Jalen Snow Named Jr. NBA Scholastic Coach of the Year
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In recognition of his outstanding commitment to excellence through inclusion, Aurora Public Schools’ own Jalen Snow has been named the national winner of the Jr. NBA Scholastic Coach of the Year award.
The Denver Nuggets surprised Snow with the news in front of a packed gymnasium at Edna and John W. Mosley P-8, where he works as both an autism para and coach for unified sports.
“This is an amazing day for me, honestly,” Snow said. “I did not see it coming.”
The Jr. NBA Coach of the Year program celebrates and honors a community coach of the year, recognizing coaches across the youth basketball landscape who are committed to teaching the game at the grassroots level (14 and under).
NBA, WNBA and NBA G League teams had the opportunity to award one local winner to be named their team’s Coach of the Year. Snow was announced as the Nuggets’ winner in March and was entered into the national selection process, which named five finalists in June.
“I want to give the same back to the kids,” Snow said of the recognition. “This is something I would not have been able to do without them, coming out and trying sports and staying as active and involved as they are is something that I really appreciate, so I want to give my thanks to all the students.”
Among the many students who saw the Nuggets’ mascot, Rocky, embrace Snow with the news was Tirtza Velazquez Noriega. The seventh grader credited her newfound love of the game to Snow’s dedication to making it a fun and positive experience.
“I didn’t know anything about basketball,” Noriega said. “He was the one that helped me the most. He’s always like ‘Stand up, you got this’ and I always do! We win because he’s the one who helps us and supports us every time. I love him as my coach.”
Snow is especially grateful for the Mosley community’s support throughout his seven years at the school.
“Everybody here is like family to me,” Snow said. “From the parents to the custodians, we’re all super close to each other so this is good to share with everybody and have them all be a part of it.”