Watsonville’s Julisa Vega preps for future while in South Dakota

As a 6-foot-2 center, Julisa Vega patrols the paint on offense and defense for the women’s basketball team at Presentation College, an NAIA school in South Dakota.

Off the court, the Watsonville High graduate dreams of doing a different kind of patrolling. And in various ways – some perhaps obvious, others not so much – her college basketball career is preparing her for it.

A criminal justice major, Vega aspires to one day be a police detective. She interned with the Aberdeen, S.D., police department last semester, juggling a full course load with her basketball commitments as she explored her desired career path.

Vega mostly went on ride-alongs with trained detectives, peppering them with questions about their careers as they cruised the streets of Aberdeen – a small town by California standards, but South Dakota’s third-largest city (pop. 28,562).

Perhaps luckily, Vega didn’t encounter many of the tragic or scary situations that police often deal with. Still, she did confirm that police work is what she wants to do with her life.

 “I wanted to see if, in the future, I could handle myself,” Vega said. “I knew if I couldn’t handle it now, I wouldn’t be able to handle it later.”

Vega has already had to handle a lot in her basketball career: In four years, the senior has played for four different coaches at three different schools – each in different parts of the United States.

She started out at Southern Vermont College. The small NCAA Division III school, which only had roughly 250 students, closed following Vega’s freshman season.

Because Vega and her teammates had grown so close, the news was devastating.

“We didn’t win many games because our chemistry wasn’t fully developed,” Vega recalled. “But we were excited for next year because we had that year of experience on our backs. It was rough.”

Not ready to call it quits with school or basketball, Vega returned home for the 2019-20 season and played at Cabrillo College for a year.

“It was nice being home,” she said. “It was nice being able to be around family. It was nice coming back to a place where I knew somebody – I wasn’t going back to a whole new place with people I didn’t know.”

Given that it took place early in the COVID-19 pandemic – when travel restrictions were still in place – Vega’s recruitment to Presentation was done entirely via phone and Facetime. Still, she forged a strong enough connection with the Saints’ then-assistant coach, Aimee Burmester, and her future teammates that she was willing to leave home for another part of the country again.

“They gave me a feeling of family, and I liked that,” Vega said.

Unfortunately for Vega, Burmester left after she committed to attending Presentation. Still, she bonded with Burmester’s replacement, Carley Jeffery, who is now the school’s head coach.

Jeffery said Vega’s ability to connect with a variety of personality types – something made necessary by her basketball journey – is exactly what makes her cut out to be a police officer.

“Her ability to build relationships with people is great,” Jeffery said. “She has the ability to relate to any age of person – our team has volunteered with kids and with older people. She has the ability to relate to people from all different walks of life, from all different backgrounds.”

Basketball has also prepared Vega for a law enforcement career by instilling discipline, teaching her to work as part of a team and preparing her for the physical rigors of the job.  It helps that at 6-2, she can be physically imposing.

She can also be rather authoritative, according to Jeffery.

“She’s not the most vocal person,” the coach said. “But when her teammates hear her voice, they turn and listen.”

In addition, Vega has a gift for being a light in dark situations, Jeffery said. That’s been necessary this season, as Presentation has struggled to a 4-10 record.

“If anyone needs a pick-me-up during the day, a lot of times it comes from Julisa,” Jeffery said. “She breaks the ice in tense situations with her humor.”

All of these things, Jeffery believes, make Vega more valuable to the Saints than her statistics might indicate: Vega has averaged just 1.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in just 8.4 minutes of action. Vega had one of her best outings of the season on Saturday, though, scoring four points – one away from matching her season high – in addition to grabbing three rebounds and blocking two shots in Presentation’s 77-68 victory over Waldorf (Iowa).

Vega said she may take some time off after graduating from Presentation before she enrolls at a police academy. However, she’s eager to apply everything she’s gotten from basketball to her chosen career.

“I’m very much a people person,” she said. “Interacting with dozens of people every day helps me get people to open up and be able to trust me. Basketball has taught me to be a good communicator.”

COUNTY CONNECTIONS

County Connections runs every other Thursday during the academic school year. If you have an update on a local college athlete, email Ray Hacke at ra**********@gm***.com.

HIGHLIGHT REEL

Women’s basketball

Haley Jones (Santa Cruz native/Archbishop Mitty), Stanford, Jr.: The 6-foot-1 guard recorded her fourth double-double of the season Jan. 2 in the Cardinal’s 82-44 triumph over Washington State: Jones scored a season-high 24 points, hitting 10 of 14 shots from the field, and also grabbed a team-leading 16 rebounds against the Cougars.

Jones also had 12 points, seven rebounds and a team-high four assists last Friday in Stanford’s 80-68 win over Oregon. She shot perfectly from the foul line against the Ducks, going 6-for-6.

Jones followed up her performance against Oregon with 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists on Sunday in Stanford’s 66-50 victory over Gonzaga.

Men’s basketball

Kaijae Yee-Stephens (Santa Cruz High), Cal State San Bernardino, R-Jr.: The guard scored six points – all on 3-pointers – and grabbed four rebounds last Thursday in the Coyotes’ 83-60 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay. He also dished out two assists and made one steal.

Women’s wrestling

Greta Gustafson (Santa Cruz High), Simon Fraser (Canada), Fr.: Wrestling unattached, the 109-pounder reached the final in her division on Dec. 18 at the Women’s West Coast Tournament of Champions in Rocklin. Gustafson lost to teammate Alexia Seal by technical fall in the championship match.