Navy men’s basketball senior Sean Yoder recently chatted with PressBox about the biggest influence on his game growing up, a day in the life of a men’s hoops player at the Academy and more. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard averaged 5.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for the Mids last year. Yoder is a native of Dublin, Pa., and graduate of Pennridge High School.
PressBox: How did you become interested in basketball?
Sean Yoder: For me personally, it was my older brother and my whole family who was kind of just involved in basketball ever since a young age. I kind of grew up around it. Never really played too seriously, kind of played it for fun. Growing up, I played multiple sports and basketball was one of them. I played it for fun around the house, with friends. You grow up and you put more time into it, play for different teams. And then I guess it was around sophomore year I figured I might be able to play in college.
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
SY: I have two here, one obviously being my father, [David]. He’s been a really positive influence on me in the game of basketball but also just throughout my journey of life, kind of making me the man I am today. In basketball, he was always the one training me. I never had an individual trainer like some guys today. For me personally, it was really just my dad in the driveway, in the garage, at a local gym, just always there to support me and trying to make me better. And the second one here is [Jeff Bishop], my assistant men’s basketball coach in high school, just a great influence — was never too emotional, always knew how to motivate me in ways that not many people understood, knew how to get under my skin in a positive way. I really look up to him for that.
PB: Why did you choose to come to the Naval Academy?
SY: I think you just look at the people that are here. It’s the people that make the place so special. The friends that I’ve made here so far have been my best friends, and even on the team playing with them has been great the past three years. I look to just increase the friendships, the relationships that I’ve built here so far.
PB: What did you service select?
SY: I put my No. 1 preference as a Naval Flight Officer. There’s many pieces to it, but I think one is you’re working with people. You’re working with people in almost all the communities, but I’ve always been interested in getting up in the air and being in the sky. If you have a chance to do that in the military, I think that’s pretty cool. Really what it comes down to is you’re working with a community, and the culture and atmosphere around that community [was] what I was drawn to the most.
PB: What’s a day in the life of a basketball player at the Naval Academy?
SY: Usually you’re waking up at 6:45, 7 o’clock. You’re getting dressed in your uniform and going down to breakfast and getting breakfast, then you’re going up to class. Usually you have class throughout the morning, then you get to go to lunch. You might have a little bit of time in between. During the season we need to watch film, and [during a] 30-minute, 45-minute time slot, we’ll watch film, we’ll do something small or we’ll just get time to maybe go take a nap or just kind of get some down time or get some work done. In the afternoon, you’ll either have a class or that might be some more of your down time. We’ll hit practice around 3:30, 4 o’clock. It differs depending on what we have scheduled. And then we’ll have dinner. After dinner, you’ll come back and you’re studying the rest of the night, most likely. If you don’t have work, you’re kind of relaxing.
PB: What’s your favorite memory at Navy?
SY: I think for me, it was beating Virginia last year. Beating Virginia was pretty special, just going to their place and having the camaraderie that we had on our team and it being the first game of the season. It was pretty special playing on ESPN at 9 o’clock. Pretty special moment for our team last year and hope to build on that this year.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about the Naval Academy?
SY: I think it’s really the people — the friendships on the team, the people that work here, it’s pretty special to kind of be part of the prestigious institution.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Annapolis?
SY: I’m an outdoorsy person. I like nature. You’ve got the water right outside in Annapolis. It’s pretty neat, so I’d say the favorite thing is trying to get out on a boat somewhere and going out on the water every once in awhile.
PB: Who did you look up to early in your college career at Navy?
SY: Last year, we had a senior graduate, John Carter Jr. He was always a positive influence. He’s very quiet, but when you kind of learn to communicate with him and how he communicates, you understand what he was all about. He was always a positive influence on me, but then his sophomore and junior year he really kind of took me under his wing and just mentored me in a way that I really appreciate now.
PB: What advice would you give to younger players?
SY: It’s pretty cliché, but I’m a big fan of playing multiple sports growing up and not specializing in one sport. I think you learn so many lessons from playing multiple sports at a young age, even through high school. Continue to have fun with the sport you’re playing because at some point the ball’s going to stop bouncing. At some point — it’s still fun, don’t get me wrong, but it becomes a business. You’ve got to win. That’s what you’re there to do. Practices are very long. Film sessions get tough. It becomes like a job. That’s something you have to just kind of accept.
PB: What are your goals for after basketball, whenever it ends?
SY: After this year, as far as being a successful Naval officer, I think that wherever I end up, that’s my main goal and just kind of going day by day, not taking a look at the future, being present in the moment and doing what I can each day to improve.
Photo Credit: Phil Hoffmann/Navy Athletics