March 5, 2015
Lafayette College senior guard Joey Ptasinski recently traded in his old phone for a new one.
He was ready to say goodbye to the outdated features and slower operating system and to have more storage space.
Then, as he was ready to toss it aside, he realized there was one specific video he couldn't part with, so he emailed it to himself to add to his new phone.
Put simply: It was too memorable and meaningful to discard.
"[Teammate] Seth [Hinrichs] got us all hooked on Call of Duty [for the Xbox]," Ptasinski said. "And that day I don't know what was wrong with us. We were all perfectly fine, and then we decided to act out the video game. It was something I really didn't want to forget. [Dan Trist, Hinrichs and I] still laugh about it three years later.
"It's been awesome with them."
Any Lafayette basketball fan can vouch for that.
Hinrichs, Ptasinski and Trist each dazzle in their own way.
Ptasinski is the owner of a smooth-as-silk jump shot that includes range that stretches to 30 feet. Hinrichs handles the ball better than most power forwards and has an outside jumper to go with his inside game. And Trist, the team's leader in points and rebounds per game, enjoys setting a bone-jarring pick as much as he does knocking down a 15-footer.
And all are 1,000-point scorers, making it the first time in school history there have been three Leopards on the same team with 1,000 points each.
Head coach Fran O'Hanlon said each of them got opportunities to play as freshmen for different reasons and each took advantage of his chance.
It's hard to debate that. All three got significant minutes as freshmen, and all three impressed O'Hanlon enough to eventually earn starting roles by the time they were sophomores.
Hinrichs agreed with O'Hanlon, but also credited the core group of upperclassmen that were on the team when he, Ptasinski and Trist were freshmen.
"The seniors were a large class when we were freshmen, and they allowed us to develop, but challenged us at the same time," Hinrichs said. "And so did Tony Johnson, who was the point guard then. Those guys grandfathered us in. They helped us become better players than we ever expected."
The three players have done their damage on the court in different ways.
For as much as Trist loves contact, his versatility allows him to force opposing big men to guard him 18 feet from the basket.
Ptasinski can string together a handful of 3-pointers in a short time to completely turn around a game and send the Lafayette faithful into a frenzy.
Hinrichs has the most diverse game. He can spot up from 3-point range, take foes off the dribble and use his 6-foot-7 frame to post up smaller opponents.
Perhaps what few expected was this trio developing such a close friendship. Not even Ptasinski could have seen it coming. But they're together off the court almost as much as they are on the court. Hinrichs and Ptasinski live in the same house, and Trist makes his way over there all the time.
"Seth comes from a [town] with like 20 people," Ptasinski said. "It doesn't even show up on a map. He has lots of stories of living on the farm that to me, a city kid, I have no idea about. And Dan lives the nice, coastal Australian life."
The one life these three seniors haven't lived is that of March Madness. As freshmen, they lost in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. They were close, when as sophomores, they advanced to the championship game, but lost to Bucknell. A season ago, Boston University ended their junior campaign in the quarterfinals.
This year, Trist, Hinrichs and Ptasinski have their hearts set on getting to the NCAA Tournament, a place Lafayette hasn't been since making back-to-back trips in the 1999 and 2000 seasons when this group of seniors was barely out of kindergarten.
"It was an outstanding series of games and memories during that stretch when we were sophomores," Trist said. "Once you taste that, you want to go back there and be successful at that level again. I would consider this year to be a failure if we don't get back there again with our experience and our age."
Having an eye on March Madness means one more thing: their careers at Lafayette are winding down, and it's something none of them, O'Hanlon included, want to think about.
O'Hanlon has savored every moment with this group, which admittedly includes calling the sometimes stubborn, but good-natured Trist, "Rocky," which is short for Rockhead.
"He's very good when you point out things to him," O'Hanlon said. "It's never that we butt heads. It's like, 'Dan, I think we've had this conversation a few times,' and he's always good at saying, 'Yes, I know.' The great thing about Dan is, if I get on him for anything, you can't even stay mad at him. He'll say, 'Yeah, Coach loves me.' He's like hanging out with one of my friends."
Even if the Leopards don't win the Patriot League title, even if they don't win a game in the League Tournament, even if they happen to lose a game by 20-plus points, neither Trist, nor Hinrichs, nor Ptasinski will ever wish that they would have gone to another school.
"I have never regretted it, not even for a second," Hinrichs said. "It's been a great decision for me and my family and friends. I feel so welcomed here with everyone surrounding Lafayette and The Friends of Lafayette and the Maroon Club. I've loved every second of it. There's a special bond that every athlete shares in the athletic community."
Trist, who has been thousands and thousands of miles away from his friends and family in Australia, has never questioned his decision to go to or remain on College Hill.
"I wouldn't change anything," he said. "Everything I've gone through and every decision I've made has taken me to this point. For better or worse, it's been a learning experience, and I've loved every second of it."
By Mandy Housenick | House on the Hill
