If you’ve been to any AHS boys basketball games this year, you might have noticed someone along the sidelines filming every minute of the action on their phone. Or maybe you’ve spotted him interviewing players, talking to coaches, or taking in the energy of the student section. Either way, you’ve seen senior Josh Morales hard at work capturing the magic and excitement of high school basketball.
Since November, Morales has been running an Instagram channel focused on high school basketball called The Ville. “The idea [of The Ville] is basically just promoting the [high school] basketball,” Morales said. “It’s kind of like providing a higher level of coverage and media for high schoolers that would normally be going under the radar.”
Morales played basketball at Albemarle through his junior year and developed strong connections with the team. This year, that changed.
Morales sustained a knee injury playing AHS football at the end of the season and missed basketball tryouts.
“I played basketball for the past five years, so not being able to play this year was pretty rough. I wanted to do something to be able to be on the court, and be around basketball, so that’s why I started The Ville in the first place.”
Morales was also driven by a desire to shed light on high school basketball players. “I want players to feel like they’re seen. When I was playing basketball for so long, I wanted to see those power rankings and I wanted those highlights up, and I never really did,” he said. “I wanted those players to be able to see themselves up there, and be excited.”
The players have responded enthusiastically. “We were getting media coverage, but not as much as Josh does,” junior power forward Marjaylen Jackson said. Jackson played varsity basketball for the CHS Black Knights as a sophomore before joining the Patriots.
“He comes in and breaks down the plays with video footage.” Jackson appreciates the time and effort Morales takes with his coverage.
Despite having no experience with journalism, Morales was still interested in taking on the challenge. “It’s definitely something I wanted to be around when I was younger,” he said. When Morales was eight, he used to commentate on his sister’s basketball games using his Mom’s old phone.
At the beginning of the season Morales attended one or two games a week. As the season progressed, he got up to five or six per week.
“After games, I go straight to my car and I start working on the highlights for that game. I don’t leave the gym until I finish the highlights for that game…normally it takes, depending on the game, 20-30 minutes.” Morales then works for another 1-2 hours on the final summary with voiceovers. As for graphics, Morales often reaches out to local freelance visual designer Cville Creative.
However, The Ville encompasses more than game summaries and highlights; Morales also posts student section rankings and power rankings. “The student section rankings are based off of the games I’ve been to and my interactions with the student sections and just seeing how rowdy they are and the way they talk and everything,” Morales said. “For the power rankings, that’s based off of how each team performs each week. It’s basically the momentum of the game, and how teams are playing.”
“He does a good job with his rankings,” Jackson said. “He’s fair and uses good judgement.”
Going forward, Morales hopes to expand the scope of The Ville. “I can’t confirm that it’s going to be anything in the spring,” he said. “I do plan on having it be Varsity girl’s basketball next year if I’m the one who’s going to be continuing the account after I graduate.” Additionally, Morales also hopes that The Ville will inspire others across the state and country to create similar accounts focused on promoting high school sports in their areas.You can check out The Ville on Instagram @theville434.
