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| Shane Regan was exposed to Division III basketball at an early age, and now the Division III world is getting exposed to Shane Regan. Wesleyan athletics photo by Steve McLaughlin |
By Joe Sager
D3sports.com
For the Regan family, it really is like father, like son.
When Wesleyan outlasted Emory, 61-58, in overtime in last week’s quarterfinal, it put the Cardinals in the Final Four for the first time in program history.
It marked the second time for the Regans, however. Shane Regan, Wesleyan’s leading scorer, finished with 18 points against Emory and joined the Final Four club with his father, Finbar, who was part of the 1987 runner-up Clark squad.
“It’s great to get there and it was a really cool moment for him, too,” Shane said. “He’s a big D-III guy and he’s been taking me to D-III games since I was 10. He is a real basketball junkie. For me to be a contributor on a top-level team is really cool for him. He’s just as excited about it as I am.”
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Though it’s been almost 40 years and the game has changed a lot, at least one of aspect of Finbar’s experience applies to the present.
“The biggest thing he told me is to be super grateful and embrace every single moment that we can once we get out to Fort Wayne,” Shane said. “There are hundreds of Division-III teams and we’re one of only four left still playing.”
“We’ve been on a good high these last couple days,” said Finbar, a key part of the Clark team that fell to North Park in the ’87 title game. “It’s pretty cool. At the Emory game, my old coach (Wally Halas) was sitting right next to me at the game. One of my best friends who played on that 1987 team was right next to him. We basically turned to each other and said, ‘We’re going back to the Final Four again!’ It’s pretty exciting.”
It's another cool achievement for the athletic Regan family. Mom, Denise, ran track in Division III and sister, Taylor, was a lacrosse standout at Virginia and Penn State. Finbar also played baseball at Clark.
“We really are a Division III family. My mom ran track at Hamilton and my dad had a great career at Clark. My sister broke that mold, though. She had bigger things in mind, I guess,” Shane said with a laugh. “We’re definitely a family of athletes. They are very excited for me. It’s a very exciting time for my entire family.”
However, Shane is not satisfied with just making the Final Four. He and the Cardinals (30-1) want to win it all at Fort Wayne, Indiana, especially since they take on NESCAC rival Trinity (28-3) on Thursday.
“We got them one time at our place and they got us once at ours,” Shane said. “It’s really cool for the NESCAC to have two teams in the Final Four and for the UAA to have two as well.”
It’s been quite the turnaround for Wesleyan this season after a 13-12 finish a year ago.
“Yeah, we went 13-12 but we were competing with everybody. We knew we were there. We knew we had tons of talent,” Shane said. “For a lot of guys, it was their first year really playing big roles on the team and you can’t really skip steps in the process. There are going to be some learning curves when you’re playing your first big collegiate minutes. We learned a lot from our losses last season. The difference between winning and losing is very small. We lost a lot of close games, where maybe if we had a harder boxout here or some small thing there, we could have been on the right side of it.
“The work started almost right away in the spring. We attacked pickup at a level I hadn’t ever seen before. The guys embraced their roles,” he continued. “It’s top to bottom. We have some guys who get a lot of the spotlight, but we have dudes who don’t get to see the court much who push us to an unbelievable level. A lot of credit goes to them and the energy they bring to practice. They are a big reason for our success, for sure.”
Defense has been a hallmark for the Cardinals as well. Wesleyan ranks sixth in the country at 60.1 points per game allowed.
“That’s the biggest jump we’ve made – the level of attention in preparation for defense. Our defensive personnel gives teams a lot of trouble,” Shane said. “That’s all Coach Reilly instilling that grit and intensity in us. It’s really hard for teams to score on us in the half court, that’s for sure.”
The defense shined against Emory as the Cardinals limited the Eagles, who averaged 84.3 points per game, to 58 in the overtime win.
“That was a real grind-it-out game. They have a very high-scoring offense and we held them to their lowest point total of the season,” Shane said. “It wasn’t our day on offense. We shot 30 percent from the field and 18 percent from three. We don’t mind those grind-out games, though. We really pride ourselves on our physicality and defense. Holding a team like Emory to 58 points in an OT game is very hard to do. It speaks to our elite level of preparation and our physicality and intensity on defense.”
Head coach Joe Reilly credits his team for finding a new level this year.
“We didn’t have the level of success that we were aspiring to last season, but we learned a lot of lessons. Sometimes, the growing pains don’t feel good. But, you can’t skip steps,” he said. “We have great juniors and seniors. There are not only producing on the court, but are culture carriers and give our guys the right perspective on where we need to focus our energy.”
That includes Shane leading the team in scoring, but bringing plenty of intangibles to the Cardinals.
“He impacts winning way more than just scoring. He just cares about winning,” Reilly said. “He loves the games and puts the work in. When your best player is your hardest worker and cares about winning more than personal success, it’s a great thing.”
Wesleyan is looking forward to the rematch with the Bantams. The Cardinals beat Trinity, 72-63, on Jan. 25, but suffered their only loss, 75-67, to the Bantams in the NESCAC championship game on March 2.
“Their defense is really great as well. We’re going to make everything hard for them and they will do the same for us,” Shane said. “It’ll come down to who makes a few shots at the end. We’re excited to have a chance to get that NESCAC championship back.”