AMHERST — Like his father 30 years ago, Amherst College senior Dylan Groff is entering his last postseason with the men’s basketball team under coach David Hixon.
“His father was a great player and Dylan has really come along, it’s a lot of fun,” Hixon said. “I tell the parents if I’m going to recruit them, they have to give me some space because I can’t play them just because they’re a Groff, so if they decide to come here, I’m the boss.”
Dylan was born and raised in Pittsburgh by his parents, Yram and Merris. Amherst College has always been a part of the family. Yram played basketball for Hixon from 1985-1989. Dylan’s older sister, Destin, swam at Amherst. Dylan has two younger athletic siblings, Etai and Maya.
“I didn’t consider Amherst at first in the college search, I didn’t even expect to be playing basketball in college,” Dylan Groff said. “I had a good junior and senior year of high school and got onto Coach Hixon’s radar.”
Little separates father and son on the Amherst court.
“It’s extra special to now have my son playing for the same team, and even the same coach,” Yram Groff said. “My connection to the Amherst basketball family was made much deeper by my son deciding to play there, even though he’s a Mammoth, and not a Lord Jeff.”
Throughout middle school and high school, Dylan Groff played in local Maccabi Games, an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sport event. In 2015, Groff traveled to Berlin and competed for team United States in the Maccabi Games, winning a silver medal.
During Groff’s freshman year at Amherst, the Mammoths reached the final four, which he described as an unbelievable experience. Groff and Amherst (21-4) hope to extend their season Saturday. The Mammoths play rival Williams (20-5) at 4 p.m. at Hamilton in the NESCAC semifinal. Groff attributed their success this year to how close the team is both on and off the court.
“I think a lot of it has to do with how the school took the returning players to Greece and Italy over the summer, it brought the whole team together,” Groff said. “We’re communicating better and playing off each other more. The amount of chemistry we have is the main cause of our success.”
Tufts (12-13) and Hamilton (22-3) play in the other semifinal at 2 p.m.
Amherst went 2-1 during the season against the remaining teams. Its loss came at Hamilton.
“These are teams we’ve seen before, so it’s just minor adjustments and attention to detail,” Groff said. “If we can focus on those things and get everything right for 40-minutes I think we’ll have a good chance of making it through the playoffs.”