Where Are They Now: Jay Hernandez, Men's Basketball

Recruited by New Hampshire out of St. Dominic’s High School in Oyster Bay, New York, Jay Hernandez transferred to Hofstra after the 1996-97 season and wore the blue and gold of Hofstra from 1998-2001. During his career at Hofstra, Hernandez helped the team to three consecutive postseason appearances, including back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths in 2000 and 2001. Against UCLA in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, Hernandez was named the Chevrolet Player of the Game for finishing with 11 points, 6 rebounds and 0 turnovers for the Pride. 

Hernandez and the Pride went 72-22 during his time in Hempstead and won the America East Conference in consecutive years, with Hernandez earning All-Met and America East Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors his senior season. Appearing in 94 games with 88 starts, Hernandez tallied 986 points, 296 assists, and 126 steals. He also scored 162 three-point baskets at Hofstra, placing him eighth all-time in program history. 

After graduating from Hofstra, Hernandez played professional basketball for several seasons in Puerto Rico before moving back to the United States. After spending three years working in the Admissions office at Hofstra and in pharmaceutical sales, Hernandez returned to Puerto Rico for one more season of play before starting his own business, Pro Hoops, Inc. in 2004. Operating out of Long Island, Jay trained players ranging from professionals to beginners for ten years.

In 2014, Jay was hired by the Orlando Magic as an assistant coach with a focus in player development. Hernandez remained with the Magic until 2018, when he joined to the Charlotte Hornets as an Assistant Coach/Director of Player Development.

Hernandez holds a dual MBA in Marketing and Management from Hofstra University. He is currently married with three children.

You started your college career at New Hampshire before transferring to Hofstra. What was the recruiting process like, and what led to you deciding to transfer to Hofstra?

Hofstra was on me really early, but at that time I didn’t know what it would’ve looked like when Speedy Claxton committed. At that point in time I didn’t realize that we would eventually be playing together, and I had heard about maybe redshirting going into my freshman year. I had a number of Division I mid-major scholarship offers, and I figured that New Hampshire was close enough and had played in a conference competitive enough that a lot of my family could come and see me play.

Competing against Hofstra and going head-to-head against guys like Darius Burton and Speedy Claxton, plus guys who I knew pretty well like Duane Posey and Tim Beckett, I was just enamored with what they were doing in my backyard. So when the opportunity to come back came up next year, it just felt like it was the right time. I knew I’d have to sit out a year, but it ended up working out because I had a year to get stronger and better. That year was phenomenal to me, allowing me to get acclimated to the team. 

What is your favorite memory from competing at Hofstra?

For me, it’s the culmination of everything we accomplished as a group. We had a Zoom call recently with the 2000 class, and getting to that NCAA Tournament was probably the biggest, best moment for us at that time because of how hard it was for us to get there. Being a Long Island guy myself, being able to win a championship at Hofstra was phenomenal.

It was a phenomenal time to be a part of because growing up in the area, being able to feel what the Long Island and the Hofstra communities were feeling at that time and to have these ex-players and coaches around feel their level of pride was really awesome.

How did competing as a student-athlete at Hofstra prepare you for life after college?

It helped me tremendously. The relationships I built while I was at Hofstra established a lot of things for me going forward in terms of the way I approach things. The network that I have comes from my time at Hofstra, being able to compete at such a high level while also getting a great education prepared me for the highest levels, whether that’s in corporate America or now being an NBA coach.

What was it like to play professional basketball internationally?

Puerto Rico was great, to me it’s one of the more underrated leagues out there. The level of guard-play over there is so phenomenal. There’s been a number of up-and-coming NBA players from Puerto Rico, so the competition level over there was great. I was able to go over there and play while getting my Master’s at Hofstra, and I had the chance to captain the two teams that I was a part of there. Everything I learned from Hofstra in terms of leadership and how to take things to the next level was all on display over there.

You return to the United States and after working in the Admissions office at Hofstra and in pharmaceutical sales, you started your own basketball training business. What was that experience of starting your own company like?

With my time in admissions and then in pharmaceutical sales, I had a broad experience between my education, being a part of the University from the other side, and then being a part of corporate America in sales. I took all those experiences and took that into a basketball training business, and I was able to marry all the things that I loved about business and basketball and put it into improving players, and I was fortunate enough to do that for ten years. I was able to do everything from creating the branding, the logo design, building the website, the curriculum the players had to follow, hiring of staff. We had many events and had major sponsorships as well, so we were able to build a really nice program and a great business with an awesome culture of improvement and development. Doing that for ten years really honed my skills and allowed me to improve at player development and communication, and that led me to the NBA.

And you were able to translate that into a position with the Orlando Magic. How did that come about?

[Orlando Head Coach] Jacque Vaughn was super instrumental in getting me into the NBA for a number of reasons, as he saw the work I was doing with one of their current players Tobias Harris, another Long Island product that I had worked with for a number of years. I was working with him throughout the pre-draft process as well as while he was in the NBA. So Jacque had sent Brett Gunning, who was an assistant coach at Hofstra and was working as an assistant with the Magic, to come to Long Island to watch us work out, and he had a glowing review for everything that we were doing.

So we had a number of lottery picks working out with us on Long Island and Orlando was in the lottery, so they were bringing these guys in and they would ask where they were working out of. And they were all saying ‘Jay Hernandez Pro Hoops.’ They had all these incredibly talented young players, and they needed somebody who was super focused and had an expertise in the area of player development. So he approached me, we had dinner with a few staff members, and he was picking my brain about development and if there was a position available would I take it and why now. I had finally gotten an offer, and the best thing they were able to do is allow me the full summer to finish up my camps and clinics properly and my staff was taken care of. Him affording me that opportunity made the decision that much easier.

You had spent four years with the Magic, and now you’re with the Charlotte Hornets as their Director of Player Development. How was that different from what you were doing in Orlando?

The big difference from when I first came into the league and now, my title was just assistant coach/player development, so I just focused on the players that I had. I didn’t have any responsibilities in regards to scouts. As time progressed I became just an assistant coach, but I had wanted to make sure that as I was getting game scouts and helping run after-timeout plays and things like that, I also wanted to keep a title of player development because I saw the direction the league was going in where they are valuing player development. They’re hiring coaches based on the time that they spent developing the talent they had wherever they were.

For me, being a Director, now I oversee our whole organization. I get to talk to coaches about what areas we need to improve in, how we’re going to improve, sending that information out to the rest of the coaches, dictating who works with who each season, putting together the schedule for when guys are working out. What I’m doing now encompasses a lot more regarding sports science and figuring what our players’ schedules are going to look like when we come back from this pandemic. There’s a lot that goes into that aspect of it, and I love that because it affords me to go back to my roots.

What does it mean to you to be a part of the Hofstra family?

It's an honor to be a part of the Hofstra family. The lessons I learned on the court, from coaches and teammates and through competition helped me immensely not only in my current profession but in life. I appreciate all that President Rabinowitz has been able to do not only for me as a student-athlete, but what he has done to help the University grow in all areas. I love that I graduated from the Zarb School of Business with a Management degree, as well as having earned a dual MBA in Marketing and Management. It's my home, and you will always look to proudly represent those who shaped you. I am incredibly grateful!

What is one piece of advice you would give to current Hofstra student-athletes?

For me, there’s no shortcuts. It’s not a cool phrase, but the biggest key for me is to be consistent. A quote that I love that I still live by is ‘when you do things the right way, it takes longer to succeed but it lasts longer when you do.’ So building great habits and continuing to focus on what you need to do, day in and day out, will get you to where you want to go.