The Basketball Guy

Michael O’Connell traded one future for another in a pandemic-led journey to Stanford

01/18/2022

MICHAEL O’CONNELL accepted a college athletic scholarship offer when he was 13 years old.

He hadn’t even started high school. But for Michael, the decision was as sure as could be. For nearly four years, that commitment drove him to great success. He never wavered in his dedication to play lacrosse at the University of Maryland, the team his older brother helped lead to a national championship.

When Michael walked around his Long Island hometown of Mineola, New York, he often was recognized for his athletic talent.

“Hey, you’re the lacrosse guy!” they would say.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

Now, O’Connell has a different response.

“No,” he says. “I’m a basketball player.”

If not for the pandemic, O’Connell would not be at Stanford. He would not have hit a series of big shots down the stretch against Oregon in December, or assisted on Oscar da Silva’s buzzer-beating overtime winner against UCLA last January, or lead any of the Cardinal’s big wins over the past two seasons.

Timing, plus the pull of basketball and academic excellence brought O’Connell to Stanford. Now a sophomore, O’Connell is the starting point guard, bringing control and a steadying influence to a Cardinal team aiming for an NCAA tournament bid. 

“The more I see Michael O’Connell, the more I see John Stockton,” said former UCLA great and Pac-12 Network commentator Bill Walton, referring to the purest example of great point guard play, during the Oregon game.

Pass first, crash the boards, score when the opportunity arises, and stay unfazed and undaunted amidst chaos. That’s Michael.

Like many little brother-big brother stories, Michael owes much to Thomas, older by four years. It was Thomas who first played lacrosse and basketball, both inspiring Michael and menacing him, walloping him in one-on-one driveway hoops matchups, and telling him to get lost when a young Michael tried to tag along.

But Thomas also paved the way for Michael, serving as a confidant and mentor. It was Thomas who blazed the lacrosse path to Maryland, committing as a sophomore. But Thomas never wavered in his love for basketball. Once a ball boy at St. John’s, Thomas walked on to the Red Storm basketball team as a graduate transfer, living a dream that had all but disappeared during a stellar lacrosse career.

While valuing his experience at Maryland, Thomas understood the pull of basketball for Michael.

“He was fully supportive of whatever choice I made,” Michael said.

“Don’t follow me because I’m your brother,” Thomas told him. “This is your path. Whatever you decide, I got you.”

IT WASN’T A simple thing to get Thomas’ blessing, to turn away from a school and a program that was so good to the family. But Michael did it anyway, having the faith to seek a release from his lacrosse letter of intent without knowing where he would land.

On Long Island, lacrosse is king, but the O’Connells are first a basketball family. Michael’s grandfather James was a high school referee for more than 30 years. Great uncle Andrew played at Niagara. Aunt Theresa was an all-time great at Lafayette. Uncle James played at Central Connecticut State and uncle Andrew played at Albany.

Michael’s mother, the former Tara Felix, was the first All-Big East Conference first-team softball player at St. John’s. His father, Tim O’Connell, was the 2019 Long Island Catholic Youth Organization Role Model of the Year and through CYO, the Police Athletic League, and his role as deputy commissioner for parks and recreation in Nassau County, “Coach Tim” influenced countless young people. He coached his two sons in football, basketball, and lacrosse.

Tim’s style as a coach and father was about discipline, respect, and doing the right thing.

“Growing up, it was, simply put, books and school.” Thomas said. “That was it. My dad was very strict. Handle your business first and then you can enjoy yourself later.”

There wasn’t much time for social activities anyway.

“It was lacrosse to basketball to weight training to homework to sleep,” Thomas said. “We were always on a regular schedule, even in the summers. Camps, hop in the car, road trip for an AAU tournament or lacrosse travel tournament. It was really non-stop.”

Michael played for a time with the Riverside Hawks, an AAU team in Manhattan that was the proving ground for future NBA stars like Chris Mullin, Nate ‘Tiny’ Archibald, and Kenny Smith. Later, O’Connell played for the Rising Stars Youth Foundation on Long Island, but his New York City hoop roots were crucial.  

“It’s different in the city,” said Thomas, who played for a club in Queens. “It’s tough, hard-nosed basketball. That was the best thing for us. There were no fouls called. You’re in the backcourt getting trapped alone, and no one’s coming to save you. The crowds go crazy. You’ve got to grow up quick.”

Michael learned to never be rattled on the field or on the court. He never panicked. Those qualities stayed true at Chaminade, an all-boys Catholic high school that was as strict as his upbringing. 

Both O’Connell brothers first played lacrosse to complement basketball. They were so good, “we seized the first opportunities that were given to us,” Thomas said, earning the chance to join a Maryland lacrosse program that has won 12 national championships.   

Even with his future in hand, Michael never let up in basketball. Lacrosse was his ticket, but basketball never was for fun. It was more important than that.

“I tried to do everything I could to be the best and help my team win,” Michael said.

On the lacrosse field, O’Connell was a force as an attacking midfielder and Chaminade’s prime scoring threat. But in basketball, he was a distributor rather than a scorer. He rose to prominence as an unflappable playmaker, making the varsity as a freshman and earning his first All-Long Island honor a year later.

Michael was so good that it was only natural to wonder what his ceiling was. Not even Michael had a clue. After O’Connell’s junior season at Chaminade, Rising Stars coach Dan Gimpel recommended O’Connell give basketball one more real shot and suggested a transfer to Blair Academy, a New Jersey boarding school and basketball powerhouse. O’Connell agreed.

"You’re going to get a kid who you will love, who is a winner, and probably is going to be one of the toughest players on the team,” said Gimpel to Blair basketball coach Ted Mantegna, as recalled to Jacob Rayburn in Cardinal Sports Report.

