Part one of a five-part series by Steve Kelley, former Seattle Times sports columnist
SEATTLE – (Sept. 14) There is no denying the head-up swagger that has become part of Seattle University’s senior point guard Brendan Westendorf’s game. Slowly, even a little reluctantly, he has developed that late-game, I-want-the-ball-in-my-hands mentality you see in football’s feature backs or baseball’s closers.
Last season, his first at the school, Westendorf hit two game-winning, buzzer-beaters, one of only three Division I players to hit multiple buzzer-beaters in 2015-16.
He grabbed a rebound with 5.1 seconds left against Chicago State, dribbled just past midcourt and launched a 41-footer that smacked off the glass and in for a 59-56 win. Then, just a few weeks later on Senior Night against Utah Valley, with one second on the clock, he sank a cool-as-autumn jumper from the wing that gave Seattle U a 72-69 win.
Months later, looking back on his first D-I season, Westendorf said the Utah Valley game-winner was especially rewarding to him.
“The first one was pretty cool because I had never shot a game-winner at the buzzer,” Westendorf says. “I was actually a little shell-shocked after it went in. But the second one meant the most to me because it was our Senior Night. I wanted to make sure we won it for our seniors. Give them something to remember.”
The last two sentences of that quote explain a lot about Westendorf. As much as he wants to take over a game, as much as his talent tells him he can take over a lot of game, and be much more selfish, Westendorf can be a reluctant hero. Assists are as satisfying to him as treys. Setting up his teammates means as much to him as beating a defender off the dribble. Making his teammates happy, makes him happy.
Such selflessness is a blessing, but also can be a curse for him.
“His first instinct is to pull back and observe,” Redhawks’ head coach Cameron Dollar says of Westendorf. “Whereas I want him to be even more assertive and aggressive. The thing he’s going through, he wants to be the consummate team guy. He wants the other guys to feel good about their games. But guys like Brendan, what they sometimes don’t realize, is that his teammates actually feel better when he does take over a game.
“Maybe from a macho standpoint they won’t say that to him, but the reality is that there’s a comfort level when you have a guy who can just go get it. I think Brendan’s feeling that more and more and coming to that understanding more and more.”
Studying the stops on his journey to Seattle University, it is easy to see where Westendorf gets his team-first philosophy. He played high school ball at Kentridge, whose go-to player was former Gonzaga guard Gary Bell Jr. His AAU team had NBA player Tony Wroten, Bell and former UCLA and Georgetown post player Joshua Smith. On those teams, he was a facilitator.
“I was just kind of there,” Westendorf says.
The college scouts were all over Bell, Wroten and Smith. They should have paid more attention to another teammate.
After Kentridge, Westendorf spent a year in prep school at God’s Academy in Lake Dallas, Texas, where he grew his game playing against blue-chip talent like Boston Celtics’ guard Marcus Smart. That is where Dollar’s father, Donald, a high school coaching legend in Georgia who worked with his son at Seattle U, began Westendorf’s recruitment.
“Brandon’s had an interesting journey,” Dollar says. “He’s made his way around.”
Westendorf began attracting attention and began to understand just how good he could become when he spent two years at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, where his father Lance also had played. Westendorf averaged 29.5 points per game in his sophomore season, scoring 55 points in a game against Shoreline. Now Creighton, Utah, Hawaii, St. Mary’s, among others became interested.
He chose Seattle U because he liked the school. “It’s special here,” he says. And Westendorf wanted to play at home so his family could watch him. He appreciated that the Redhawks had been watching him since prep school.
And slowly, Dollar began the trial and error task of making Westendorf into his want-the-ball leader.
“It’s a matter of understanding, ‘I’ve got to be the guy,’” Dollar says. “I have to put him in situations where he can have some success and get him to see what that tastes like. As a coach I think it’s my job to box him in and force him to go and fully experience what he’s already had a taste of.
“The process is, first helping him by kind of, defining the roles of the guys around him and giving him the confidence to go ahead and do what he can do. And the second part, which is more important, is forcing him to take more initiative and do this.”
Westendorf agrees.
“I’ve just always been a team player,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to get my teammates involved first. But now I’m realizing that your teammates are looking to you to score. Like there was a game in the WAC Tournament (against Texas-Rio Grande Valley) where we fell behind like 8-0 before I flipped into scoring mode and we ended up winning by 23. I know I have to do that from the start.”
Still, last season, the 6-foot-5 Westendorf led the team in points per game (12.8), assists and minutes played. He was third in rebounds and started all 32 games. Now entering his senior season, he is becoming a must-see player for this city’s basketball fans, no matter what their affiliation.
“He’s a very skilled player,” Dollar says. “Can shoot it, pass it, handle it. He played a secondary role in high school, but he didn’t really want to be a secondary guy.”
Westendorf is smooth in that kind of way that makes basketball look like dance. Sometimes, when he’s the eye of the hurricane in a Redhawk fastbreak, his push looks so effortless, his court-sense so attuned, it seems as if everyone else is working much harder than he is.
“It looks effortless,” Dollar says, “and he has an impact on the game the same way. You’ll look up and not realize he’s making all the assists or he making the pass that leads to the pass that leads to an assist. He also has great instincts on defense. (Westendorf led the Western Athletic Conference in steals.) He uses his length well. He makes good reads.
“He was (second team) all-WAC and I can say he hasn’t even scratched the surface in what he can do. This year he will make a huge jump again for us in all areas and just continue to get better.”
A growing program needs stars. It needs someone to pull people into the arena. Brendan Westendorf has that star potential. Pay attention.
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The 2016-17 men's basketball schedule has been released! Included in the 16-game home slate are 10 contests at KeyArena and six in Seattle U's newly renovated Connolly Complex. Secure your tickets today by contacting the SU Athletics Ticket Office at 206-398-4678, or email Zach Habner, Coordinator of Tickets and Fan Experience, at habnerz@seattleu.edu.