A common component of conversions about Zach is his quiet demeanor and admirable work efforts. His mom, Amy, describes his younger self as a “really quiet, observant, introspective kid,” who was always very polite and calm, “but he was pretty physically active.” 

“My mom (Zach’s grandmother) says that from the time he was little… he always had a ball in his hands,” she continued. 

Zach grew up in the quaint coastal town of Hampton, N.H., with his older sister Sami (his best friend) and two loving parents, Jeff and Amy (who he thinks are “the best”). They are regular spectators at Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym — Amy generally takes stats, something she started during Zach’s high school days; Jeff watches the game while catching up with other players' parents. Even when they aren’t in attendance, his parents and Sami watch live feeds of Zach’s games. 

The senior credits his parents’ endless dedication to show up both physically and from afar as a significant factor in his overall success. 

The 22-year-old recalls his upbringing as “the best childhood a little boy could ever have,” adding his mom “was really good about letting me try all different stuff. So I tried every sport, I tried music, I tried all this stuff, and I stuck with sports.” 

Going into high school, the multisport athlete decided to focus on basketball after competing in the Amateur Athletic Union, establishing footing within the sport and the people he developed team skills with. 

“I stopped playing baseball in high school because our team was notoriously the worst team in the state,” Zach chuckled after saying baseball was his best sport.

“It was like the best scenario possible, I get to have my best friend from home come to the same school as me, and we get to play basketball together.”

- Zach Waterhouse

No one makes Zach light up quite like teammate and friend Ben Allen.

Zach met Allen during his stint with soccer while they were in fourth and third grade. According to Allen, Zach was THE athletic kid and  was “very intimidated by him at first.” Despite not being super close during their middle school years, their friendship blossomed when Allen started high school and joined Winnacunnet’s basketball team alongside Zach.

Their time as teammates didn’t end when Zach graduated from Winnacunnet; the following spring, Allen accepted his spot on the Emerson basketball team. 

When I first asked Zach about what it meant to have Allen on campus, his smile was inescapable; his energy became giddy, almost child-like. 

“It was like the best scenario possible, I get to have my best friend from home come to the same school as me, and we get to play basketball together,” Zach gushed.

The same was true when Allen returned to Bobbi Brown after taking a mental health break following Winter Break 2021 after struggling to keep basketball separate from the rest of his life. In Allen’s first game back, Zach hit three go-ahead dunks before getting called for the technical. Allen was ecstatic, to say the least. 

Allen took a break from basketball because he struggled to separate basketball from the rest of his life. Living and playing with Zach, Allen found the importance of finding hobbies outside of basketball (for Zach it's reading and watching soccer). Allen credits Zach’s separation of work and play to his ability to focus on what’s in front of him and rarely on side distractions.

Zach achieved 1000 career points for the first time during his senior year at Winnacunnet High School, with twenty-four point three seconds left in his high school career. Going into the last minute of the game, Zach tallied 999 points. Coach Jay McKenna enlightened the visiting coach of the significance of a final basket by the then senior, giving him the go-ahead to finish the iconic achievement. 

“Finally breaking the 1000 point barrier with like, 15 seconds left in the game was probably one of the most stressful experiences in my life,” the now two-time 1000 point club member recalls.

Zach anticipated this 1001st point to be the final of his competitive career.

It wasn’t until May 1st that Zach decided to attend and play basketball at Emerson. Until his final decision, he planned on attending either University of New Hampshire or the University of Massachusetts Amherst with no intention of playing basketball.

No one was sold that the recent inductee of Winnacunnet High School’s 1000 point club would hang up his shoes so soon, especially his mom.

“As a school counselor, it was really hard for me; I'll be honest because I knew Emerson was that place for him; I knew we would love it, I knew we'd have a great experience, I knew we'd miss basketball once it was over. But as a parent, (...), I didn't want to tell him what to do. I wanted [it] to be his own decision because it's such a time commitment.”

Despite letting Zach make his own choices, he knew his mom wanted him to stay in sports as “it would help [me] make friends, stay out of trouble, be attached to the right thing, stay active, and keep me in the right mindset.”

Upon entering college, Zach was quick to find companionship in his freshmen teammates, Trevor McLean, Nate Martin, and Jarred Houston, all relationships that would prove to guide him through his transition to the city, Emerson, and the game of college basketball. 

In addition to their off-court chemistry, the quartet found themselves with abnormal minutes for freshmen, allowing for a connection to establish. The four of them quickly became quintessential members of the team: Houston the dominating big-man, McLean the floor general, Martin the dynamic two-way player, and Zach the hard-to-guard shooter. In their senior year, not much has changed. If anything, Houston says Zach embodies more of a two way player to pick up where they’ve lost players. 

“It's not all about him, but I think sometimes it has to be,” Allen concluded.