By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
Brett Rumpel and his Seton Catholic teammates had taken the proverbial first punch at Broome County Arena, facing a hefty deficit in the first half of the 2020 Section IV Class B Championship Game.
Norwich High, led by senior Jahlil Jones, raced out to a 10-0 lead that grew to 25-10 by the opening minute of the second quarter. The Purple Tornado had already defeated Seton Catholic 73-66 on Jan. 24 and entered the title game with a seven-game win streak. Jones who finished with 21 points, scored the first six points of the evening and seven of the team’s first 10 points of the third period.
“It looked like Seton Catholic was in trouble,” recalled Nate Lull, the sports director for WCDO radio in nearby Sidney, N.Y. “Then Brett just absolutely took over.”
Rumpel recorded 28 second-half points, scoring or assisting on the Saints’ first 18 points of the fourth quarter and extending a one-point halftime edge to a 17-point final margin. He tallied 45 points, making 15 of his 26 field goals and converting 14 of his 20 free throws. He also grabbed nine rebounds, dished out four assists, blocked five shots and netted two steals.
“I always wondered if the hype around him was real,” Lull remarked, “and after watching that game there was no doubt. People in our area always talk about players having D-I potential. Many times it doesn’t work out that way but with Brett you could see it was a slam dunk. We just had to sit back and see where he decided to go.”
Rumpel originally decided to attend SPIRE Institute for a postgraduate campaign, but two months after that April announcement, St. Bonaventure emerged as a suitor. The Bonnies opened the live recruiting period by securing an official on-campus visit with Rumpel, who played pickup games with the team and saw a seamless fit with the current personnel.
The 6-foot-4 guard said his conversations with the SBU coaching staff centered around foregoing SPIRE and redshirting during the 2021-22 season to bulk up and learn head coach Mark Schmidt’s extensive offensive system. Touring campus and listening to Schmidt and associate head coach Steve Curran express their vision for his basketball future solidified his choice to fill Bona’s final open scholarship. While no official decision has been reached regarding Rumpel’s redshirt status, he shared his willingness to sit and ready himself for four years of eligibility beginning in the 2022-23 campaign.
“And then I’ve got four years to run the show as their point guard,” Rumpel said. “So it was a really good pitch and a really good situation.”
Rumpel played just eight high school games in a COVID-shortened senior season but still managed to score 364 points, including 32 3-point baskets. He averaged 37.7 points a game over his last two varsity seasons and made 52 percent of his career field goals, winning two sectional championships.
Raised in a competitive household that revolved around the sport, real and virtual hoops alike (“It was ridiculous; everything was basketball”), Rumpel used a six-inch growth spurt from his freshman to sophomore year of high school to minimize his time being pushed around.
Seton Catholic coach Chris Sinicki, acknowledging the cliché nature of his analysis, told the Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin there was “no stopping” his leading scorer. Sinicki also admitted to occasionally taking the scoring displays for granted. “(Rumpel’s) body control in flight,” Sinicki noted, “is something I’ve never seen before.”
Rumpel described his high school days much like he describes anything related to the sport: fun.
“It was very fun to play in front of your friends, gym packed,” he reminisced. “Seton was awesome. I loved playing for Coach Sinicki, in front of the school.
“Hopefully Bonnies can be just as fun. I think it might be a little more fun.”
As Lull alluded to, the routine nature with which Rumpel posted 40-point barrages called into question whether his numbers were a product of weak competition. His time playing AAU with the Albany City Rocks assuaged any concerns in the eyes of collegiate coaches.
Even while playing alongside Duke target JJ Starling, a Baldwinsville, N.Y. native who attends prestigious La Lumiere School, Rumpel averaged 9.4 points and shot nearly 60 percent in July’s EYBL circuit action. He notably produced a team-high 14 points in a 64-56 victory over four-star power forward Malik Reneau and Nightrydas Elite on July 18.
“When Brett is at his best, he’s playing downhill,” noted The Circuit founder Alec Kinsky. “He plays with a controlled aggressiveness that can’t really be taught, and as a City Rocks alumni, he’s obviously a well-disciplined player. He had a lot of traits that high major players bring to the table and I think the Bonnies got a steal.”
“Brett is a tough, hard-nosed player who puts pressure on defenses with his playing style,” basketball scout Kevin Daniels added. “He’s savvy on the floor and seems to make the right play while continuously knocking down shots.”
New Recruit Media took it a stride further in May, not only declaring Rumpel “arguably the quickest guard in the nation” and a “myth buster,” but also comparing him to future Basketball Hall of Famer Russell Westbrook. Rumpel laughed off that hype (“I like the comparison, but it’s a little early”) but resembles the style of play Westbrook has parlayed into an All-Star career.
The adulation that has come Rumpel’s way lent itself to another question: What makes enrolling at St. Bonaventure this fall and sitting a year more appealing than playing a year at SPIRE, garnering more exposure and watching your recruiting stock potentially skyrocket? Rumpel had recent interest from SEC schools Florida and South Carolina along with ACC program Virginia Tech before reclassifying to the 2021 class, but his mind all but made up after visiting Western New York.
“I just didn’t want to risk anything,” Rumpel, who intends to major in business, answered. “I already have a great situation… It’s close to home; it’s got a great coaching staff; ranked top 25 this year; it’s had a lot of success over the years. It was a great option to go there and I took it.”
After playing with his future teammates on his visit, including a rising senior who took a similar path to campus in Dominick Welch, Rumpel expects an NCAA Tournament run this season and a reload the next. His main objective is continuing the success of the experienced core he will learn from over the next seven months.
“That’s the situation I like to go in,” Rumpel explained. “That’s expected. If you’re expected to lose, that’s not fun.
“I’m a winner. I expect to win when I get there, too; the school does, but so do I. I think I’m gonna have a lot of success there, as a program and as a player.”
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