Syracuse, N.Y. — JJ Sterling began the 2023-24 season with a terrible shooting slump.
The 6-foot-4 guard from Baldwinsville spent one year at Notre Dame before returning to his hometown to play for the Syracuse Orange.
But his homecoming parade was stalled before it even began.
Through the Orange’s first nine games, the 6-foot-4 sophomore has attempted 24 3-pointers and made just three, for a .125 shooting percentage.
Like any athlete in a slump, Sterling began to overthink. Instead of hitting a natural shot, he was obsessing about his form: Are his elbows in? Are his hands on the ball right? How’s his follow-through?
He was a struggling golfer on the driving range, repeating every bit of advice in his head mid-backswing.
“I was in my own head,” he said.
Then came the 10th game of the season: the annual matchup between Syracuse and arch rival Georgetown University on December 9th in Washington, DC.
Sterling made 8 of 14 field goals, including all three of his 3-pointers, and finished with 21 points in the Orange’s 80-68 victory.
He made as many 3-pointers in that game as he had in the first nine games of the season. What happened?
“I honestly just stopped thinking,” Sterling said. “That’s the easiest answer.”
Probably the simplest, but not the complete answer.
How did he stop thinking? How did he finally turn off his brain and resume a natural, relaxed shooting position?
“I started meditating,” Sterling said.
Sterling began the ritual of meditating every day, twice a day on match days.
When he wakes up, he stretches and meditates, and on game days he makes sure to carve out a few minutes before kick-off.
“I had a very clear schedule and ritual before a match to get myself in the right frame of mind,” Sterling said in a recent interview after a training session at the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center. “Finally, right before I went on the court, I would put on some music and meditate, visualize the shot, visualize the read, whatever. That helped me slow down and get through the match.”
Sterling said there was a direct correlation between meditation and his breakout game against Georgetown.
“It started right before the Georgetown game,” he said, “and that’s when I started thinking I needed a calming ritual on game day.”
His teammates quickly got used to Sterling’s routine and learned to leave him alone when he was quiet in the locker room.
“When I closed my eyes, they knew I wasn’t going to look up for three to five minutes,” he said.
Sterling continued meditating and working on his 3-point shot for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
In Syracuse’s final 23 games of the season, Sterling made 41 of 112 shots from beyond the 3-point line for a .366 success rate, a significant improvement from his 29.9% shooting percentage from 3-point range as a freshman at Notre Dame, which ranked him in the top 10 in the ACC in 3-point shooting percentage.
“I just felt more comfortable and more relaxed,” he said.
Heading into the 2024-25 season, Sterling is looking to improve on his first year with the Orange. He’s a junior and will be one of Syracuse’s veterans. He and third-year forward Chris Bell will be SU head coach Adrian Autry’s two returning players who started every game for the Orange last year.
Sterling averaged 13.3 points last season while Bell contributed 12.0 points.
“I think I’m a more confident player now than I was last summer,” Sterling said. “When I’m playing with confidence, I’m at my best.”
Sterling played most of his sophomore season without the ball, with Judah Mintz handling most of the ball-handling duties. Syracuse has two potential point guard options this year: Hofstra point guard JaQuan Carlos and redshirt sophomore Chance Westley, who missed all of last season with a knee injury.
But Sterling has been working on his ball-handling skills with the hopes that he might get an opportunity to slot in as a point guard or perhaps play in the backcourt where he shares more of those responsibilities.
Either way, Sterling will approach each game with a cool head and confidence.
“I’ve been going to the gym more and watching videos,” he said. “I feel good about the training I’m doing and it’s making a big difference.”
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