Scoring 1,000 career points as a high school basketball player is a rare feat. A student athlete at Berman Hebrew Academy has doubled that, marking a first in the school’s history.
Alex August, a junior at Berman, has played on Berman’s varsity boys’ basketball team since ninth grade and surpassed 2,000 career points during a Jan. 28 game.
“No one [at Berman] has done it before this, so it’s pretty significant,” August said of his milestone. “[I’m] very happy with myself. All the work I put in, all the time I put in has paid off.”
Career points in basketball are the total number of points a player has scored throughout their career. Reaching 1,000 career points is the “ultimate goal” for a high school basketball player, according to an article published in USA Today High School Sports, an achievement August attained last academic year as a sophomore.
“People thought I was gonna hit 2,000 my senior year, so it was pretty impressive that I hit it my junior year instead of my senior year,” August said.
Before the away game against D.C.’s Washington International School, which Berman won 71-16, August recalled feeling jitters.
“I had a little [bit of] nerves, but once the game started, I was locked in,” August said. “I was ready to hit it, but, of course, I was trying to find everyone else to shoot so everyone felt part of [the game]. It was a great time; everyone was just playing their heart out.”
While August doesn’t keep close track of his career points — he remains steadfastly focused on his teammates and the game — his best friend and coach both keep a tally and told August that he was about 40 points away from the big 2,000.
He described the moment he scored that breakthrough shot at the top right wing.
“I hit the three[-point shot] and then [discovered] my shoe was untied,” August recalled, laughing. “Then everyone started cheering, but then I realized I can’t tie my shoe. I ended up not tying it, but I went down to tie it. People made fun of me.”
The referee called a timeout to celebrate. August’s teammates huddled around him and his parents displayed a sign they’d made for him in a moment the student athlete won’t soon forget: “[My parents] couldn’t stop saying how proud they are of me.”
“He got to celebrate with his friends,” Coach Yonah Singer said of August. “He’s got a great group of friends on the team. They’re really his guys.”
August credited his teammates for a large part of his success.
“They look for me way more than I could possibly ask for,” August said of his teammates. “They pass me the ball even when [the shot is] not there. They trust me a lot. That’s why I think we work so well together, because they trust me even if it’s not there and I trust them when the shot might not be there.”
He also credited his older sister, Maya, who practiced basketball with him “basically every day” in their driveway growing up. August has played the sport since the age of 4 and began to play the sport seriously in 2020.
Singer, Berman’s athletic director who has coached the boys’ varsity basketball team for eight years, said August’s achievement is “pretty much unheard of anywhere.”
“He’s a special kid,” Singer said. “Alex is just an unbelievable shooter. Of all the things he can do — and he can do a lot of things — his ability to just score the basketball is top-notch. I mean, 2,000 points in a high school career is absolutely insane for anybody.”
Singer added that the longevity of August’s tenure as a varsity player helped him achieve those 2,000 points, as most underclassmen at Berman do not make the varsity team.
“He’s got 10 games left in his junior year, and he’s already passed that mark … his third year on varsity,” the coach said.
Having graduated from Berman himself in 2001, Singer said the “big number” in his day was 1,000 career points.
“I hit my 1,000th [point] in the championship game at the end of my senior year and was one of the high scorers in school history,” Singer said. “To see a player more than double that in his junior year is a pretty crazy accomplishment.”
Although Singer doesn’t have the exact stats for all varsity boys basketball players in Berman history, he is confident that August is the school’s highest scorer.
But for August, it’s more than a numbers game: it’s about camaraderie — the teammates “have been best friends since fifth or sixth grade” — and the love of the sport. Basketball is a large aspect of Jewish culture, with August’s milestone being posted on X by Jewish Hoops America.
August, who has attended Berman “all his life,” said he loves the Jewish community there.
“I really enjoy representing Berman in the best possible way,” August said. “I feel like basketball is such a big point at Berman.”
He has his sights on continuing to win other games and championships down the line, remaining the same humble kid that Singer counts himself lucky to know and coach. The next goal for the team is a victory at the end-of-year “big Jewish tournament,” Singer said.
He added that this current accomplishment will likely be one of August’s many.
“Putting things in perspective, 3,000 points is not off the table for him,” Singer said.
