Basketball Alum Capers Returns to Jersey, Shines at Drew

To say life has been a whirlwind for Asmar Capers since he graduated from in 2005 and moved on to Drew University would be like saying Christina Aguilera’s National Anthem performance at the Super Bowl Sunday was not up to par.

Capers is not only making an impact for Drew—a Division III school in Madison—he’s become one of D-III’s best players.

Capers, a 6-foot-3 guard, is averaging 22.8 points per game and shooting an impressive 49 percent from the field (159-out-of-323), including 39 percent on his 3-pointers (56-of-144).

Drew is currently on a nine-game winning streak and 14-9 overall, including an 8-3 mark in the Landmark Conference, good for second place behind Scranton, which sits at 9-2 in the conference.

“We started off the season slow at 4-9, but we’ve been on a good winning streak since,” Capers said. “We’ve been taking the good with the bad, and it’s been a learning process every step of the way."

“Our coach [Daryl Keckler] sat us down and said ‘losing is not fun,’ and he’s always stressed we’re a good team and we’re learning how to close games now,” he added.

Capers has had some scoring surges during the win streak, including canning 41 points in a Jan. 15 victory over Catholic, and 30 in a victory over Scranton on Jan. 29. He’s crossed the 30-point threshold four times this year, and scored at least 20 in 12 of the 21 games he’s appeared in.

Capers has also been named Conference Player of the Week twice, and made the D3hoops.com Team of the Week in mid-January.

“It’s always good when you’re recognized individually,” he said. “But honestly, I wouldn’t be here without my teammates.”

Capers said he knows he has to score points in different ways—be it on jumpers, lay-ins or even at the charity stripe.

“I try to find easy ways to score during the game,” he said. “That’s because when the game is coming down the stretch, I’m going to need that energy to help my team out."

“I always practice free throws before every game because I want to get to the line as much as possible during the game because free throws are gimme-points,” he added.

After graduating from Bridgewater-Raritan, Capers, who’s majoring in political science, went to prep school at The Patterson School in North Carolina before enrolling at Idaho State. Then he returned to New Jersey, and attended Raritan Valley Community College before transferring to Drew.

“I’ve been all over the map,” Capers said with a laugh. "I found my way right back here to Jersey."

“I always wanted to play ball, but I thought to myself, I only have 28 to 29 credits left to graduate, so let me go to a good school and get a good degree,” he added.

Capers said the road he’s taken has made playing basketball this year a special experience.

“I’ve met a lot of cool guys on this team and some of them have become best friends,” he said. “I went to prep school to chase the dream of getting a scholarship to play college basketball at a good school."

“I found myself at Idaho State, and unfortunately things didn’t work out there but it was a great experience," he added. "I got a chance to play last year at [RVCC], and individually I did really well. And then coming to Drew, it’s been a snowball effect, everything has fallen together really well for me here.”

When he graduates from Drew, Capers said he plans to attend graduate school or attend law school.

“School and basketball has become second nature to me,” he said. “I enjoy the environment here at Drew.”

With three games left in the regular season, Capers said he knows his team is in a great position to do some postseason damage.

“It’s very important because the main goal is to play postseason,” he said of finishing the season on a high note. “What we want to do is finish the season strong and get a home playoff game for the seniors.”