Photo courtesy of Iona College Athletics/Geraldo Rodriguez
By David Cordova
Each and every day in college basketball, the attrition rate increases. Attrition, is another word for transfer, meaning that many players move on from a school for a variety of reasons. But when they get to that next destination, they’re hoping to play more or in some cases, be on a winning team.
In the case of Deyshonee Much, he was fortunate to get both. The 6-foot-5 senior guard at Iona College is a player that impacts his team’s offense with his long-range shooting and his skill level.
“It’s just been something I’ve been doing forever, so I mean, at moments like this, why not give it your all? And it paid off.” said Much, about his love for the game of basketball.
Much hails from Rochester, New York, where there is a hub of basketball talent. “We got a lot of ballplayers, but they end up going under the radar.” he replied, “Like myself, I didn’t get any offers in high school, I ended up going to prep school to get seen.”
As a senior at Gates Chili High School, he averaged 21 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals per game. Then he decided to do a post-graduate year at Redemption Christian Academy under Kevin Simmons and averaged 19.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
After that, he was fortunate to get an offer from the University of Buffalo, a school which was an hour away from his native Rochester. But unfortunately, it wasn’t a good experience there as he only averaged 1.2 points in 22 games.
He then decided to transfer out of Buffalo, and then his older brother, Kwamaine Much, helped out by looking for schools on the webiste, Verbal Commits, which shows college programs and their depth in regards to positions. Forunately, for the younger Much, he found a perfect match in Iona, which is located more than five hours south of Rochester.
When asked about his decision, Much replied, “I left Buffalo, I wanted to go somewhere where they played uptempo, and get up a lot of points, you know, and this was just home to me after I came on my visit.”
On the subject of Verbal Commits, he replied, “I had my older brother look into it. My brother’s a real big basketball head, so like, whatever I want to do, basketball-related, I have him look into it first, and like, he got back to me, and said that I’d be a perfect fit and it was. I won three rings here.”
As a redshirt sophomore, he averaged 13 points and 3.5 rebounds per game and as a junior, he averaged 9.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game for the Gaels. This year, he increased his average to 10.8 points and 3.9 points per game. And furthermore, the last three years have ended up the same, with the Gaels winning three consecutive conference titles in the MAAC and making appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
“My time here has been special and I couldn’t be in a better place, I mean, they gave me the green light to shoot it, that’s my specialty, that’s what I like to do, so like I said, this has been perfect.” said Much. His shooting prowess helped him reach the milestone of 1,000 points at Iona. At the present moment, he now has 1,008 points (981 at Iona and twenty-seven at Buffalo).
Another thing that is special is the fact that the Gaels are the third team in MAAC history to have reached three conference tournament championships after LaSalle (1988-90) and Siena (2008-10). When asked about the recent three-peat and what it means to be a part of something historical that he helped achieve, Much replied, “Crazy, man. Like if you told me that I was going to transfer, I would’ve shook my head, like, ‘aight.’ But you know, seeing it happen and being here, a part of this is real special.”
Now that he has achieved everything he set out to do in the MAAC, the only hurdle in the way of the Gaels is making it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, which they haven’t done since 2013, when they played Ohio State in the second round.
Tomorrow in Pittsburgh at the PPG Paints Arena, Much and the Gaels will face the ultimate test, when they take on Duke, a national powerhouse and a team rated the No. 9 team in the nation in the first round at 2:45 PM. Will the Gaels make some noise in that game and shock the world? That remains to be seen.
As for Much, outside of the court, the next thing to look forward to is commencement at Madison Square Garden on May 19th, as he will graduate with a degree in Psychology.
When asked how he wants to be remembered when all is said and done, he replied, “Just as a Gael. I went hard and I want to keep representing the culture, and to the guys that are up & coming, know what it’s like to play here and how hard you have to go every day.”
And when asked what’s next in his future, he replied, “Only God knows.”
Highlights of Deyshonee Much:
Courtesy of DeyMuch12.
Courtesy of Iona College Athletics.
Courtesy of BallasTV2.
Courtesy of DeyMuch12.
Courtesy of NCAA March Madness.
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