Senior basketball players Matt Greene and Hannah Seely may play on different teams, but they have similar, uniting goals.
Both Seely and Greene recently scored their 1,000th point of their career, and both hope to hold a Freedom Conference Championship banner in late February.
“I’ve worked extremely hard for four years and it has always been one of my goals.” Greene said. “Winning has always been more important though. I came in to college with the mentality to do whatever it takes to win whether I had to score or not. I must give the majority of the credit to my coaches and my teammates. My coaches put me in a position where I can have the most success and my teammates were the ones to get me open and pass me the ball.”
Seely celebrated the milestone alongside her sister, Justine, a first year forward.
“She wasn’t sure she wanted to play in college, but I’m glad that she chose Misericordia and chose to play,” she said. “I’m really proud of her. There’s something bittersweet about being able to be on the court with her as she’s starting her career while I’m ending mine.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams won Freedom Conference Championships in the 2011-2012 season. Although both teams lost in the first round, the men to New York University and the women to Tufts University, both players said it was their favorite moment as a Cougar.
“It was easily the best experience I’ve ever had playing basketball. The amount of effort our team put in to that season was outstanding. Our leadership was exactly what
it needed to be and we had great role players to fill in the spots,” Greene said. “Going to the NCAA tournament and playing against NYU was an insane atmosphere. It was filled with students and many fans that came out to support us. It was truly an experience that I can never forget.”
Seely said it was a rare feeling every player should feel at least once in their careers.
“Nothing compares to winning the MAC championship. It’s a feeling that I can’t explain, but I’ll never forget,” Seely said. “I hope the underclassmen on this team get to experience that before they graduate. They deserve to know what that feels like.”
Greene said coach Trevor Woodruff is the biggest reason he has enjoyed so much success over his four years.
“He has been hard on me since the day I’ve walked on this campus,” Greene said. “He never allowed me to become comfortable and satisfied with my game and that’s how my game has elevated tremendously.”
Greene added that lessons he learned off-court are equally valuable.
“One thing I’ve realized over the past four years is that he’s been teaching me more about life than he is teaching me basketball,” Greene said. “He would never allow me to skip or show up late to practice just like he would never let me skip or show up late to class or anything. I truly am lucky to have such a great mentor.”
Seely has played under two coaches in her years as a Cougar, first for former head coach Tom Griffith and now for coach Allison Kern. It wasn’t always easy trying to adjust to a new philosophy, but she says she has learned from Kern.
“It wasn’t necessarily easy to adjust to different coaching styles, but it was worth it,” Seely said. “I can’t express how grateful I am for everything that coach kern has done for me individually, for us as a team, and for this program.”
The similarities between are underscored by the fact that they both come from basketball families. Seely’s uncle was her high school coach and her grandfather doesn’t miss a game.
“My grandfather lives to watch Justine and I play, which I think is another reason what makes playing with her so special. He is so proud of us and reminds us everyday of how happy it makes him to be able to come and watch us,” Seely said.
“He actually got lost on the way to the kings game and didn’t make it on time to see my 1000th point, which ironically is possibly the only time he’s missed part of a game ever.”
As the regular season winds
down, the players are starting to realize they only have a few games of collegiate basketball left. Seely said she will miss the feeling she gets when she walks onto the floor.
“I love when we walk on to the court and you know that the person standing next to you wan to win as badly as you do,” Seely said. “These next few games are critical for us and that might make some people nervous, but I know my teammates and I are excited to have a few more chances to battle it out. I’ll definitely miss that feel- ing of playing with a purpose.”
Greene said there is nothing like lacing up your shoes and playing with your teammates, but ironical- ly enough, he will miss something most players dread – the first day of practice.
“There’s nothing like walking into the gym on that day knowing coach is going to make you run until you can’t stand, yell at you to get in a better stance, tell you to give better effort,” Greene said. “Every time I laced up my shoes and put a jersey on, I was going to give it my all for my brothers and my coaches. They’ve put so much time and effort into me that letting them down was not an option. Even though this is my last year of playing competitive basketball, I refuse to let it walk out of my life.”