Bentley University’s status among the nation’s top business schools has propelled many a graduate to a lucrative career in high finance.
Tyler McFarland’s career path might lead him in a similar direction one day, but when the Rockport native is awarded his bachelor’s degree in mathematical sciences this spring, his plan is to pursue a different vocation.
“I’m going to teach hopefully, but we’ll see,” said McFarland, a 2011 Camden Hills Regional High School graduate who recently was named a second-team COSIDA Academic All-American as a senior at the Waltham, Massachusetts, school.
That teaching job at the middle school or high school level ideally will be back in Maine, as would the possibility of joining the coaching ranks.
But for at least one more weekend, the 2011 Mr. Maine Basketball has ambitions as great as those of any college athlete: Winning a national title.
McFarland and his Bentley teammates, including five other Mainers, will compete in the NCAA Division II tournament beginning Saturday in Philadelphia.
Bentley (21-8), an at-large pick seeded fifth in the East Regional after advancing to the Northeast-10 Conference championship game last weekend, will make its first appearance in the NCAAs in five years against league rival and fourth-seeded Stonehill College.
The Falcons lost to Stonehill, which also boasts former Penquis Valley and Hampden Academy star Isaiah Bess, twice during the regular season before defeating the Skyhawks 89-84 in the NE-10 semifinals.
“A lot of it is having a better understanding of the opponent and a lot of it is preparation, but you know each other so well, it’s probably going to be a close game,” McFarland said.
The eight-team regional continues Sunday and Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the Division II Elite Eight set for March 23-26 at Frisco, Texas.
“The way our program is, we really focus from day to day, trying to improve each day and trying to win the next game,” said McFarland, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound forward.
“Right now we know we’re in the national tournament this coming Saturday and we want to win that game, so that’s what it’s all about,” he added. “We want to get to the next round.”
Brink of a record
McFarland is approaching a notable individual achievement as he is six points from Bill Holden’s Bentley career scoring record of 2,103 points set from 1986-90.
The 2,097 points he’s already scored reflect remarkable consistency for McFarland, who starred under coach Jeff Hart at Camden Hills and led the Windjammers to Class B state championships in 2009 and 2011 and a third Eastern Maine title in 2010.
He spent a prep year at Cushing Academy in Massachusetts before his arrival at Bentley, where he has started all 111 games in which he has played. He boasts career averages of 18.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in 34.7 minutes per game.
“Coach [Jay Lawson] told me from day one the competition in the NE-10 is premier and it’s going to be challenging academically, too, but we’re going to push you to grow,” said McFarland.
His continued growth is reflected this season in McFarland’s 22.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on 48.1 percent shooting from the field and 89.8 percent free-throw shooting. He could become the first player to lead Bentley in scoring and rebounds for four consecutive years.
“He’s a very unique kid,” said Lawson. “He came here with a great deal of maturity and has built on that over four years.
“He’s one of the finest people who have ever been part of this program,” he said.
McFarland says his greatest improvement with the Falcons has come defensively. He ranks second in school history with 162 blocked shots.
“We were always a defensive-minded program at Camden Hills, but I could have never been prepared for playing against the type of athletes and the type of physicality that is in the NE-10,” said McFarland.
“That was the big adjustment, learning how to play low-post defense and bother shots a little better when I could and trying to stay in front of big guys who could shoot the ball and also put it on the ground.”
Other growth areas include McFarland’s passing ability, particularly as he increasingly became the focus of opposing defenses, and 3-point shooting. He is shooting 42.3 percent for his career from beyond the arc.
“Offensively I’ve tried to make myself more of a threat wherever I am on the floor because Bentley typically likes to put players out there who can put the ball on the ground and score the ball in many different ways,” said McFarland.
Pine Tree pipeline
McFarland’s steady development — his scoring average has improved each year at Bentley — has been facilitated in part by the presence in the starting lineup of fellow Mainers and roommates Keegan Hyland of South Portland and Alex Furness of Wells. They are the team’s Nos. 2 and 3 scorers.
McFarland and Furness were teammates at Cushing Academy, and Hyland is playing his third year for the Falcons after several injury-plagued years that included previous stops at Gonzaga, Vermont and Fairfield.
Hyland, a graduate student and a two-time, first-team COSIDA Academic All-American, averages 20.7 points and 7.5 rebounds.
“Keegan’s had a huge impact on a lot of our players and the culture of our team,” said McFarland. “He’s the kid who’s the first in the gym and the last one out each day. He sets a very high standard for himself and his teammates.”
Furness, like McFarland a fourth-year starter, is third on the team in scoring (14 ppg) and rebounds (7.3 rpg).
“Furn’s very similar to Keegan the way he can score and rebound the ball,” said McFarland. “Maybe he goes unnoticed a lot of the time, but he’s very quietly been one of the best players in the league and one of the best players I’ve played with.”
Other Pine Tree State products on the roster are Kyle Bouchard, a 6-5 freshman from Houlton and the 2015 Mr. Maine Basketball; Zach Gilpin, a 6-5 freshman from Hampden and the 2014 Maine Gatorade Player of the Year; and Nick Burton, a 6-4 sophomore from Falmouth.
Bouchard started six games early this season and now is one of Bentley’s top reserves.
“Coach recruits a certain type of player, and it just so happens that those kind of players have been a product of Maine high school basketball frequently in recent years,” said McFarland. “I attribute that to relationships with players that formerly played at Bentley and AAU coaches like (current Bangor High School head coach Carl) Parker, who has had many players come to Bentley and have good experiences.”
The Maine-to-Bentley pipeline began after Charlie Wootton, a 6-8 center, led Camden-Rockport High School to the 1974 Class B state championship before starting for three years at Bentley, where he was a two-time All-New England and All-American honoree. Wootton will be inducted in the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame in August.
Bentley’s more recent Maine standouts include 1997 Mr. Maine Basketball Mike Mastropaolo of Falmouth, Jeff Holmes of Cheverus of Portland, Sam Leclerc of Winthrop and Andrew Shaw of Thornton Academy in Saco, who graduated last spring.
“You don’t recruit kids at this level unless you think they can help you, and we’ve been fortunate over the years to bring some strong kids in from Maine,” said Lawson.
The future is now
McFarland said he’s not interested in pursuing a professional basketball career overseas once he graduates.
“I know I’ll most likely be involved in basketball, even if it’s just playing in a men’s league, but I’m thinking coaching is something I’d be interested in. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
That McFarland hopes to return to Maine to teach and perhaps coach doesn’t surprise his current mentor.
“It just speaks to Tyler’s humility and what kind of person he is,” said Lawson. “I also think it speaks a lot for the respect he has for coach Hart at Camden Hills.”
While working life awaits McFarland in a matter of months, he can’t help but consider the inevitable end of his college basketball career.
“It seems so close, and it seems so far away, too,” he said, “because we’ve got an opportunity to do something special, and I’m not going to take a second for granted worrying about finishing my career.”
