City of Basketball Love

Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)
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Kieran Hefferan remembers what it was like to watch high school basketball growing up in West Chester. He fell in love with the game around the age of six, and those local contests were a big reason why.

“We had the three high schools: Rustin, Henderson and East,” Hefferan said. “I went to those games when I was younger [...] it was a great crosstown rivalry — watching the games between Henderson and East, East and Rustin was great to watch. 

“Growing up watching those players got me excited and got me thinking about what I could do in high school.” 

Over a decade later, Hefferan turned his successful high school career at West Chester East into a commitment to play college ball at SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF).

SUNY-ESF is located in Syracuse, N.Y., a school a little more than a century old with about 1,800 undergraduate students and 400 graduate students. The largest campus in the State University of New York (SUNY) system with over 25,000 acres of land, ESF has bachelor’s programs in everything from common subjects (Environmental Science) to the more obscure (Aquatic and Fisheries Science, Forest Resources Management).

Hefferan found particular interest in biology, human anatomy and infectious disease during high school. He plans to major in environmental health at ESF. As Hefferan grew older, his fascination with the sciences burgeoned much like his love for basketball. The COVID-19 pandemic took that fascination a step further. 

“Since we are living in a pandemic, this field interested me about the interaction between human health and environmental health and the vital role it has to play in our daily lives,” he said.

Hefferan heads to the Empire State after beginning his high school career on the JV team as a freshman and sophomore. What he lacked in athleticism he made up for in shooting and work ethic.

“I was never the fastest,” Hefferan said after noting he ran cross country all four years in high school. “But I could be on the court the longest.”

A 6-foot, 160-pound wing, Hefferan started on a loaded West Chester East team as a junior. He supplemented a pair of talented college recruits in 6-9 forward Andrew Carr, now at Delaware, and 6-2 guard Tym Richardson, now at West Chester. The Vikings went 28-2, won a district championship and were headed to the PIAA state quarterfinals before COVID-19 shut the season down. Hefferan averaged 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds and hit 45 three-pointers.

Hefferan put in work to make his shooting a valuable asset. 

“Knowing I was going to be on a good team my junior year I knew I was going to have to make an impact on the floor,” he said. “Shooting the ball gets you points. I worked on my shot continuously and being able to improve on that was great. I was never a shooter when I was younger.” 

Despite losing Carr and Richardson to graduation that spring, West Chester East still played well during a COVID-shortened 2021 season, outperforming expectations with a 13-4 record and second consecutive Ches-Mont championship. After dominating Neshaminy in the opening round of the District 1 Class 6A tournament, East’s season ended with a one-point loss to Abington in the district quarters, a result that would have qualified them for the state tournament in any other year; the PIAA brackets were greatly reduced in size this spring due to the ongoing pandemic.

Hefferan played well, averaging 10 points and seven rebounds per game, hitting 32 3-pointers.

“I was confident we’d have a good season,” Hefferan said. “I didn’t expect us to have as good a season as we had. We had a lot of new players coming up that didn’t play last year. Everyone responded greatly to the challenge. Being able to exceed expectations and go beyond it was a great feeling. All of us put in the work.”

After his junior season, a summer workout held by his AAU squad, Pro Skills Basketball, brought attention from ESF, along with Dickinson and Hilbert (N.Y.).

“I had hopes of playing in college,” Hefferan said. “I was working toward it. Once [ESF head] coach [John] D’Antonio sent me a message, it was a surreal moment. Finally after all the work I put in, I was recognized.”

After going on a campus visit in late winter, Hefferan knew SUNY ESF was the school for him. 

The proximity, and accessibility, to a basketball-crazed school had an impact too. Students at SUNY ESF are able to take classes, use dining and computing facilities, join clubs and eat in dining halls at Syracuse University, according to SUNY ESF’s website. The schools are separated by only a half-mile.

“It’s right next to Syracuse University,” he said. “That was a big pull. It’s not too small or too big of a school. They have very good opportunities after school for internships and jobs in that field. It’s a great fit for me not only athletically, but socially and academically.”

At ESF, which plays not in the NCAA but in the US Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), D’Antonio heads a Mighty Oaks team that went 9-10 overall (4-3 Hudson Valley) in 2019-20, its last season of competition. Hefferan also hopes to bring his winning history and build a culture there; in the last five seasons, the team had its best record in 2016-17, when it went 11-11.

He’s also looking forward to bringing his outside shooting to a team that loves taking them; the Mighty Oaks averaged 24.3 three-point attempts per game in the 2019-20 season. Hefferan’s shooting ability will be a welcomed sight for the Mighty Oaks, who look to improve on their 34.2% shooting from 3-point range a couple years ago. 

No matter what his role is initially with the program, Hefferan’s looking forward to continuing his hoops career for another four years, something he’s hoped to do since he was that little kid watching high school games back in West Chester.

“Basketball was always my favorite sport,” Hefferan said. “Thankfully I still have the passion for it. It worked out.”