Eli Pemberton looks to cap career with trip to the promise land
You would be hard-pressed to find many Hofstra athletes who embody the true grit, grind and mental fortitude of the Pride name more than basketball star Elijah Pemberton of the Hofstra men’s basketball team. The self-proclaimed “junkyard dog” has helped lead the team to back-to-back outright Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) titles and now looks to guide the pack to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Tournament for the first time since the 2001 season.
Pemberton has been a force this year for the Pride, putting up 17.3 points per game, a career best ranking second on the team, while also adding the defensive tenacity that allows the team to win games.
“It’s just how I play, I try to play as hard as I can, I’m not just a one-dimensional type of guy when I play basketball, I try to do multiple things for my team,” Pemberton said. He has been a major cog in a team that went 23-8 during the regular season while boasting a conference-leading record of 14-4.
While all of Pemberton’s hard work toward the game has been paying off this season, his passion for basketball began when he was just a little kid growing up in Middletown, Connecticut.
“I was five years old and I took my first shot at Wesley [Elementary] School back home ... I made the shot, and then I [saw] other kids around me that I grew up with cheering, and it made me happy and want to play the game for the rest of my life,” Pemberton said.
From there, Pemberton continued to develop his game until he began playing for an organized team when he was eight.
“I was picking up fast ... my dad just kept telling me my game kept changing, every game I played the love I grew for [the game] was just abnormal,” Pemberton said. “I would be in the YMCA from when I was eight years old [until I was] 16 from 3 p.m. till 9:30.”
Pemberton attended Xavier High School and did great things on the court, being selected four times to the all-Connecticut team. In 2016 he was named the Jordan Brand Classic Regional Most Valuable Player. After acquiring numerous accolades in high school, it was time for him to take the next step – college.
“I had an amazing visit here [at Hofstra] ... the family ... the coaches would come to [every] open practice at my prep school, and I knew Desure [Buie] already. We were brothers when we played in high school so it wasn’t even a hard choice,” Pemberton said. “[Buie] took me under his wing at the time and helped me ... and I appreciated that.”
In Pemberton’s freshman year he played in 31 games and started in 30 of them. He was named to the All-Rookie team, with averages of 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest. As a freshman, Pemberton was third on his team in scoring and just second in assists, which was not something he expected.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was nervous, so nervous,” Pemberton said. “I’m just a kid from high school and these dudes are men, these are grown men, and I’m coming in 18, 19 [years old].”
Pemberton adjusted quickly as the season went on, though, receiving help along the way from his peers.
“The coaching staff, they helped me,” Pemberton said. “I was always in the gym [with] Coach Farrelly and Coach Speedy [Claxton], I lived in here over the summer, I tried to take 1,000 shots a day.”
During his sophomore campaign, Pemberton saw his numbers increase across the board, averaging 15.9 points per game, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists as he started in 28 of his 30 contests that season. He had a bigger role in the Pride’s offense as he was now the second-leading scorer and made the second most three-pointers on the team with 54. This was also when Pemberton experienced one of his lowest points playing for the Pride, when he shot 1-9 from the field and scored just six points against UNC-Wilmington in the first round of the CAA tournament.
“It was just terrible, we were No. 3 coming in hot,” Pemberton said.
After that contest, Pemberton’s game truly blossomed as he officially became one of the leaders of the team in his third season for the Pride. He put up 15 points per game, grabbed 4.8 rebounds with 2.3 assists and was selected to the All-CAA Second Team. When asked what led to his new role, Pemberton credited his maturity and growing up as key reasons for his improvement.
Pemberton helped lead the Pride to their most successful season ever. Posting a 27-8 record, Hofstra claimed the CAA’s top-seed heading into the tournament. Pemberton played well in the tournament, including in the championship game against Northeastern University when he put up 15 points on 5-11 shooting as the Pride fell 82-74. The Pride also lost their next game in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) against North Carolina State University by a score of 84-78.
Coming into this season, Pemberton was determined to get his team back to prominence in the CAA tournament as the new go-to guy, and on Sunday, March 8, he will get his first crack at hoisting the CAA trophy for Hofstra for the first time in nearly two decades.
While this is his final ride with the pack, Pemberton will always remember the lessons he learned during his time at Hofstra.
“I’ll miss the brotherhood ... I knew these guys for four years now ... You build a bond with these guys, so I think that is one thing I am going to miss,” he said. He will miss the community of Long Island, he said, which shaped him and is never afraid to let him know how they really feel about him.
“Hopefully I will be playing professionally,” Pemberton said of his future plans. “But long-term I want to [eventually] go back to my city, help in the high schools in any type of way and probably get my Master’s and do counseling,” Pemberton said.
It’s been one magical journey for Pemberton here at Hofstra. All good things must come to an end, but it won’t be the end of Pemberton putting a smile on people’s faces.
“I just want to go back to my city as a certain figure and help kids,” he said. “Anything to help the next kid be better than I am, that brings joy to me.”
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
