When Conn. College's Rich Futia tipped in Isaiah Curtis' missed three-point attempt, not only did he end the men's basketball season, but he also ended an era.
Senior co-captains Dan Flaherty and Bobby Mpuku began playing basketball together as eighth graders in Fairfield, Connecticut for a youth traveling team. Over the next nine years, the two would evolve from mere teammates to best friends.
"Although we became good friends through basketball, our friendship is a lot more than basketball," Mpuku said. "We are both going to miss [basketball], but our friendship will not be affected."
In the duo's freshman year at Fairfield Prep, an all-boys Jesuit school with approximately 1,000 students, they were relegated to the freshman team. However, by sophomore year, the two had established themselves as big-time players, and led their varsity team to a 15-9 record and a trip to the state tournament.
Eleventh grade was a disappointing one for Flaherty and Mpuku, as Flaherty broke his foot in the midst of the season and the team struggled.
For the high school student, senior year is where lifetime memories are made, and for Flaherty and Mpuku, the two made Fairfield Prep history during their final season. As two of the three captains, the big center and the svelte point guard utilized the inside out game, which they would perfect at Tufts, and guided their team to a 22-4 record and the Connecticut State championship.
"I think I was the leading scorer," Flaherty said. "I started at center; [Mpuku] started at the point. We were definitely the focus"
"That was a really great experience," Mpuku said. "It's one of my fondest memories. We were able to provide leadership. It was one of the most memorable times, knocking off teams that maybe were a little more talented."
That year, the team lost the league tournament, but was able to regroup and win the state championship.
"In high school you play the regular season and then league tournaments," Flaherty said. "And we lost the league tournament and then we turned it around in states. We won 12 in a row at one point. In the quarterfinals of the state championships, we were down by 20 and we came back and won by 15."
While numerous Division III schools recruited the 6' 7" Flaherty for their basketball teams, Mpuku did not receive as much attention, and could not decide whether he wanted to play basketball or soccer in college.
"I was recruited by some schools to play soccer," Mpuku said. "I was trying to go the best academic school, and wherever it was I wanted to play a sport there. Tufts ended up being the best fit for me and basketball came after that."
Mpuku was the first of the two to chose Tufts. The highly touted Flaherty had difficulty coming to a final decision about where he would continue his athletic and academic careers.
"I knew about Tufts since the end of my junior year," Flaherty said. "I had been looking to play basketball at a lot of Division III schools. It came down to between Tufts and NYU. I wanted to go to a school in a city and this was definitely near a city. I didn't decide until the end of April of my senior year."
Interestingly, Flaherty's exploits on the court may have sparked Tufts' interests in Mpuku.
"The Tufts basketball coach had been to a couple of our basketball games," Flaherty said. "When the coach found out [Mpuku] was okay, he told him that he should come down to the school and play. He had done really well at the end of [senior year]. Bobby applied to Tufts without even speaking to the basketball coach. He applied because he wanted to play soccer and he thought he could at Tufts."
While the duo did not plan to attend college together, once they discovered that they were both going to Tufts, they were elated.
"We both decided we were going to go, and it was kind of a strange coincidence. We figured that we'd been good friends and that it would be great to try and live together," Mpuku said.
Prior to their freshman year, Flaherty and Mpuku requested to be roommates, and it worked out so well that they ended up being roommates as sophomores too. They would have continued to be roommates were it not for the Tufts rule that prevents juniors from receiving doubles.
"It definitely got us a lot tighter living together," Flaherty said. "You see the whole person when you live together. It backfires with some, but it worked really well for us. It made us not worry about a lot of problems. You hear horror stories about how people hate their roommate. We definitely became really close when we came to school. We have become best friends. Maybe we weren't in high school, but in college we are."
As their friendship developed, so did their basketball games. As freshman, the duo had to adjust to secondary roles after having stared in high school for so many years.
"Everyone on the team was good," Flaherty recalled. "It was just different because the season was longer and it was a lot more intense. We had to adjust to a whole new system. It was not comfortable. The adjustment was playing with new guys. [Mpuku] ended up starting a couple games in the beginning of the year (when the point guard got injured) and then I played a lot more at the end than I did at the beginning. We had games where at least one of us would play 20 or 30 minutes"
"I knew we had a great point guard here and I wasn't heavily recruited, and I knew that I wasn't going to play that much," Mpuku said. "As far as Dan, he was heavily recruited and I looked to encourage him whenever I could, and contribute as well."
By their sophomore years, Mpuku and Flaherty were once again ready to take over the leadership roles on the team, positions they had filled so successfully during their high school days.
"Sophomore year I thought that, even though we were only sophomores, we were kind of leaders again," Flaherty said. "There was nobody a year ahead of us and the seniors were good guys but not true leaders. [Sophomore year] kind of defined how the next two years would go."
"We really had the opportunity to get in early and shape the team for the next few years," Mpuku said.
Their junior year at Tufts was eerily reminiscent of their senior year at Fairfield Prep _ everything fell together perfectly as the team overachieved on its way to a championship. While not expected to be powerhouse in the tough ECAC, the young Jumbo squad with one senior (Paul Smith) somehow managed to put together a 21-6 record and win the ECAC title in a 74-73 thriller against Colby.
As they had in high school, co-captains Flaherty and Mpuku were instrumental in their team's success. Flaherty led the team in scoring and rebounds (14.1 ppg and 8.2 rpg), while Mpuku averaged eight points and was first on the team in assists with 4.4 per game.
"It was definitely so reminiscent of high school," Mpuku said about their junior season. "Going into that year nobody expected a lot out of us, like our high school team. We really came together as a team. Being captain in high school was more of a title than an active role being captain in college is a lot more than just showing up for games. Off court you have to provide leadership and make sure everyone is showing up for lifts and runs"
"It was great," Flaherty said. "It was just like high school. We were captains and Bob won so many games at the buzzer."
Sadly, for the two stars, they were unable to follow up their junior year success with another extended playoff run in their final year together. After opening up the season 12-2, the Jumbos stumbled during the second half to finish 15-9, and missed qualifying for the NESCAC tournament. Despite their teams struggles, Flaherty and Mpuku still ended their odyssey with successful individual seasons. Flaherty once again headed the Jumbos in scoring (19.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.7), and Mpuku upped his scoring to 8.9 ppg, while once again leading the team in assists with 5.0 per game.
While their basketball careers ended with a fatal tip in, Mpuku and Flaherty discovered more than winning and losing on the basketball court _ they found camaraderie and friendship that will last a lifetime.
"We will definitely be friends," Flaherty said. "We almost new where each other would be on the court. Whenever we get older we will remember that."
