\u201cPalomar made it possible for me to pursue my goals on and off the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
SAN MARCOS \u2014 On a recent Friday night at Grossmont College, Julie Saelee played the game of her life so far with the Palomar Comets basketball team, sinking 36 points and setting the school record for most three-pointers in a game.<\/p>\n
Her nine long shots that night eclipsed the previous record of seven and helped boost the team to a stunning 90-20 victory.<\/p>\n
For Saelee, the game was as real as it gets: feet on the court, lungs working overtime, pushing her muscles and her senses to the limit.<\/p>\n
But it was also\u2014as basketball always has been for her\u2014a means of escape, of rising above the stress and struggle of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasketball takes me to a different place,\u201d said Saelee, 20, during a recent interview on\u00a0 campus.<\/p>\n
Growing up, she recalled, \u201cWhenever I was going through something or feeling down, I would go to the gym to get up shots. Even coming to practice, it just took a lot of things I had going on at home off my mind. When I played, I would forget what I was upset about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally from the Sacramento area and one of 12 siblings, Saelee grew up in foster care. She started playing basketball in the sixth grade and played throughout high school, even though her team was less than stellar.<\/p>\n
As a teenager living in a group home, she met a staff member who used to play for Palomar College.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told her, \u2018I want to get out of Sacramento and do something different.\u2019 So she helped me reach out to Coach Marshall, and we actually went to watch the team play when they came up north,\u201d Saelee recalled.<\/p>\n
That was the first time she met Marshall, who has twice been named California State Coach of the Year\u2014in 2015 and \u201817\u2014and is a five-time Pacific Coast Athletic Conference \u2013 North (PCAC) Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulie is a tough-as-nails kid whom I\u2019ve watched grow tremendously over the last three years, in both her physical and mental makeup,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cShe\u2019s someone you look forward to seeing every single day because she always has a great attitude, a smile on her face, and she comes to work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2017, three months after graduating from high school, Saelee moved to North County with her twin sister to play basketball at Palomar. Her sister moved back to Sacramento at the end of the year, but Saelee stayed.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up, I was always on my guard. It was hard to trust people. When my sister left, that\u2019s the first time I really felt alone, because we were together for 18 years,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI had to find a way to get back on my feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once again, it was basketball that came through for her. The women\u2019s basketball team at Palomar is consistently one of the best in the state, and it was not a given that she would make the team. She took a year to practice and study Marshall\u2019s approach to the game, and then in 2018 made her college debut.<\/p>\n
At 5\u20193\u201d\u2014one of the shortest players on the team\u2014Saelee refers to herself as a \u201cdirty worker,\u201d and describes her typical game as \u201cgetting the hustle plays and doing the hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marshall said: \u201cJulie is an amazing teammate who cares about our team\u2019s success over everything else. To say that I\u2019m proud of her and the growth she has had would be an understatement. She is the epitome of our Comet Culture, which is a blue-collar work ethic married to indomitable will.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a shooting guard, she has left her mark with numerous double-digit-scoring games this season; she is also known for her momentum-shifting steals. Two weeks after her breakout game at Grossmont, she was still glowing from the experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a really fun game to play,\u201d she said. \u201cThe whole team was hyped up, the energy was awesome, and everyone was working together.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the classroom, Saelee is pursuing her associate degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences, with plans to become a nurse. When she leaves Palomar, it will be to transfer to a four-year university and become the first in her family to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n
However, she admits, she doesn\u2019t know where she\u2019ll end up. Basketball will determine where she goes from here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"