Albertus' Pat McGuinness Picks College, Prepares For Senior Season

Heading into Pat McGuinness’ third season as a starter for the varsity boys basketball team at Albertus Magnus, his coach Pat McFadden is hesitant to say he’s really grown as a player.

But that’s only because McFadden said McGuinness came to the team ready to start and has been making the team better since joining the Falcons.

“The program has grown because of him,” McFadden. “He’s made every player in our program better since he’s been here.”

And while McGuinness is the team’s starting point guard, McFadden is also hesitant to refer to him as a point guard.

“He’s our leader,” McFadden said. “He fills up the start sheet across the board. He could be our leading scorer, he could be our leading assist man, he could lead us in any stat.”

McFadden said that gives McGuinness a unique skill set, adding that there’s nothing McGuinness thinks he can’t do on the basketball court.

“Every game he plays we have a chance to win,” McFadden said.

McGuinness said he’s confident in his abilities on the court because of the support he gets from McFadden.

McGuinness finished last year averaging 17.4 points, six rebounds and five assists per game. The Falcons also title for the third time in school history, and the first since 1994.

Practice for the upcoming season started this week, but before that, McGuinness announced that next year he’ll attend Le Moyne, which is up in Syracuse and is a Division II program in the Northeast 10.

“I liked the atmosphere of the school,” said McGuinness, 17, of New City. “It’s right there in the town, and I liked the coach a lot.”

McGuinness said he’s excited to play in college, and it’s something he’s wanted to do for a long time. His father, Joe McGuinness, Albertus’ athletic director, said his son has the best work ethic of anyone he knows.

“I can remember as far back as third grade where he’d be outside in the rain and refused to come in until he could make a left-handed layup,” Joe McGuinness said.

He added that it was great to see his son set a goal for himself and achieve it, and that he’ll probably rack up some miles on his car driving up to watch Pat play next season.

“We’re real excited for him because he’s worked so hard at it,” Joe McGuinness said. “It’s been a goal of his for a long time, to earn a scholarship and play college basketball.”

But before McGuinness can suit up for the Dolphins, he’s still got his senior season to play. The Falcons title defense officially gets under way Dec. 6 at Ramapo.

“Because we won last year, we have a target on our backs now,” Pat McGuinness said. “Everyone is going to try and take us down.”

The Falcons return four starters from last year’s squad, and McFadden said that during the preseason they’re going to work out players at various positions to help with depth off the bench. He also added that with McGuinness and senior Tyler Sayre, he has an impressive 1-2 punch.

“They’re tremendous weapons to have,” McFadden said. “They’re similar in some ways. They’re both gym rats. Tyler’s a bit taller. It’s an honor to coach players like that.”

The other two returning starters for Albertus are junior Jack Sullivan and senior Arnell Dandridge. McFadden said Sullivan is a fearless shooter who can go on streaks where he can make eight or nine 3-pointers in a row. He added that Dandridge is explosive and one of the team’s best defenders.