By Jerry Sullivan
Mike MacDonald admits he didn’t quite see this coming. Really, who could have foreseen one of the best seasons in program history, with his team unbeaten in the last week of January and ranked second in the nation?
Sure, Daemen University had talent. But Dylan Fasoyiro, his leading scorer, had left for Division I South Alabama in the portal. His second-leading scorer, Joey Atkins, had graduated. So had his son, Nick MacDonald, the team’s fourth-leading scorer a year ago.
That was roughly half the Wildcats’ scoring from 2023-24. Justin Hemphill, a fifth-year senior and one of the top returning players, also had his doubts about a Daemen team that had won 25 games the previous season.
“Coming into the season, it was a little questionable, losing Dylan and Joey and Nick,” Hemphill said after Thursday’s practice at Lumsden Gymnasium. “But then we had our preseason workouts and from the get-go, you could tell this team was going to do some big things this season.”
It was quickly apparent that this Daemen team had something special. Hemphill and the other returnees had gone to another level. Sophomores Benjamin Bill and Zach Philipkoski were revelations in preseason. Matt Becker, the graduate addition from St. Anselm, made a remarkably smooth transition to a new team.
You can never predict team chemistry, particularly in the modern college basketball world, where ego runs wild and players jump into the transfer portal and seek another opportunity at the least sign of diminished playing time.
“Chemistry is off the charts,” MacDonald said. “It’s really good. They don’t care who scores. They don’t care who plays. We have 12 guys who we dress. They just all accepted their roles and it’s been great.”
The Wildcats made an early statement by beating UB by six in an exhibition game. They outplayed Army in a scrimmage. Clearly, this was a high-level Division II outfit. They navigated a challenging early-season schedule, beating Charleston and California (Pa.), both ranked in the top 12 nationally in DII at the time. They blew out St. Thomas Aquinas, which has beaten them four years in a row in the East Coast Conference Tournament final, by 29 points.
Daemen is 16-0 and 7-0 in the ECC heading into Saturday’s game at Roberts Wesleyan and ranked No. 2 in the country in Division II behind Washburn (Kans.) Remarkably, they’re doing it without a single player averaging 26 minutes a game. Seven guys average between 21 and 25 minutes a contest.
Bill, a 6-10 center from Hamburg, leads them in scoring at 16.6 points a game — off the bench. Philipkoski, third in scoring at 10.3 points a game, also has yet to start a game this season. He leads the ECC in assist-turnover margin.
“There’s a lot of egos in college basketball when it comes to minutes,” said Hemphill, who leads the Wildcats in rebounds, assists and steals, and is second in scoring at 11.9 points a game. “But no one thinks about that, not really. Even when the starters are sitting on the bench for the last 10, 13 minutes of a game, we’re over there on the bench enjoying everybody else’s success on the court and we’re happy to see everyone doing good.
“The guys who come off our bench handle everything pretty well,” said Hemphill, a 6-6 forward. “They know they could probably go to another team and be a starter. But they know not everybody gets to be on a team like this.”
When playing time is precious, you make the best out of your time on the floor. It also enables the Wildcats to be fresher and stronger, which makes them tougher at the end of games. They’re a vise on defense, holding opponents to 35.5 percent shooting from the field, which leads the nation in DII. They’re shooting 52.4 percent. They’re second in the country in rebound margin (10.5), scoring margin (25.0) and, not surprisingly, bench scoring (41.6).
“It’s neat that we can do it that way,” said MacDonald. He’s now 220-82 in his 11 season at Daemen and has won at least 12 games in the ECC every season. “I think it starts with Ben Bill and Zach. Two of them might be our best players. On any given night they are. But they come off the bench, both of them.
“I heard this thing in the summer,” MacDonald said. “Doc Rivers said in the 80's and 90’s teams would go to the bench and drill people. When you went to the bench with the Lakers to (Bob) McAdoo, there wouldn’t be a drop-off. I think we’re like that. That’s who we want to try to be and I think we’ve been able to do that.”
