Tim Begley is not really retrospective at this time. Generally one would expect a fourth-year senior who is entering the final 10 games of his collegiate career to reflect and look back on the road just traveled. Not Begley. He has been far too busy for that. In fact, the senior Quakers guard admitted that it has just recently sunk in that this is the beginning of the end.
"Before the Yale game (on Jan. 28), Eric Heil and I made a quick comment to each other how this is our last shot (at winning another Ivy title and going back to the NCAA Tournament)," Begley said. "It was the first time it really hit me."
Begley's life with the Red and Blue has seemed to be one of never ending excitement ? from making the starting lineup as a freshman in 2001, to an undefeated Big 5 Championship, two-straight Ivy League crowns and the subsequent bling-bling that comes along with them - notably two-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.
But all has not been as rosy either for the Christian Brothers Academy product from Freehold, N.J. Begley has also unfortunately experienced the lows, and rather quickly one might add, after the sudden-death of his father in the Spring of 2002.
"About a week after I got home my freshman year things changed quickly," Begley stated. "Your priorities change. It may sound cliché, but you really start to appreciate everything more.
"I love talking about my father," Begley said after the topic is introduced. "I can honestly say that 95 percent of the games I played growing up he coached me. He really got the concept of being on a team and that basketball is supposed to be fun. I always take everything with a grain of salt. I play basketball because it is fun. I would stop playing the moment it stops being fun. I guess what I am trying to say is to take everything in stride, and not take things so seriously."
When watching Begley on the court, it is akin to watching George Clooney and Brad Pitt act with one another in the film Ocean's Eleven. While watching the duo in the movie, it is hard not to tell that they are having the time of their life. Watching Begley play basketball is similar. He's always smiling, whether flubbing his first ever shot attempt on national television, nailing a game-winner or getting back to the Big Dance - he just has fun.
"I remember talking with (former Quaker) Andrew Coates my freshman year, how he said he always knew his first shot in The Palestra would be an airball. So there I was in the NCAA Tournament as a freshman and I put up a wide-open three, and I airball it wide to the left. I walk over to the bench and sat down next to Coates and I say 'I always knew my first shot on national TV would be an airball.'"
This is Tim Begley - keeping it real. And, this is the memory that comes to his mind.
This was not supposed to be the typical story about a guy that plays basketball, which ultimately teaches the reader very little about the person they want to learn about. Sure, everyone knows that Begley is a two-time All-Ivy recipient, about where he stands all-time in the Quakers' record book and how deadly he is from behind the arc. But what about the Begley that is off the court? Turns out, a lot of what you see on the court is who he is off it as well.
"As much as I am supposed to get a real job with my Ivy education, basketball has been so good to me that it is going to be hard to let it go. I'd like to give playing longer a shot. I appreciate the game so much I'd like to stick around somehow, playing or coaching.
"My family was torn apart (when my father passed away), and although basketball is just a game - it brought my family together. I will forever be appreciative of the game.
“Not that I took it for granted before, but I love looking up at the stands and seeing my mother there, and my family.”
Begley has had many opportunities to look up in the stands and see his cheering mother (Lyn), his yelling brother (Matt) and his other brother (Neil) capturing endless memories with his camera. But one time in particular will stand out in Begley’s own memory for years to come.
Against Dartmouth on Feb. 5, Begley missed an open three-pointer just minutes into the second half in Hanover, N.H. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen often, but when it happened this time, Begley was even more tempted to put another one up right away. Sophomore Ibrahim Jaaber found an open Begley just nine ticks later and the elder statesman drained a three-ball from the left side. Significance? Begley’s bucket gave him 1,000 career points and he gave his mother a pump fist and pointed at his brother Matt in honor of just one more milestone in his celebrated career on the hardwood.
Yet, it is not the points, the assists, the rebounds, the records or the shooting percentages that will instill Begley in the minds of the fans or the record books at Penn for years to come. It is his heart.
“Tim is a quintessential basketball player,” Head Coach Fran Dunphy said. “He does everything he is asked and then some. We asked him to step up and take on a leadership role this year, and he has surpassed our expectations so far. His athleticism is what attracted us to him when we were recruiting him, but it is heart that we will miss the most when his Penn career ends.”
The countdown has truly begun. Tonight marks the last Penn-Princeton regular season game of Tim Begley’s career in The Palestra. Sure, there will be another Princeton duel on March 8, and several Ivy matchups in between, and of course, the hopeful event of watching Penn’s name come up on a bracket during Selection Sunday on March 20. But Begley is not looking that far ahead. For tonight, as he puts on his uniform, laces up his sneakers and conveniently forgets to brush his hair, the senior shooting machine will only be thinking about one thing - a victory for the Quakers.
Written by Carla Zighelboim and Rich Schepis
