this past season, so I’m looking forward to getting on the court and learning from them.” Greaves said.
And, again, Greaves is looking forward to that “student” part in student-athlete.
“I want to study economics when I get there,” Greaves said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what Swarthmore has to offer academically.”
