Joppatowne grad Jermaine Head Jr. returns from playing professionally overseas to train at Edgewood Rec Center

Jul. 20—A dribble between the legs from right to left. Then back, left to right. Jermaine Head Jr. takes one calculated cross step, barreling past his acting defender, floating toward the rim for a layup.

He'll reset to the same starting position, carving up the familiar Edgewood Recreation Center gym floor. This time, he pulls up short to crane his arm up for a floater. Then back again with the other hand.

Over and over, Head drills progressions without a moment to catch his breath — he prefers it that way — under the guidance of Perry Woodland.

He's back in town after his first season playing overseas for BC Iverioni Gori in Georgia. But working out with Woodland at this tabernacle on Brookside Drive has been a constant along Head's basketball odyssey.

"It's not a lot of people who come out of Harford County. I put in the work and stuck with it even when times got hard. It feels crazy coming back here, like dang, I used to shoot on these baskets when I was this tall," Head said, holding his hand out waist level.

Head began playing organized basketball at 6 years old. He soon joined Woodland's AAU program, Harford County Dream Team. He was fast but unmistakably too small. "A scrawny, little runt" with a deep passion for the game, Woodland remembers.

The Edgewood native later played for his dad, Jermaine Head Sr., at Joppatowne. Woodland joined Joppatowne's staff for Head's junior and senior seasons. Head was an undersized guard for most of his high school career, a wiry 5-foot-7 junior harboring a dream of playing at the next level despite little recruiting attention.

"I don't think he really believed it until the summer going into his senior year," Woodland said. "He was driving back from an AAU tournament with his father and myself, just talking about the high school season. He was like, 'What are we going to do? We're not going to have enough.' That's all he kept saying. 'We're not going to have enough.'

"His dad said, 'You're enough. I need you to understand, you're enough.'"

Those two words injected a newfound confidence, helping mature his work ethic.

Then came the growth spurt. Head eclipsed 6 feet by graduation in 2015 and refined his guard skills. He jumped from scoring 8-10 points per game to 20-plus. Suddenly, the dream of playing college ball felt more like a reality. He spent a year at Davis and Elkins then transferred to Wilmington University, where he redshirted his first season.

In three seasons, Head became the program's all-time leader in points (1,871), assists (450) and steals (206). He's also tied the school's record for single-game assists (14) and his 41 points were second-most in a single-game. Finishing one game 13-for-13 from the free throw line as a senior inked another line in the Wildcats' record book.

Woodland had to up the ante when Head came back to the rec center to work out. No longer could he take the broader approach of refining a high schooler. Their training became much more nuanced, dissecting attack angles and harping on footwork. They even studied film together.

Head graduated from Wilmington in 2020 but his ability to jump into the professional ranks was marred by the pandemic. The deal with BC Iverioni in the third tier of the Georgia Super League was facilitated entirely by an agent.

"I didn't really know what to expect," Head said. "I just kept grinding."

The weight of the moment didn't hit Head at first. His goodbye party was more celebratory reflection than anticipation. It still felt surreal, even with his parents crying the whole drive to John F. Kennedy Airport. Sharing final hugs still didn't strike the momentous cord.

When he stepped off the plane last September, the realization of a dream flooded in. This wasn't Edgewood anymore. It was Georgia, an Eastern European country 5,600 miles away that he previously knew nothing about.

"I'm seeing all these new people, nobody is speaking English," Head said. "Once you get there, you can't come back. I just gotta man up. I put in the work, I can't look back now."

Head needed to acclimate to a host of differences.

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Meeting with team owners required a translator because of the language barrier. Head remembered one college game at Chestnut Hill that felt like a hostile environment, but that was nothing compared to the drums, horns and fireworks commonly used by overseas fans. The sport itself has a more team-oriented nature there. Even the basketballs felt a bit lighter.

Even after a few months, Head still woke up at his apartment in Gori, 45 minutes from where they played in the capital region of Tbilisi, awe-struck by the fact he was being paid to play basketball so far from home in a gym that looked and felt so different from the rec center.

The comforting part was how accepting the fanbase was. BC Iverioni supporters treated Head like a superstar. They constantly stopped him for pictures and autographs.

Head's team knifed its way to a championship and promotion to the Gori Super League. They handled Gtuni, crosstown rival Orbi and BC Titebi, largely thanks to the production of Head.

In 20 games, Head averaged 31.4 minutes, 21.2 points, 7.4 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 steals.

Immediately following the final win that Head's coaches announced to the team he was named the league's Player of the Year. "It was a crazy experience in my first year, for sure," Head said, the feeling of satisfaction painting his face.

"But he's not satisfied," Woodland said. "He feels as though there's another level he can get to."