Jaylen Fornes adjusting to bigger role in year two

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Jaylen Fornes is back for year two in his college career. He moves into the season with a new coach at the helm but he says that’s nothing new for him.

“Me personally, I had four different coaches in high school so that’s nothing new to me,” Fornes said. “I’m accustomed to it. I just take the bumps and roll with those.”

A team with a brand new coaching staff and many new players can create some of those bumpy moments. But Fornes says things are off to a smooth start thanks to his relationship with the new staff.

“Starting with Coach McGrath, he came in and he took us in as a family and we took him in as well,” Fornes said. “I knew Jackie out of recruitment in high school so I was really happy to see him on board. Coach Wolf, Esleck, Burke and Matt Lynch are all pretty much family. I like them a whole lot.”

With the new system and the departure of four of the top scorers on this team from a year ago, Fornes will be called upon to step up when the team needs him. This was the case in the game against Campbell when he put up career high numbers. He says he embraces the opportunity to shine.

“I’ve been playing basketball my whole life so I come in with a lot of confidence as it is,” Fornes said. “I definitely want that big role. I like the pressure so I want that on my shoulders and I plan to pretty much put together a good game every night and try to come out and perform.”

The fast pace system Coach McGrath has brought to the team is one Fornes is familiar with given how this team liked to play last year. He says keeping the tempo high is important to get the more out of his play.

“I had to learn to move without the ball a lot better,” Fornes said. “So personally it just helps with expanding my game. Last year was new to me and it sped me up and got me out of sorts early on. I think I’ve got it for the most part now.”

Off the court, Fornes saw a change in his life as well as his mother passed away this summer. Now he lives to play in her honor and uses the tragedy as motivation

“It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever dealt with,” Fornes said. “She was at her happiest when she was seeing me on the court with these guys and how successful we were. That’s my motivation coming into this season.”

Fornes can thank his mother for the motivation she gives him this season. But there is something else he can thank his mom for, something he says not many people know about him.

“A lot of people don’t know that I’m handsome,” Fornes said. “I pretty much put that out there.

Five games into this season, it’s not just his looks he’s putting out there. He’s also putting out some solid stat lines and emerging as one of the top players on the team. But no job is safe on this team. Coach McGrath wants this team to compete and Fornes says they have been up to that task.

“Everyone guard-wise is coming in and competing,” Fornes said. “The bigs are out there competing and there’s a lot of competition out there. It’s a lot of opportunities out there so everyone just wants to take advantage of that.