“I went through a hard time period where I committed to the College William & Mary first. [Hofstra] was always there and head coach Mihalich was very understanding and that’s why I really fell for Hofstra.”
Out of high school, Eli Pemberton didn’t have a lot of college offers. By his junior year at Xavier High School in Middletown, Connecticut, Pemberton had one offer from Fairfield University. Following that, he transferred to the Master’s School in West Simsbury, Connecticut, for his senior year and followed it up with a year of prep school at Cheshire Academy.
“It was really just about recruitment and elevating my game to the next level,” Pemberton said about transferring his senior year and going to prep school. He has scored over 2,000 points throughout his high school career.
“Prep school definitely helped my game the most. It was more college-like, more physical,” Pemberton said.
The accolades kept getting added on for Pemberton in high school. He was the 2016 Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game MVP, four-time All-Connecticut selection, First-Team All-New England pick as a senior, his team’s MVP for four straight years and a runner-up at the 2016 American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk Championship.
Hofstra has been following Pemberton since very early on in his career; Hofstra being his third offer. He had over 35 offers, including Kansas State University, East Carolina University and St. Bonaventure University.
“I love it out here,” Pemberton said about Hofstra. “I get to step out of my comfort zone.” It also helps that Hofstra is one train ride away from the Big Apple and that he can play in front of some of his family that lives in New York.
Coach Mihalich and his staff have Pemberton playing the two and three position, where in high school he was more of a point guard. At 6-foot-4-inches and 190 pounds, playing the two and three will benefit Pemberton. It will get him out on the court faster, as he’s top freshman on the roster.
“We all got a bunch of different personalities, that’s why I think we can get along so well,” Pemberton said about the team’s chemistry. Pemberton played against Desure Buie when he was younger in his Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) days, and he also knew Justin Wright-Foreman for a couple years, so the chemistry is there with those three.
Pemberton, along with Wright-Foreman, Buie and Stafford Trueheart are the future of this program. By the end of the year, Pemberton can cement himself as a starter and the face of the program.
“They got us ranked 6th … I never believed in rankings. I was never ranked high in high school at all,” Pemberton said about the Pride’s ranking.
Besides the obvious goal of getting to the CAA Championship, Pemberton has a more personal goal on his mind, “I want to get rookie of the year.”
