A Well-Deserved Honor for Former Haddonfield Basketball Standout Mike DePersia

Mike DePersia, a 2019 graduate of Haddonfield, was recently named the high school player of the decade by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

It was certainly a well-deserved honor since DePersia was a catalyst for two state championships for the Bulldogs as their point guard.

He also earned a Division I scholarship to IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University) which plays in the underrated Horizon League.

He is already making an impact. Through the Jaguars first 14 games, DePersia was averaging 22.6 minutes per game, which is sixth on the team. He was averaging 2.0 points, 1.8 rebounds 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals. To be getting such quality playing time as a freshman isn’t easy.

The competition in Division I is extremely difficult, but DePersia always had a goal to play at a high level and now he is doing so.

As for his high school career, he was a starter from the first day of his freshman year, just like his twin brothers, Rob and Nick were at Haddonfield.

In fact Rob and Nick DePersia graduated from Haddonfield when Mike was in eighth grade and both went on to enjoy outstanding college career at Rowan.

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What made Mike DePersia such a well-rounded player is that he took just as much pride in his defense as he did in scoring and setting up his teammates.

His performed well in his senior year despite a wrist injury in the second game of the season that forced him to miss nine full games.

Still, he was able to regain his form and not surprisingly, had some of his biggest games in Haddonfield’s most important contests.

For instance, he scored 21 points in a 62-57 win over St. Augustine, which was among the top teams in South Jersey.

It was in the postseason where DePersia really was at his best and none moreso than Haddonfield’ epic 69-67 overtime win over Camden in the South Jersey Group 2 final at Cherry Hill East. Haddonfield trailed by 12 points with just under two minutes left in regulation before storming back. In that game DePersia had 19 points and four rebounds while playing his usual tough defense. (Teammate Dan Fleming had a team-high 28 points).

In Haddonfield’s 64-53 state Group 2 championship win over Newark West Side, he had 16 points and three assists.

During both seasons that Haddonfield won the state title, the Bulldogs had to beat Camden, which itself was considered a major state title threat.

The better the competition seemed to bring out the best in DePersia and his latest honor is just a reminder of how great a career he enjoyed at Haddonfield.

Author: Marc Narducci; Photo by Marc Narducci