After working out, Luis Flores has the option of relaxing on the beach or finding a pleasant cafe to hang out in with some teammates. Tel Aviv is certainly a busy city, but Flores can find a peaceful way to pass the time that he does not spend on the basketball court.
Despite being located in a beautiful area of Israel, Tel Aviv is about 6,000 miles from Flores' coveted home.
When Flores was a young boy, his family left the Dominican Republic for New York City's Washington Heights. The Heights are the home of many outdoor basketball courts, and Flores began his basketball journey on one of them.
He developed as a player, and performed well enough at Norman Thomas High School to be recruited and signed by Rutgers University.
Flores only saw 10.5 minutes per game in his freshman season, 1999-00, and decided to transfer away from the loaded Big East. Bobby Gonzalez, who coached for Manhattan College at the time, jumped at his opportunity to receive a transfer of Flores' caliber.
After sitting out for a season, as required of a transfer by the NCAA, the 6'1" shooting guard donned his No. 3 Jasper jersey on November 12, 2001.
Joining sophomore forward Dave Holmes on the floor, Flores made an immediate impact on the Jaspers as a sophomore. His 19.4 points per game and three point percentage of 41.1 percent were enough to earn him All-MAAC First Team honors, and improved the Jaspers record from 14-15 to 17-7. The improved record was worthy of a bid in the NIT. Despite Flores' 33 point effort, the Jaspers were ousted in the first round by Villanova.
Jaspers fans knew that the duo of Flores and Holmes would be back for two more seasons, so they could only think about the future after the NIT loss.
The fans who came to home games clad in Jasper green were not let down in the 2002-03 season.
Despite starting the season 4-3, Flores put the Jaspers on his back and led them on a fifteen game winning streak. With their 19-3 record, people outside of Riverdale, New York were beginning to talk about the Manhattan College basketball team.
Flores played all fifty minutes of Manhattan's 82-81 conference semifinal victory against Niagara, and led all scorers with 30 points.
Manhattan easily handled Fairfield in the conference championship, and earned a No. 14 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Jim Boeheim's Syracuse team, which consisted of Carmelo Anthony, Hakim Warrick, and Gerry McNamara, was too good for Manhattan and each of their next five opponents. Gonzalez and every Jaspers fan could not complain about losing 76-65 to the tournament's champion.
No. 3 averaged 24.6 points per game, and was named MAAC Player of the Year as a junior.
2003-04 was the last season that Flores and Holmes arrived at Draddy Gymnasium to play their home games, but the senior tandem did not leave their fans empty-handed.
Again, the Jaspers started slow, but Flores averaged 24 points per game, and shot 37.4 percent from beyond the arc, leading the Jaspers to 17 wins in their final 19 games. Flores was named MAAC Player of the Year again, as the Jaspers finished atop the MAAC with a 16-2 league record.
David Lee, Matt Walsh, Anthony Roberson, and the No. 5 seeded Florida Gators were incapable of halting Flores, Holmes, and UMBC-transfer Peter Mulligan, as the No. 12 seeded Jaspers topped the Gators 75-60.
Flores nearly led the Jaspers past Chris Paul and the Wake Forest Deamon Deacons in round two, but fell four points shy.
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