Getting a late start

Ask anybody who knows Tufts basketball, and they will tell you senior co-captain Deyvehn East is the most athletic and dynamic finisher on the squad.

It's hard to imagine that East isn't the best player in his family. Even harder to imagine is that the 6'3'' small forward only stood 5'4'' while playing junior varsity basketball as a freshman in high school.

When East was in eighth grade, his brother Alphah was a senior at Greenfield High School. At 6'8'', 230 pounds, Alphah not only dwarfed his younger brother, but was also getting looks from Div. I basketball programs. In addition, Alphah led Deyvehn's future high school to two Western Mass. titles en route to playing two seasons at Div. I Quinnipiac University.

Meanwhile, East graduated from middle school and moved to Greenfield High School where he had to make a name for himself and step out of his brother's shadow.

"We played different positions," East said. "But, I was always his little brother."

During his first season in high school, the then-5'4'' East was a bench rider on junior varsity. Even though he rarely played as a freshman, sparks of athleticism were always in the air. Even with his diminutive stature, East could still touch the backboard when leaping.

"Every year people asked, 'when are you going to get taller like your brother,'" East said. "There was a lot of pressure. I just thought about getting tall every day."

As a sophomore, East hit a major growth spurt, climbing to 5'10''. Still under six feet, East played point guard, which is one of the reasons he claims he handles the ball like a guard today.

If you saw East on the court this season, you probably noticed his ability to go one-on-one and break down defenders. This was not the case his sophomore year of high school. During that time, East claims he was actually a passer and slasher, always looking for the easy lay-up. At that point, East struggled with his jump shot.

One thing did change though -- for the first time in his life, East dunked the ball.

"I went from eighth grade touching the backboard, to ninth grade touching the rim, and dunked for the first time sophomore year," East said.

East still ran point guard his junior year, but by senior year he finally grew into the frame he has today and converted to a small forward.

Before his senior season, East began to get looks from mainly Div. II and III schools. This attention did not stem from his play in high school, but from a Hoop Mountain Summer Camp that he attended at Northfield and Mt. Herman, Mass. in the summer after his junior year.

"Up to that point, I was just playing ball just to play," East said.

By senior year, East says people began to call him a "stat-sheet stuffer," meaning he scored, pulled rebounds, made steals, and in his opinion, "did whatever it takes to win."

Regardless of his motives, his game caught the attention of several schools, including Brandeis, Vassar, and Adelphi. However the school he considered most was Tufts because East considers himself a student-athlete.

Both his father, who has a PhD in economics, and mother stress education, but East also pushes himself to do well. East says he was accepted into Tufts through his own academic merit and hard work, not solely through basketball.

Along with the opportunity to study at one of the best universities in the country, East's decision to attend Tufts also gave him a chance to develop his own identity away from his older brother. "I was trying to get respect as a ball player, not just be little brother," East said.

Due to Alphah's rigorous basketball schedule during the first three years of East's college career, he rarely got a chance to see his brother play.

Alphah did have the chance to see Deyvehn play on Senior Day in February against Clark, however. The younger East dropped 17 points and grabbed ten rebounds in a 78-75 win over the Cougars that night.

According to East, Alphah told him after the game: "'Little man can play ball.'

"He was completely surprised; he didn't know I could jump like that," East said.

Looking back on the four years at Tufts that began with East playing for the now-defunct junior varsity program and ending with him as the team's leading scorer, the only regret East has is that he didn't try and take over the team right away.

He says, however, that he is proud he stuck with the program for four years through the "ups and downs," which included players quitting the program.

"My last four years here have been a microcosm of my first 12 basketball years," East said. "I wasn't handed anything. I had to work hard in order to succeed. Many times I was overlooked and that's what fueled the fire."

East emphatically claims he loves the game of basketball and plans to pursue some post college basketball options. However, if that doesn't work out, East has an economics degree to fall back on and hopes to secure a job in either finance or investment banking.

Ultimately East would like to attend business school after working for a few years.