Surprise: Dwyer takes Hersey higher
There were minimal minutes available at Hersey last year for Griffin Dwyer.
It was all part of a junior waiting his turn behind a strong senior class and a Division I-bound classmate in Luke Fabrizius.
But when opportunities aplenty opened up from a team that finished 22-6, Dwyer was good and ready to maximize his chance at significant playing time.
The 6-foot guard went from scoring 2 points total a year ago to become the Huskies' second-leading scorer at 13.5 points a game. And his work at the defensive end has helped them to an 11-6 start overall going into Saturday's showdown of Mid-Suburban East unbeatens at rival Buffalo Grove.
"It is somewhat surprising," Dwyer said, "but I knew I had it in me to do what I had to do."
There were clean slates across the board with Hersey alum and former Elk Grove coach Steve Messer inheriting a group of inexperienced varsity players beyond the Dayton-bound Fabrizius.
Dwyer had a good feeling about the future on the first day of summer camp.
"Coach came up and said, 'You could have a big, key role on the team this year,'" Dwyer said. "Since he told me that it gave me confidence that I could be one of the role players with Luke and the other guys."
No matter what the role is there is one vital element Messer looks for from Dwyer.
"What I've seen from the summer to now is just a willingness to take the bull by the horns and be the aggressor," Messer said. "He continues to develop a willingness to make mistakes. And the best players make the most mistakes."
Because, as Messer said, those players are more involved and looking to make things happen.
That's no surprise coming from Dwyer, who also plays soccer and volleyball and is the youngest of four athletically talented brothers to go through Hersey the last decade.
It meant a lot of hard court lessons learned in the family's backyard from Ryan (a student teacher at Prospect), Kevin (final year of track at Miami University in Ohio) and Sean (Daily Herald All-Area captain two years ago who is healthy and playing again at Illinois Wesleyan).
"Since my younger days in third and fourth grade I'd be in the backyard with Ryan and shoot with him and Kevin and Sean were always out there," Griffin said. "It was fun playing with them and they taught me a lot of things.
"It rubbed off on me and I give them a lot of credit. They'd say, 'Come on Griffin, play 1-on-1, let's go.'
"I knew I wasn't going to win, but why not play them?"
Even when Dwyer knew he wasn't going to play much last year, it didn't stop him from keeping the right perspective.
"It's always difficult if you aren't playing," Dwyer said. "But I approached the situation that if I worked hard in practice, maybe I'd get some time in games."
That attitude carried over to a season where he's stepped up to become a consistent threat to take pressure off the 6-9 Fabrizius (15.8 ppg). Dwyer has seen the difference in the defensive attention and intensity he's received since November.
And maybe even more important, particularly when it comes to playing for Messer, the intensity at the other end better be there.
"My defense has definitely gotten better since the season started," Dwyer said. "He's put me on some of the better players and I try to do my best on them."
Dwyer did pretty well along with Mike Mueller in holding Indiana-bound Matt Roth, the IHSA's career 3-point leader, to 5-for-18 behind the arc and dealing Washington its first loss of the season in the second round of the Pekin tournament.
And when Dwyer wasn't on Roth, he wasn't resting against 20-point averager Dyricus Simms-Edwards.
"He's been extremely consistent in that area from the beginning," Messer said. "He's a strong, consistent defender. That's what we need him to do, for sure."
Dwyer has a 4.62 grade-point average on a 5.0 scale and a 24 ACT and wants to become a teacher and coach high school basketball. His emergence may open opportunities to keep playing with Division III schools starting to show interest.
All because Dwyer was ready when the opportunity arrived.