Elliot Cadeau, a West Orange resident who attends Bergen Catholic High School, was named ESPN’s number one point guard in the class of 2024 in the country.
Cadeau, who’s been playing organized basketball since second grade, also played tennis, soccer, baseball and football in West Orange schools. In fifth grade, he stopped playing the other sports to focus on basketball and never looked back.
In between school and studying, Cadeau is on the basketball court each day for as long as possible. He shared, “The only way to get better is practicing, so I am in the gym about 3-4 hours a day.” He added, “I do this because I need to outwork my competition and continue to grow and get better.”
Cadeau plays in Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), a circuit for players who are 17 years old and younger, that's operated by the Amateur Athletic Union. When he isn’t practicing basketball, Cadeau enjoys being with his friends and was able to fit in a trip to Ocean City, Maryland this week in between EYBL games and a trip to Sweden, where his mother hails from, to play in the U18 National Tram there.
Cadeau is elated that all of his training has earned him the honor of number one point guard. He reported, “I felt like all my hard work is finally starting to show, and others are seeing it too. I was really happy when the ranking came out!" He plans to play college basketball, and college basketball scouts are watching from the bleachers at his games.
Cadeau summarized what it means to him to be named as the number one point guard his age in the country. “It was a huge honor and something I have dreamed about since I was little. I have worked really hard to be a top guard in the country and to be ranked in ESPN showed that I can do it.”
For videos and more information on West Orange’s rising basketball star, see rf.ellio on Instagram and elliotcadeau on Twitter.