Joshua Gonzalez

Joshua Gonzalez is happy to have found a small college to call home.

“It’s been really comforting,” says the recent graduate. “Everything is close by. You get to know your professors, and they really care about seeing you succeed.”

Josh earned his degree in Sport and Recreation Management at Sage, while playing varsity basketball. In the fall he will pursue his master’s in the Sage Organization Management program. And, while he hasn’t yet settled on the specific career track he will follow, he’s pretty sure it will be related to sports.

He and sports have always done well together.

In high school, Josh led his team to a first place conference finish as a senior, was a 1,000 point scorer, and was team captain during his junior and senior seasons. At Sage, he often led the team in scoring and rebounding.

Josh also was named to the 2018-2019 National Association of Basketball Coaches  Honors Court for his work in the classroom, and was an Empire 8 Presidents’ List honoree.

He says he had both a great basketball coach in Brian Barnes and professors who went out of their way to make sure he was able to stay on top of his academic life.

“I made close ties with my professors,” he says. “They made it easy to build a relationship with them.”

Coach Barnes, according to Josh, is someone who really looks out for his players. This added up to a college experience where Josh felt like he could have it both ways — play competitive basketball and be challenged academically.

“The Empire 8 is very competitive,” Josh says. “There really are no weak spots. There’s a lot of good talent. And as far as the academics go, I took it really seriously and I feel very well prepared to go on to the next level.”