Whaley
The seconds would tick off the clock at a painful pace each night, moving Kevin Whaley and his teammates closer to the same ill fate.

In two years at Chestnut Hill College, an NCAA Division II program, Whaley went through the process time and again.

His team was too young. Too undersized. Too inexperienced.

And all of those things showed, with the Griffins struggling to a 6-22 overall record a year ago.

On top of the on-court hardships, Whaley found himself in a difficult predicament away from basketball. After accepting a college scholarship, every kid's dream, he was without the major he really wanted -- sports management -- and thinking twice about his future.

And that brings us to this fall, to the inverse of an old adage: You can go home again.

In Whaley's case, he's eased into the York College men's basketball starting lineup, where the former Dover High sensation looks to be a perfect fit.

The Spartans were in need of a do-it-all player with size. And Whaley, 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, has impressed so far, averaging 14.8 points and four rebounds per game. He scored a career-high 23 points Saturday in an 88-73 win over Mt. Aloysius.

Plus, there's a hint of wisdom in Whaley's remarks -- the product of two years of maturing away from home.

"Coming out of high school, you want to go play basketball and it's a big deal," said Whaley, who averaged 10.6 points and 3.2 rebounds last year at Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia. "You kind of learn that your education is more important."
On top of that sage statement, Whaley is also proving that his game has grown substantially since a senior year that saw him average 19.9 points for a 15-win Dover team.

The former Eagle is now a tenacious rebounder, leading York College head coach Jeff Gamber to recently quip: "(Before this year), I don't know that Kevin got many rebounds in his life."

And of course there's that deadly shooting -- always a trademark.

"Kevin's been great," Gamber said. "To me, the most impressive thing (in York's recent 82-76 overtime win over Catholic) was what he did at the defensive end of the floor and with his rebounding."

So there you have it: Whaley needed a new home. York (4-0), missing point guard Julian Watson (concentrating on academics) and Andrew Pawlyk (ACL tear), needed stability. Now it's working out for both sides.

Just further proof that sometimes the best fit is only a few miles down the road.

-- Jeffrey A. Johnson is a sports reporter for The York Dispatch. He can be reached at jjohnson@yorkdispatch.com or 505-5406.