PATERSON NATIVE LEADS FELICIAN COLLEGE IN SCORING

December 13, 2006

Courtesy of Keith Idec, North Jersey Herald News

RUTHERFORD, NJ - From a personal perspective, Sydir Mitchell is enjoying the senior season he thought he'd have in 2002-03, before his then-blossoming basketball career changed for the worse. The Clifton resident leads the Felician College men's basketball team in scoring and is on track to graduate in May with a communications degree.

Mitchell scored 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and contributed four assists during the Golden Falcons' 89-76 victory over Molloy (N.Y.) College on Monday night, Felician's final action until a Dec. 29 game at Pace (N.Y.) University.

His impressive performances in Division II Felician's first nine games have helped Mitchell become more accepting of his expulsion from Paterson Catholic four years ago, a move Mitchell believes wasn't warranted and prohibited him from earning a low-major Division I scholarship.

"I lost a lot of looks because of that," said Mitchell, who's averaging 20.3 points and 5.2 rebounds for 3-6 Felician. "It seemed like ever since then I wasn't able to get back on the right foot. Ever since then it was like I was bouncing from here to there. But I feel good about being here at Felician my senior year and doing well."

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound forward accounted for 7.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game as a junior, Mitchell's first season at Felician, but started just nine of the 27 games in which he played for the Rutherford school. The Golden Falcons graduated six seniors from the 2005-2006 team, though, and Mitchell made the most of his increased workload. Mitchell impressed Felician coach Del Harrison by improving defensively, becoming a better rebounder and adding a mid-range jumper to his offensive repertoire.

"Last year Sydir was new to the program, new to the system," Harrison said. "We were a senior-led team and he was just trying to find out where he fit within the team concept. This year he knows that it's his team and he has really shown the ability to score points. He has also stepped up more as a leader, being more vocal on the court."

Taking the court for Felician last month marked the first time since 2001 that Mitchell played for the same team in back-to-back seasons.

Because his mother lived in Bloomfield, the Paterson native enrolled at Bloomfield High School once he was expelled from PC for what a school administrator termed a "history of disciplinary problems" over a three-year period. Mitchell suspects that his role in an on-court fight against Passaic Tech's Rodriguez Basley the previous season at least contributed to his expulsion the following October. Regardless, it impacted Mitchell's recruitment.

Instead of benefiting from the exposure that came with playing alongside Rutgers recruit Marquis Webb and Syracuse signee Darryl Watkins, Mitchell completed his prep career on a mediocre Bloomfield team.

He attended Caldwell College, one of Felician's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference counterparts, his freshman season. Despite averaging 7.8 points for the Cougars, he transferred to Brookdale Community College prior to his sophomore season, largely because he didn't like Caldwell's campus environment. Mitchell was named Garden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year after his lone season at the junior college level, a basketball breakthrough Mitchell admits he needed.

"My confidence was down, and confidence is a big thing in basketball," Mitchell said. "Being able to play at Brookdale and do some things, it gave me that confidence boost."

The 21-year-old Mitchell is confident in his team these days, too.

Felician is just 3-6, but two of the Golden Falcons' last three losses were five-point defeats. They also own a win against 7-1 Philadelphia University, one of the CACC's top teams. And Andre McFaline, a 6-6 freshman from Florida, should help Felician's frontcourt cause once he becomes eligible next month, as he'll allow Mitchell to play more small forward than power forward.

Combined with him and 6-10 senior center Michael Pierrot (14.9 points, 6.9 rebounds), Mitchell figures McFaline should help Felician finish the season strong, something Mitchell would welcome after all the adversity he has faced since the Paterson Catholic controversy.

No matter how Felician finishes, former Paterson Catholic coach Tommie Patterson, who remains close to Mitchell, is simply happy he has finally found some comfort at the collegiate level.

"I'm just glad he rebounded from everything," said Patterson, now Eastside High's head coach. "Because a lot of times kids, when they have to transfer, they kind of hit the wall and turn to different types of things. He definitely would've gone a little bit higher had he still been at Paterson Catholic (his senior season). But he's a bright kid. And he's going to get his degree. That's the biggest thing."