“It’s big, but I was more worried about getting the win,” said Lasell University guard Kevin Nunez about his reaching an impressive career points-made milestone in a 80-68 victory late last month over Wheaton College. “One thousand is one thousand, but I’m more of a team accolade person than an individual one.”
Nunez, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, poured in 24 points for the Newton-based Lasers, who compete in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. He said he didn’t realize that he had reached the 1,000-point mark until his family surprised him during the game.
“I actually forgot about that,” he said. “I realized it when my family all put shirts on and they were looking at me, and then they announced it during the timeout. It was amazing, because I think it was more important for them. They were more excited for me than I was for myself.”
An alumnus of New Mission High School in Hyde Park, Nunez said that he enjoys attending college close to home. “It’s great because I get to have my childhood friends and my mom and my stepdad come to most of my games and support me,” he told the Reporter. “I’ve been through a lot as a ballplayer—lots of injuries and stuff. For them to always be there supporting me through ups and downs is great.
“As far as being a Dorchester native kid, it’s an amazing feeling, because a lot of people didn’t really know me or expect me to be this good. I just put in the work.”
Nunez, who is studying sports communication at Lasell, is keeping his professional options open for next year while focusing on his classes and the basketball season in the short term.
“It was a good moment to be able to score 1,000 points in a school that I really enjoy playing in,” he said. “I’ve been to two other schools, so this experience has by far been the best, both on the court and off the court. Here they care for you as a student-athlete, and teachers always want the best for you.”
When asked about Lasell’s play this season, Nunez said, “I think it’s going really well. There’s a lot of guys I’ve been playing with for a few years now, and I think we’re really getting there. We’re almost at that point where I think we’re contending for a championship.”
Head coach Aaron Galletta has seen Nunez’s skills develop as a player over the last four years— even before he was on the Lasell roster. “I had the unique experience of coaching against Kevin when he was at Mt. Ida as a freshman, and I’d much rather coach him than go against him,” said Galletta.” He has a unique ability to play on both ends of the floor. We put him on the other team’s best offensive threat, and he’s able to defend at a high level. He’s all about the defensive end of the floor in practice. He’s able to score at a high level as well. You don’t get that combination very often.”
Nunez has become a “team leader for us this year, especially in terms of getting the younger guys involved,” said the coach. “He’s talking to them on and off the court and making sure that they understand the culture here and what’s expected of them. His 1,000th point actually came off an offensive rebound. It’s kind of fitting that that would be the case, because he’s a good rebounder. He got a loose ball and laid it in.”
Nunez’s milestone moment on Nov. 30 came after another impressive performance the game before, against Rivier. He recorded 34 points and snagged 14 rebounds.
When asked about his goals for the rest of the season, Galletta said: “We look forward to Kevin continuing to get better and continuing to help the team out throughout the year; 1,000 points is a great accomplishment, but I know he wants more for the team and so do we.”
The next test: at home on Saturday against Dean College.
