Boys’ Basketball

The Suffield Academy boys’ basketball program is one of the strongest independent school sports traditions in New England.

Competing in the highly competitive NEPSAC Class A division, the Tigers have made the postseason 11 of the past 14 seasons and have won the New England Championship 7 times in school history. With a steady balance of returning players and talented newcomers, this year’s team will look to build on the positive momentum of a strong finish to last season. As always, the Tigers will compete hard, play with enthusiasm, and represent the school with pride.

Many previous Tigers have continued their playing careers at the collegiate level, using basketball as a tool to help them earn admission to some of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world: Amherst, Babson, Bentley, Bucknell, Chicago, Colby, Columbia, Connecticut College, Franklin & Marshall, Georgetown, Hamilton, Lafayette, Lehigh, Middlebury, Northeastern, Rochester, UCLA, Vassar, Wesleyan, and Yale.

Miye Oni ’16 was a one-year post graduate at Suffield and helped lead the Tigers to the NEPSAC semifinals. He went on to play collegiate basketball at Yale University where he was named the 2019 Ivy League Player-of-the-Year, and led Yale to the Ivy League Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. He was taken 58th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz.

Vinny Del Negro ’84 played 12 seasons in the NBA with five different teams. Del Negro later served as head coach for the Chicago Bulls from 2008 to 2010, leading them to the NBA playoffs in both of his seasons at the helm. From 2010 to 2013, Del Negro coached the Los Angeles Clippers, helping them improve their win total each season, setting a franchise record for single season wins in his final season, and guiding them to two playoff appearances.

Christian Wilkins ’15 scored over 1,000 points in his four-year basketball career at Suffield, but made his mark on the grid iron and led our football program to the 2015 New England Championship. He went on to be named an NCAA All-American at Clemson University, leading the Tigers to the 2019 National Championship and being drafted 13th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins.