Sophomore sharpshooter John Donovan '04 is proof that hard work and dedication do pay off. While most Amherst students spent part of December and January relaxing somewhere far away from campus, Donovan's days were filled with practices, games and, most importantly, scoring. A far cry from last year's player, who averaged under 10 minutes a game off the bench, over the past three months Donovan has established himself as an integral part of the 13-4 Jeffs and as one of the top names in the NESCAC this season.

There's a difference between a strong player and a standout player, and Donovan is an example of the latter.

During the Jan. 12 home game against Williams College, Donovan scored nine of the team's first 15 points, helping Amherst pull off an incredible 72-70 overtime win against Williams. Donovan was the talk of every Amherst fan that night and will be in the days to come. His career-best performance of 22 points led the team and earned him NESCAC Player of the Week honors.

"The Williams game was definitely my favorite college basketball experience," said Donovan. "The crowd was huge, the score was tight and my game was on."

Awards are nothing new to this sophomore. As a captain of his Holmdel, New Jersey, varsity team, Donovan was nominated for the McDonald's All-American high school program. He was also named second-team all-state, second-team all-conference and first-team all-division during his senior year.  Donovan scored over 1000 points in his high school career and was a starter on two state champion squads. Although he has yet to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming the next Michael Jordan, Donovan did manage to catch the attention of more than a few people. When it came time to pick a college, Donovan's basketball skills had attracted the interest of coaches from Amherst, Johns Hopkins, New York University and other schools. 

"I chose Amherst because I felt comfortable here. The team, the coach and the school itself seemed to be the right fit for me," explained Donovan.  Not a particularly loud presence on the court, Donovan seems to lead by example. "My style meshes well with Coach Hixon's. He's not a screamer, but he'll let you know if you're doing something wrong," he said. "And with 25 years of coaching experience, he knows what he's talking about."

Donovan is quick to pass off praise to standout teammates Ryan Faulkner '03, Steve Zieja '03 and Pat Fitzsimons '03. 

A team that is 13-4 (2-2) and is aspiring to win the conference obviously needs to have more than just one standout player, and a plethora of talented starters and a deep bench have been the key to many of the Jeffs wins this season.  However, it's the recent confidence and leadership of role players such as Donovan that have lifted the Jeffs' play to a higher level. Averaging 10 points a game and leading the team in free-throw percentage (.808) and three-pointers made per game (1.53), Donovan maintains one of the best three-point percentages in the league (.400) and his play only seems to be getting better as the season goes on.

"No one is tougher on Dono than he is on himself. If he makes a mistake, he is the first to correct it," said John Kloepfer '04. "He's his own coach. I think that's what makes Donovan the fantastic player that he is: his own mental toughness. It rubs off on the rest of the team as well, which is a real asset."

Keep an eye on Donovan, because this is a player who will be making headlines for the next three seasons.