My name is Jay Gavin and I’m a former collegiate and professional athlete. I started my career at Bishop McNamara High School in District Heights, MD. I became the 7th all- time leading scorer, was recognized as an all-county player, and was awarded All Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). I received more than 20 scholarship offers from various D1 colleges. Upon graduating, I decided to attend Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY.
I spent my first year improving my basketball skills and knowledge and was awarded rookie of the year and Freshman Mid-Major All-American team honors. After a change in coaching staff, I decided to transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University, and I graduated from Bowie State University in 2011.
I decided to continue pursing my passion for the game and was fortunate to play basketball professionally in Germany. After a successful career overseas, I made a tough decision to return home and began coaching. I started coaching at my high school alma mater and Maryland’s Finest AAU program where we won the 6th grade national championship. The following year we were again nationally recognized as one of the best teams in the country. The thing I took the most pride in was teaching my players advanced skills that I didn’t learn until college.
Trust Your Grind manifested after my team lost a game at an AAU tournament. I was frustrated, because my team gave away a win that should’ve been ours. I expected greatness from each player, because I knew their potential. After the game I took the time to define those expectations to each individual player and encouraged them to keep grinding. There was one player in particular who I knew, without a doubt, gave his all in growing his skills off the court, but was struggling to trust his abilities during the game. As I spoke to him, I encouraged him by saying, “Trust Your Grind!” This newly created phrase became an often repeated mantra and in 2016 Trust Your Grind was created.
