“I was thinking about quitting basketball.”

It was a thought that crossed the mind of Hofstra University men’s basketball sophomore guard Jean Aranguren when he was 15-years-old after his father passed away.

Aranguren was attending high school on Long Island, thousands of miles away from his native country, Venezuela. His mom and sister were back home by themselves and Aranguren had nobody else, so the doubts seeped in. Multiple conversations with his mother convinced him to continue playing the sport he loved.

“She told me, ‘Listen, this was your dad’s dream, for you to follow your dreams,’” Aranguren said. “‘Please continue playing basketball and continuing to do your best. Just remember that whatever you do, it’s for him.’ That helped me a lot mentally and spiritually to continue playing basketball.”

The Venezuelan native powered through adversity and started playing for his father.

“Before every game, I have my little praying moment,” Aranguren said. “I pray to God and ask God to remind my dad that I’m doing this for him. I’m grateful for everything that he’s done for me and I ask for him to look out for me.”

Aranguren moved to Long Island alone when he was 15 to play high school basketball on a scholarship, but his love for basketball started long before he got to Long Island.

“I grew up in a little hood in Valencia,” Aranguren said. “The street that I lived on had my entire family. So, I grew up with all my cousins, aunts [and] grandparents. I got to play basketball on this little hoop on the street, so everybody used to come outside and play there. That’s when I started falling in love with basketball.”

Like most athletes, Aranguren had a role model growing up.

“I started picking up basketball when I was five years old,” Aranguren said. “The reason for this was because of my sister. She started playing before me and I used to love being around my sister. I asked my mom if I could please play basketball with my sister and once she said yes, and I got into the academy.”

Aranguren and his sister created many memories together growing up, but one in particular stood out for him when he was just 8-years-old.

“I would say my favorite memory is when we won our first championship together,” Aranguren said. “That was our first championship together and I was so happy.”

Fast forward to the 2024 college basketball offseason. Aranguren had just completed his freshman year at Iona University and decided to enter the transfer portal. His desire to play basketball at a higher level drew him to Hofstra.

“Before entering, I was doubting if I should even put my name in the transfer portal because of the stories I heard; once you put your name in the transfer portal, you can’t come back,” Aranguren said. “Gratefully, it was not that hard for me. As soon as I put my name in the transfer portal, I got a phone call from [Hofstra assistant] coach Mike DePaoli and that was it.”

Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton felt a sense of urgency to land Aranguren when he saw his name in the transfer portal.

“We recruited him out of high school,” Claxton said. “When he went to Iona we played against him and he had a really good game against us and then had a good year. When he went into the transfer portal, we already had a prior relationship with him so we went after him.”

Aranguren was exactly the type of player that Hofstra was looking for and Claxton fell in love with a specific part of his game when he saw him play for the first time.

“I thought he was a tough guard and physically gifted,” Claxton said. “I liked the way he approached the game. He played extremely hard, that’s what I liked about him the most.”

Through the first 10 games of the 2024-2025 season, Aranguren is averaging 12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He’s helped the Pride get out of the gates quickly to a 7-3 record.

“When you have a player of his caliber, you can put him in a good position to deliver and it makes my job a lot easier,” Claxton said.

One thing this team mentioned before the season was their comradery on and off the court, as well as feeling like a family. Aranguren fit right in with his teammates as soon as he came back to the island.

“Everybody loves him,” Claxton said. “When Michael [Graham] made that last-second shot [on an assist from Aranguren against Arkansas State University on Sunday, Dec. 1] everybody gave him praise and this team is just well connected.”

There was more that went into the decision to join the Pride than just playing at a higher level.

“First of all, I told them I wanted a program with great player development and a great culture,” Aranguren said. “Just look at the guards from Hofstra. They’re all tough, their player development is great and they focus on each and every player. You could see their stats from before they transferred to Hofstra to when they played for them and you could see the difference. Since I went to high school [on] Long Island, I was more familiar with the team in the area. The conference was better and they had a better schedule, so I was loving it.”

The transfer portal has changed college sports. Players that enter must come to terms with potentially never playing their sport again. Luckily for Aranguren, he once again found a home on Long Island.

“I love my teammates, they’re really great people on and off the court,” Aranguren said. “I really feel like I’m at home plus I knew half of them; Silas [Sunday], I played against him in high school. Cruz [Davis] went to Iona, TJ [Gadsden] I played against him because he was in the MAAC [Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference] with me. I played against Carlos [Lopez] when he was at St. Francis [University] and we used to talk a little bit.”

Two Hofstra greats, Aaron Estrada and Tyler Thomas, even influenced his decision to join the Pride.

“They showed me their development and how hard they worked,” Aranguren said. “So, seeing it and seeing somebody do it made me feel very good because I felt like I was also capable of doing it.”

The Pride’s 2024-2025 campaign is just getting started, but they have their goals set high on the ultimate achievement.

“The team goal is to win the CAA [Coastal Athletic Association] championship and go to the NCAA Tournament,” Aranguren said. “The personal goal is to win CAA Player of the Year”

Photo courtesy of Ethan Albin