From Harlem to Visalia: Jose Cuello makes basketball dreams come true at COS

Jose Cuello is playing the best basketball of his life.

The College of the Sequoias' star sophomore is leading the Giants in scoring this season, averaging 20.3 points per game.

That hot streak has catapulted COS (20-5, 8-3) into a tie for second place in the Central Valley Conference standings. Fresno City (16-9, 9-2) currently sits atop the league standings.

Cuello enjoyed a recent four-game stretch where he scored 33 points three times and also had a 23-point performance. The Giants went on a 3-1 run during that stretch with wins over West Hills Coalinga, Fresno City and Columbia.

During CVC play, the 6-foot-1 point guard is averaging 22.2 points per game. He is also among team leaders in rebounds (5.6 per game), assists (3.5 per game), and steals (1.9).

That type of scoring prowess is a big reason why COS head coach Dallen Jensen believes Cuello is an NCAA Division I-level talent.

"Jose's been brilliant," Jensen said of Cuello's scoring. "He's doing it very efficiently and still rebounding and distributing the ball and defending at a high rate as well. He's just had a great overall season so far."

Following Grandma's advice

Shortly following graduation, with no scholarship offers, Cuello found himself around the wrong crowd in the summer of 2021.

"I had nowhere to go," Cuello said. "I was in bad business just hanging out with wrong friends. I was getting kicked out of my house."

A future in basketball seemed bleak until Grandma Ramona stepped in.

The two had a heart-to-heart.

"She told me I had to do something with my life," Cuello said.

That was basketball.

Cuello put together a highlight tape and emailed it to college coaches.

Only one coach responded.

It was Jensen — who lived nearly 3,000 miles away.

Jensen liked what he saw on tape and invited Cuello to join the team as a redshirt, which meant he had to sit out a year and not compete in any games.

"I remember watching Jose's highlight film and just being intrigued by it," Jensen said. "He had a good frame. A good skillset. I always wanted, like, a gritty, tough New York point guard — so I reached out to him. We had a conversation. I absolutely loved his personality, which to me is huge. The way we run our program."

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Wanting a way out, Cuello jumped at the opportunity because life in Harlem was not easy.

"It was, like, very chaotic," Cuello said. "Always trouble to be found. Just like in the hood basically. It was hard. You barely had anything. You had to get it your own way.

"At that time, I didn't know what a redshirt year was. I was excited to leave the environment that I was in. Everything else is history."

Cuello grew up playing against grown men, playing street ball and in adult tournaments on New York courts.

"I feel like playing against grown men, it shaped my game," Cuello said. "It made me aggressive. A foul call or no foul call, it taught me to be strong. It definitely shaped me."

It all started with his grandmother.

"I'm very grateful because that's the person who raised me," Cuello said. "I'm a grandma baby. I'm very grateful. I love her a lot. She's basically my mom so every time I'm going through something bad or need motivation, I call her or just think of her."

Finding a home

Cuello is realizing his basketball dreams at COS.

It took a lot of hard work and sacrifice, though.

Cuello hasn't been home since moving out west three years ago.

When he arrived at COS, Cuello made ends meet by working long hours at Panda Express in Visalia.

Some weeks, he put in 40-plus hours on top of school, basketball and workouts.

"I've probably put in as much work as possible," Cuello said. "Still not enough. There's still work to be done. I just feel in love with working and the grind."

That translates to the court, too.

"I just love to be in the gym," Cuello said. "I'm always working on my craft. I love watching a lot of film and I just try to perfect everything that I do."

Jensen saw that drive and work ethic right away.

"Jose has done a really great job of basically supporting himself during his time here," Jensen said. "We talk a lot in our program about bouts, whether it's work, home, basketball, whatever it may be. Jose took that to heart. Jose would take his 24 hours a day and he would do whatever he needed to get done, done in that window. He would come in early morning to get his workouts in. He would go to school, go to his classes. He would find extra time to work out as far as weight training and strength and conditioning. Come back, go to practice, and then turn around and leave practice. Go to work at night and circle back and finish his studies before he sapped out.

"Just watching somebody really fall in love with the process, and understanding what it takes to be successful, really prioritizing things in his life as an 18-, 19-year old young man. You don't see that every day of the week, and so I think it's just been very special for him to take advantage of this opportunity."

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Cuello has drawn interest from nearly two dozen Division I programs, including Cal Baptist, Houston Christian, Cal State Bakersfield, Saint Peter's, Georgia Southern, New Mexico State, Troy University and Utah Valley.

Earlier this month, he received his first offer from Prairie View A&M — a Division I program in Texas that is a member of the SWAC.

What's it like to get recruited by Division I teams?

"It's actually a blessing and it motivates me even more to keep on pushing because it's showing me that if I put in the work, stay focused and level-headed, everything will work out," Cuello said.

COS has won four straight with Cuello as the centerpiece.

In the Giants' latest victory on Valentine's Day, Cuello scored a team-high 26 points and drained five 3-pointers to anchor the team to a 72-53 win over Porterville.

"He wants to be coached," Jensen said. "He's always asking the right questions, and I think everything that we feed him, he just takes it in and applies it to his game. It's just been fun to watch him grow and mature as a player and person."

That was made possible by Jensen.

"I was just basically begging for an opportunity," Cuello said. "I'm thankful and grateful. I thank him every day because he gave me the opportunity to change my life.

"I'm very fortunate. Three years ago, I didn't even think I was going to go to college, honestly. COS, Coach Jensen, this whole community, it changed my whole life."

Under Jensen, excluding the COVID-19-impacted season, COS has posted four straight 20-plus win campaigns.

What's it like to play for coach Jensen?

"It's actually very great," Cuello said. "On and off the court, he's like the best guy. On the court when we step in between the lines, it's just all business. He holds you to a higher expectation than anyone else does. He wants you to be great and he's very supportive, trusting, and a very fun guy to be around."

Would Jensen have landed Cuello if the ladder didn't reach out on his own?

"I would have never found Jose," Jensen said. "It's just so interesting. I always tell our guys, all of our players have dreams of playing at the four-year level, and some of them potentially playing pro one day. There's so many players across the country, and now globally that are working for the same exact thing — the goal, the dreams and aspirations.

"We try to find as many young men as we can to look at and recruit who would be a good fit for our program. Honestly, we just got lucky that Jose happened to reach out because he's been an absolute blessing as a player and person."

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: From Harlem to Visalia: Jose Cuello realizes basketball dreams at COS