Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Solloway: Shooting more than the breeze

By Steve Solloway ssolloway@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

Matt Donahue has heard variations of the same question again and again over the last day or two: The scholarship offer is nice, but will Keegan Hyland actually play basketball for Gonzaga? "You never really know until he does it. I've seen kids who are great ballplayers and disappeared when they faced tough times. Keegan feeds off that.

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Matt Donahue

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"He's a hard worker and if he keeps his sense of humor, he'll do fine. Basketball is a game."

Many hands helped shape Hyland into the person and player he is today. Donahue, the shooting star from another generation, did his bit whenever Hyland walked through the doors of the South Portland Community Center. Twice a week, Donahue would escape from his nearby artist's studio to supervise the gym when basketball was played.

Some 40 years separate the two. Virtually nothing separates their love for the game.

"Keegan wanted to know what drills I did (in high school). I told him I didn't like drills. I just liked to play."

Understand that in his youth, Donahue could find pickup games in Westbrook, where he lived, anytime he wanted. That's not always true today, in Westbrook, Portland or anywhere.

"It was survival of the fittest. You didn't leave until you lost."

Donahue had the rep of a pure shooter. That was before he scored 57 points against Deering High one night in a crowded gym. That was before there was a 3-point line. Donahue set the benchmark that night.

"From the beginning, Keegan wanted to play college basketball at the highest level," said Donahue. "Duke might have been the school he first mentioned. He asked me what he needed to do.

"I told him to start praying."

Donahue laughed. The context was the luck needed to get the best opportunities. Not long ago, Hyland was thinking about Vermont, perennially one of the stronger programs in America East. Then Gonzaga, a Jesuit university in Spokane, Wash., entered the dream. The Zags haven't made the Final Four, but have made the NCAA tourney every season since 1998-99.

"I had hoped Keegan would have stayed around here so I could watch him play. I was disappointed his (pelvic fracture) kept him from playing much of this past season (for South Portland). He's that fun to watch."

That's the rub, of course. The University of Maine men never have played in the NCAA tournament. Getting home-grown talent like Hyland could change that. Or not. Hyland set his goals higher and that's what you teach your children.

Donahue didn't preach when he and Hyland talked. If Hyland asked, Donahue answered. Even in his 50s, Donahue can shoot like few others. "He got my respect in a hurry," said Hyland several years ago. "He doesn't brag. I can see he has a passion for the game.

"We can talk for hours and not just about basketball. He taught me a lot of life lessons."

Their age difference or the times they grew up didn't matter. For Donahue, the Vietnam war was raging in 1970. He could create wondrous moments on the court and enduring images on canvas. Long before there was a recruiting network for basketball, Donahue entered the University of Southern Maine.

Recently, with more South Portland residents using the gym, Hyland took his game and friends from other towns to the open gym at Southern Maine Community College. They don't talk as regularly.

"I'll have to call to congratulate him," said Donahue. "He's such a good, intelligent kid. This didn't just happen to him. He thought it out."

Donahue recalls maybe four years ago. Hyland was excited when he came to the community center. His photo, playing basketball, was in the newspaper for the first time. He had to tell Donahue, whose photo playing with former Celtics Wayne Embry, Henry Finkel and Jo Jo White, hangs on an office wall.

Donahue was impressed. "I asked him for his autograph."

Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:

ssolloway@pressherald.com