Athlete Profile: Brewster Hoopster Jack Dignan Shines

Brewster junior guard Jack Dignan's impressive stats earned him boys basketball All-Conference honors this season.

Dignan averaged a team-leading 17 points per game and doled out 91 assists during the season. Dignan also led the Bears in defensive rebounds, with 93, and with 121 total rebounds was second to All-League player Mike Bonilla.

One reason behind Dignan’s success is his ability to make the most out of every shot he takes.

“He averaged one point per shot, which is a statistic I give to kids all the time,” Brewster coach John Martino said. “If you are averaging a minimum of one point per shot, you are headed in the right direction. If you are averaging less than one point per shot, that’s not something the coaching staff likes very much. Jack is averaging one point per shot.”

On the defensive end, Dignan is a tenacious on-the-ball defender who makes the other team’s players work hard to get an open look. He also challenges shots and keeps the player he's guarding from penetrating the middle of the Bears’ defense.

“Jack had a number of games where he had eight, nine rebounds,” Martino said. “He is a tireless defender. He always works hard defensively.”

While Dignan said it felt nice to be named All-Conference, he still has his eye on the bigger picture—eventually making it to the Westchester County Center in White Plains for the Section 1 Class AA Final Four.

Despite the Bears’ solid overall record of 13-5, they fell short of the final four when their season ended with a loss to visiting Ossining in the opening round of the Section 1 Class AA tournament.

“All the hard work pays off but it didn’t really mean much after we lost to Ossining, because that’s two years in a row that we went out in the first round at home. That’s what I was more focused on," Dignan said.

For Dignan, it was his second year playing on Brewster’s varsity squad.

“I love it,” Dignan said. “It’s hard work, but at the same time it’s fun. You have to love it or else it would be too hard. But I work hard, and so far it’s been paying off.”

As for next year, Dignan said that he just wants to help make his teammates better in any way possible.

“Coach says you are not a good player unless you help make somebody better on your own team,” Dignan said. “I want to make the guys around me better. I don’t want to fall short anymore, I want to make it to the County Center and I want to win some games there.”

Dignan said attending the Kennedy Catholic-Byram Hills and Mount Vernon-Poughkeepsie games at the County Center whetted his appetite to get to there next year even more.

“You go to the games there, at the County Center, and everyone thinks it’s the coolest thing,” Dignan said. “Even to watch my friend Frankie Kelly, who plays for Kennedy, get out there, just made me want it even more.”