Even Michael’s coach at Chaminade, Bob Paul, endorsed the transfer.

ON A ROSTER of major-college prospects playing a high level of competition, O’Connell had no idea if he’d even get to play. But with each practice, and each session with roommate Jabri Abdur-Rahim, a highly-touted prospect who had committed to Virginia and now is at Georgia, O’Connell grew in confidence.

“It gave me that mindset where I could go out there and play with anyone … I can do this,” O’Connell said.

“You put him in a gym with eight or nine other Division I basketball players and it became clear very fast that he could play at that level,” Mantegna said to Roger Rubin of Newsday. “By the middle of our season, he was the point guard and I was thinking, ‘Holy cow! This kid can play.’ “

College coaches took notice. One was Adam Cohen, Stanford’s Oscar da Silva Associate Head Coach. On hand to watch another Blair player, Cohen saw a performance that O’Connell described as “my best game of the season.”

In front of Jerod Haase, Stanford’s Anne and Tony Joseph Director of Men’s Basketball, O’Connell followed with his self-described “second-best” game. Haase and staff were intrigued, but not allowed to contact O’Connell, still locked into his lacrosse NLI.

O’Connell averaged 18 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals per game as a senior and created a reputation as a clutch performer.

“He’s one of the 10 most impactful players I’ve had, and I’ve coached 70 Division I players and five who went on to the NBA,” Mantegna said to Newsday. “He’s a cut above as a competitor and he has a feel and high IQ for the game. He doesn’t have a profound weakness. That’s a rarity in high school basketball.”

As O’Connell prepared for spring lacrosse at Blair, COVID hit, wiping out the season -- a turning point for O’Connell. Because of the pandemic, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes around the country – great news for those already in college, but problematic for those coming in because of the talent logjam sure to develop.

O’Connell couldn’t bear riding the bench as a freshman after missing his entire high school senior season. That could amount to two full seasons with limited, if any, action.

That’s when O’Connell made the bold decision to opt out of his NLI. It didn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t play lacrosse at Maryland, but it gave him options. One was to spend a prep-school year in Bradenton, Florida, at the IMG Academy. It wouldn’t count on his collegiate clock, but would allow him to play a season of lacrosse (and basketball) and be more collegiate-ready.

The other choice was to take full stock of his basketball opportunities, now many because of his fine season at Blair. After the NCAA released O’Connell from his NLI on May 3, 2020, Mantegna allowed the basketball recruiters in. O’Connell was stunned to hear that Stanford was among those interested.

Said O’Connell to Newsday: “I told him ‘If Stanford’s [interest] was real, I would only talk to them.”

When point guard Tyrell Terry declared for the NBA draft after his freshman season, a scholarship opened at Stanford in a position of need. O’Connell was the perfect fit.

“The biggest thing was once I knew Stanford was really into me, the idea of getting this great education and going to play for a great head coach and this great program was too good to pass up,” O’Connell said.

Even John Tillman, Maryland’s lacrosse coach, understood.

“I fully support you if you want to play college basketball,” he told Michael.

O’CONNELL ACCEPTED STANFORD’S offer without stepping foot on campus, and a strange freshman season was just beginning. Forced to the road because of strict Santa County COVID-19 protocols, the Cardinal lived out of suitcases for two months, headquartered in a Santa Cruz hotel.

Just like his expectations at Blair, O’Connell anticipated coming off the bench. But injuries to seniors Daejon Davis and Bryce Wills, Nos. 1 and 2 on the point guard depth chart, forced O’Connell into action four minutes into the Oregon State game in Corvallis on Jan. 4. O’Connell responded with collegiate career highs of 12 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and had no turnovers in 30 minutes in an 81-71 victory. O’Connell has started all but one game since.

“He’s pleasantly surprised us in a lot of ways,” Haase said. “What we expected was a great culture guy. Tough-minded. Winner. And that’s what we got. I didn’t expect him necessarily to be game ready in his first year, but he came in and showed immediately that he was on Day One.”

O’Connell carries a leadership quality that only will grow -- this is only his third full year dedicated solely to basketball – on a squad being remade (minus all-conference da Silva for one) as a younger version of its 14-13 squad of last season.

“He provides stability to a team that is young and fairly unstable,” Haase said. “Our stability is going to get better and better as the year goes on and having him as a stabilizing force is really important. We need him to play that way, and he does. As he continues to grow in that role, it’ll pay dividends.”

O’Connell’s athletic possibilities won’t end at Stanford. He can play for Puerto Rico because of his mother’s heritage. Thomas played for Puerto Rico at the 2018 Lacrosse World Championships. Michael was selected to play for the island’s under-19 team on a trip to Ireland, only for the pandemic to wipe those games out.   

Lacrosse remains too. There is an understanding that Coach Tillman will honor O’Connell’s scholarship if Michael wants to return to Maryland as a grad transfer. But as recent years have taught us, the future is unpredictable, including O’Connell’s.

His focus is Stanford basketball, except for those fleeting moments when O’Connell digs through his dorm room for a lacrosse stick.  

He carries it across campus to a large wall next to Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, where the Cardinal soccer and women’s lacrosse teams play.

O’Connell hurls a hard rubber ball against the wall, watches it skip off the ground and guides his stick behind it. He fires the ball again. The thump against the wall is heard above the soothing breeze that ruffles the leaves of the eucalyptus trees, with endless traffic along El Camino Real as a backdrop. 

The soft sound of the ball meeting the pocket is mesmerizing. It brings him back to Long Island, if only for a few moments, when his future seemed much different. These moments are rare, but necessary.

This is Michael O’Connell, and always will be.