Alumni Spotlight: Uta Nakamura

Uta on and off the court for New Heights.

Uta Nakamura joined New Heights in 2020 after scrolling past an Instagram post for New Heights tryouts. She decided to take a chance, leaving her old team and friends, believing she could play at the next level. Initially feeling uncomfortable, Uta made the team and was embraced as part of the New Heights family. She created lasting friendships and has capitalized on the many opportunities – athletic, academic, and professional – that New Heights offers. Uta graduated with New Heights in 2023 and now attends Smith College, where she continues to excel on and off the court.

While playing with New Heights, Uta met various alumni, a facet of the College Bound program she appreciated. And when she first began the college admissions process, one of her coaches would make calls to potential schools on her behalf, providing her with helpful advice and guidance along the way. Additionally, her coaches were very supportive, ensuring her academics were at the forefront of her recruitment. On top of that, Uta is still connected with several of the people she met and befriended at New Heights today—she continues to see and participate in workouts with one of her other previous New Heights coaches, and she has stayed in contact with past teammates and friends.

Uta (far left) pictured with ELC members Amanda Fields & Sydney Skinner, alumni Kaila Berry & Madison McCarthy, New Heights College & Career Assist Coordinator Anna Brilliant, and our 7th grade girls team after their round table discussion about adjusting to new environments and stress management.

Now an alumnus, Uta has come back to meet with our New Heights middle and high school girls' teams (pictured above). She inspired our young student-athletes by sharing her experiences with New Heights and at college, giving those following in her footsteps insight and tips on how to make adjusting to a new school or team easier and managing stress. Additionally, she was introduced to several New Heights Emerging Leader Council members, developing relationships that have expanded her professional opportunities.

Uta (back row, third from right) pictured with her colleagues at Cartier.

More recently, as a member of the College Bound program's Career Assist alumni network, Uta earned an internship with Cartier. Through working with the luxury brand’s internal communications team and completing her internship, she recognizes how playing basketball at New Heights has helped her succeed professionally, as she had already developed strong communication skills, a good work ethic and the ability to quickly adapt to new situations. She enjoys being able to work with different teams within Cartier and see her work come to fruition. Ultimately, Uta says her internship was a positive experience, which she attributes to the authenticity of the people she worked with, great leadership and a vast exposure to different career paths.

Uta inside her Cartier office in Midtown.

Reflecting on how she could have kept scrolling past the New Heights tryout post, her advice for young student-athletes is to continue to put yourself in uncomfortable situations and walk into the room even if you don't think you belong, because you never know where those situations will lead you. By putting herself in an uncomfortable situation, she has had the opportunity to play college basketball, grow professionally, be a role model for younger student-athletes and succeed in new opportunities.

Uta pictured at our round table discussion for our middle & high school girls about adapting to new environments and managing stress.

Uta is looking forward to returning to Smith College for her sophomore year, where she will continue her studies in Japanese, expand upon her career interests in Human Resources, Economics and Education, and, of course, help hoist Smith’s basketball team to further success. 

New Heights’ Philly Field Trip!

Last month, we took our middle school student-athletes on a day trip to Philadelphia for a tour of Villanova University, a visit to the Rocky steps for some motivation, an interactive science experience at the Franklin Institute, and finally a stop on the way home to support our current high school student-athletes at their playoff game!

After a quick bus ride to campus, student-athletes began their day with a tour of Villanova University, a D1 college program that is home not only to the Wildcats, but to New Heights alum and Villanova starting point guard Mark Armstrong. The tour consisted of a walkthrough of the university's beautiful campus, an explanation of where and how college students like to study, and a break for lunch that consisted of none other than Philly cheesesteaks!

New Heights student-athletes touring Villanova University’s campus.

Two New Heights student-athletes seeing how a knee works at the Franklin Institute.

After lunch, another brief bus ride took everyone to the Rocky Steps for some much needed leg-stretching and sight-seeing! Student-athletes got to see a bit of the city from the high vantage point, check out the Rocky statue at the base of the steps, and pause for some group photos at the top of the stairs!

Once everyone got a chance to document the moment with some photos, we took our student-athletes to the Franklin Institute in the heart of Philadelphia. The science museum was right up the children's alley, filled with interactive exhibits and games tailored around sports, the human body, and space.

Student-athletes had a lot of fun checking out all the cool things to do within the museum. Some of the highlights were finding out how muscles and bones work together to keep the human body functional (see above), and, of course, testing out our vertical jumps (see below)!

Student-athletes gathered around to watch each other test their vertical jump.

On our way back to Brooklyn, we made one last stop to support two current New Heights high school student-athletes—Deron Rippey Jr. and Noah Johnson—in their head-to-head matchup to qualify for the Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship game (as well as fit in a quick pizza dinner for everyone). The navy blue, red, and white was out in full force and made their presence known, cheering on both boys from tip off to the final whistle.

Despite a great effort from Noah and his Pennington School teammates, it was Deron and the Blair Academy Bucs who came out victorious. Regardless, we were happy to come out and support both boys and their teams in a great game!

Student-athletes intensely watching Deron Rippey Jr. & Noah Johnson—two 10th grade New Heights players—go at it in their playoff matchup.

And after a jam-packed day of tours, learning, and fun, we returned safely to our Brooklyn facility in the evening!

Each year we take our middle school student-athletes on a field trip outside of New York City so they can experience and learn more about opportunities available to them outside of their respective circles. Showing our young people what is possible for them to achieve and giving them guidance on how they can reach their goals is one of many ways we work to fulfill our mission of educating and empowering promising underserved youth to be leaders, champions and student-athletes by developing necessary skills as they progress through school.

We’re thrilled that everyone had a good time, and we can’t wait for next year’s field trip!