Wesleyan Solidifies Backcourt with Local Duo
Wesleyan University head coach Joe Reilly recently picked up verbal commitments from Beaver Country Day swingman Joe Connelly and Phillips Exeter Academy guard Harry Rafferty.
Connelly and Rafferty are cut from the same cloth as ultra competitive kids who have a passion for the game, shoot the ball extremely well, and also have the academic background to get it done in a league as prestigious as the NESCAC.
Rafferty, who previously starred at Berwick Academy, came up the AAU ranks with MB Nation before finishing out his career with the Middlesex Magic last spring and summer.
A southpaw guard who has traditionally been best known for his three-point shooting, Rafferty has worked hard to become a true point guard in recent years and saw wide-ranging recruitment that extended from prestigious academic schools like Wesleyan all the way up to the scholarship ranks.
“I just think Wesleyan is the perfect fit of academics and a really good, growing basketball program,” Rafferty said. “I got a great feel for Coach Reilly and a great feeling about where that basketball program is going and how I can hopefully fit into that.”
Wesleyan finished with a record of 20-6 last season, the best in school history, and begins this season as the 23rd ranked team in the country according to D3Hoops.com.
Rafferty and Connelly have never taken the court together, but have plenty of experience competing against each other dating back to Rafferty’s days at Berwick Academy.
“He plays really, really hard and he can knock down shots,” Rafferty said of Connelly. “He seems like a winner to me so I’m just really excited to play with him.”
“The first thing with Joe is that he’s a fierce, fierce competitor,” BCD head coach Juan Figueroa said. “He plays so hard, never takes a play off, and plays the game with such great intensity, in games and in practice.”
Connelly came on strong this summer, standing out at a number of Ivy elite camps in June before having a solid showing during the month of July with the Prodigy Basketball Club.
“Obviously he’s a great shooter and the reason for that is he just lives in the gym,” Figueroa said. “He’s an amazing kid. We’ve been very blessed and lucky to have him here.”
Rafferty and Connelly will both apply early decision, or ED1, to Wesleyan. Their commitments are conditional upon their admission into the university, which is true for any Ivy, NESCAC, or other high academic school.
Joe Connelly
Harry Rafferty