It helps to have strong leadership, older players who are willing to sacrifice for the common good. Daemen has four captains — Andrew Mason, Ryan Salzberg, Justin Glover and Hemphill. Salzberg, the old man at 25, is in his sixth year with the program. Mason and Hemphill are in their fifth. Glover, from St. Joe’s in Buffalo, is the junior point guard and floor general.
Hemphill, who won a state title at O’Hara as a senior, struggled with injuries early in his career. But he has matured into a strong leader and the team’s best all-around player. Last week, he had 16 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and a career-high 11 assists in a win over 21st ranked Gannon, earning him recognition as co-ECC player of the week. MacDonald was coach of the week.
“I think he’s really embraced trying to be a leader,” MacDonald said. “This team takes its cue from him energy-wise. He has great energy and kind of gives them the spark, and they realize that.”
“It feels good to be in that role,” Hemphill said, “and know that I have a team that looks up to me and expects me to be a leader, that expects me to set an example not just on the court but outside basketball.”
Hemphill said this Daemen team reminds him of that O’Hara team that went 25-1 and won the state federation title in 2019. That team had great chemistry, too. If you’ve followed the Hemphills, it might also be reminiscent of the UB women’s team that reached the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2018. His older sister, Summer, was on that UB women’s squad and held her own against A'ja Wilson of South Carolina, the best player in the nation that year, in the Sweet 16.
Summer, who was also a high school star at Cardinal O’Hara, suffered a knee injury that hampered her for the rest of her career at Buffalo. She is in her third year as an assistant coach for the Daemen women's team under Jen Banker, who has won five consecutive ECC women’s hoop titles.
So, it’s been a glorious time at Lumsden Gym for the Hemphill clan. The family has been a fixture at the kids’ basketball games over the years, including the Daemen women now that Summer is on the staff. Tina Kettle, their mother, is a regular, along with dad Willie Hemphill and various family and friends, including Summer and her boyfriend James Patterson, who played linebacker for the UB football team and is now working at the university.
“Oh, I’ve been to all the games,” Kettle said. “I don’t miss. We were all there last week for the Gannon game. The house was packed. Justin almost had a triple-double. We always meet afterwards and I was asking him about it. I’ve seen his leadership develop, I’ve seen a difference in Justin, his playmaking skills and getting the other team members involved. Not just him but the other guys too.”The Hemphills also have a lot of fans in the Native American community. Kettle is a member of the Seneca Nation. A few years ago, she moved into her late father’s house on the Allegany reservation in Salamanca. Summer and Justin have had proclamations in their honor from the Tribal Council. Justin gets followed by Native American Sports News, which tracks native athletes in the East.
Hemphill, a sports management major, attended prep school at St. Thomas More Academy in Florida after graduating from O’Hara. Like any high school star, he had visions of Division I. But MacDonald and his top assistant, Ryan Grandits, recruited him early and let him know there was a place for him at Damen.
“Coach Mac and Coach Grandits always showed me love,” he said. “They let me know I’d always have a home here if this is where I wanted to be. After prep school, I didn’t get anything I liked. They kept their word and I was here in August, 2020. From the start, I made a lot of friends, a lot of local guys around here. It feels like home. It feels like a good place to be.”
Hemphill would like to play basketball professionally one day. He’s also interested in carpentry. For now, he’s in the midst of a dream season, one that could result in a run at a national Division II championship. Daemen is almost certain to host the ECC tourney in early March.
Over half a season, the Wildcats have made it clear that they can beat anyone — even some teams in Division I. They already beat UB, and they could almost surely defeat a woeful Canisius squad. Around the campus, they’re calling Daemen the best basketball team in Buffalo. Who’s to argue?
“We’ve heard that,” Hemphill said with a laugh. “We see everything. We know everything that’s being said. We did go heat-to-head with (UB). You can say it’s an exhibition game, but them being a DI team, they don’t want to lose to a DII team. Us being a DII team, we wanted to beat a DI team.
“You could see that was a pretty good indication of who the best team in Buffalo is at the moment.”
Pics Courtesy of Max Sacco
Assistant Director of Athletic Communications / Daemen University
ReplyReply allForward |
Comments