Ja:goh Summer & Justin Hemphill
By Joe Kraus, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant | 2/25/2021 | Reprinted from daemenwildcats.com
Photo: The Hemphills – Daemen’s Justin (left) and UB’s Summer (right) – have made a name for themselves in the Western New York basketball scene.
There’s nothing better than sharing life’s journey with a sibling, no matter how much of an age gap there is.
Separated by three years, Summer and Justin Hemphill can certainly attest to that since their basketball journey began while in grade school, evolved into their scholastic careers at Cardinal O’Hara High School and now at the collegiate level in Western New York. Despite the twists and turns, watching each other graduate through each phase of their careers has been the most memorable part for the Hemphill siblings.
“I think that’s the most outstanding because, honestly, if we looked back 10 years ago and we see where we are today, we would be like, ‘No way, how did that happen?’” said Summer, a redshirt senior guard for University at Buffalo women’s basketball and a 2016 Cardinal O’Hara graduate. “I feel like our growth is the most outstanding, and just seeing how he’s becoming a young man and becoming his own person, and, especially since he’s the baby of the family… Regardless of what’s going on, time is flying by.”
“We still got that connection,” said Justin, a freshman forward for Daemen men’s basketball following a four-year career at O’Hara and a one-year run at St. Thomas More Prep in Connecticut. “Whenever we’re around each other, it’s always good vibes. Sometimes we may argue but we understand… we can’t stay mad at each other or anything like that.”
Each season has its ups-and-downs but the 2020-21 season might be the most challenging, considering there was serious doubt over the summer whether college basketball, even all college athletics, would have some resemblance of a season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Through it all, the Hemphills are just grateful to have the opportunity to play, even if there are no spectators allowed for their home contests. Staying healthy is the main priority.
“So far, for our team, we’re just grateful that we haven’t so far this season had any time to stop due to COVID and due (to) everything that’s going on in the world right now,” said Summer, who has recorded 942 points and 771 rebounds in 96 career games and was a major contributor of UB’s back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. “We’re grateful that our team is locked into us and staying inside our bubble and making sure that if one of us is in harm’s way that (it doesn’t) put all of us in harm’s way.”
Justin had the same sentiments as his sister, already appearing in six games as a Wildcat under head coach Mike MacDonald and only a couple weeks into his second semester on campus.
“Ever since I’ve been here at Daemen, everybody’s been trying to work together (and) just trying to make things work and give everybody the best experience and opportunity that they can during these hard times that we’re in right now,” said Justin, who made his first Daemen start in a 103-69 win versus D’Youville on Feb. 15.
Describing themselves as hard-driven and competitive, Summer and Justin are the two youngest of eight children – five sisters and three brothers total – raised by Willie Hemphill Sr. and Tina Kettle. Sports are a big pastime for the family, who are diehard Buffalo Bills fans. And as far as playing sports, if you named it, Summer and Justin played it, as their mother, a former high school volleyball player herself, got them involved in many sports as soon as they were eligible.
“She never liked me sitting at home playing a (video) game a lot,” said Justin, who played football, lacrosse, baseball and swam on a middle school team prior to playing basketball. “So, I – literally whenever she got the chance – she enrolled me in any sport program, or any clubs or something like that, just to keep me active.”
“I showed love to pretty much all sports,” said Summer, who played softball and volleyball and ran track in addition to basketball. “I try and understand and get to knowing every other sport and not just limit myself to being a basketball player with a basketball mindset because, I think, honestly, almost every sport is kind of related in some way, shape or form.”
While both were multi-sport athletes straight through their respective years at Cardinal O’Hara in Tonawanda, N.Y. (Summer with volleyball and outdoor track, Justin with football), the day their parents bought a basketball hoop for their house changed their lives forever – one “swoosh” at a time. Like most kids, the Hemphills played outside with their older siblings and the rest of the kids in their Buffalo neighborhood. Once the older kids were done, Justin and Summer worked on their game. Whether in the scorching heat or in a downpour, the duo just wanted to play.
“Once they were done, we’d go out there and we’d try and like play or we’ll like at least try and play with them, but we were always too small and stuff like that,” said Summer. “But we’d start off with playing like ‘21’, ‘Horse,’ two-on-two, three-on-three, four-on-four, things like that.”
The backyard basketball days gave Summer the confidence to tryout for the junior varsity team as a seventh grader at Performing Arts in Buffalo while Justin played basketball for school teams and at AAU tournaments as he got older. After spending her first two years of high school playing for the Cavaliers, Summer then transferred to O’Hara for her junior and senior years, where she led the Lady Hawks to back-to-back Monsignor Martin Athletic Association championships and was named an All-WNY first team selection in 2016.
When it came time for Justin to decide which high school to enroll at, he admitted he was hesitant at first in following in his sister’s footsteps at O’Hara during her senior year. But when he went on a school tour, he knew he had found the right place – and he didn’t have to deal with any sibling comparisons, which allowed him to be himself.
“They didn’t say, ‘Summer did this, so you got to go do that,’” recalled Justin, who led the Hawks to the New York State Catholic Class B championship in March 2019 and left as the program’s all-time leader in points (1,676) and rebounds (1,138). “They just let me fall into place and they let me get comfortable. And sooner or later, after Summer graduated, I started doing some of the same things (on the court) that she was doing, so that was pretty cool.”
Besides learning how to play the game alongside each other, the Hemphills have become mentally tough, developing a sharp sense of stick-to-itiveness through their successes and setbacks. In the fall of 2019, Summer suffered a knee injury just weeks before the upcoming season and was sidelined for the entire season. Because she had not used her final year of eligibility, Summer was granted a redshirt season for this winter.
After 14 months of rehab, Summer returned to the hardwood of Alumni Arena on Dec. 6, 2020 against rival Canisius. In 11 minutes of action, the veteran guard scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, snatched six rebounds and had two steals in the Bulls’ 87-45 victory against the Golden Griffins. Unfortunately, in UB’s next game at Purdue, she re-injured the same knee but soon returned to practice, hoping to return to action as the regular season winds down.
By watching his big sister deal with her injuries over the past year-and-a-half, Justin has learned what persevering is all about.
“She’s a fighter,” he said. “She won’t let one thing knock her off her path. She’s had this injury that she’s been dealing with and is definitely something that nobody wants to go through. But, it does happen to people and she’s been taken it on the chin and she’s been fighting and trying to get back on the court, back at 100%. That’s something that I’ve noticed. She’s not gonna let that stop her.”
While the distance has grown over the years, the Hemphills are closer than ever before thanks to Facetime, Instagram and the gaming phenomenon called Fortnite. Gamers growing up with the Xbox and Playstation in their house, Fortnite became a bond for them when Justin started playing first with Summer following shortly ever. And once again, the competitive juices were flowing.
“She was always on (playing) and I was always on, so, I mean, why not play together?” said Justin. “Once the (Daemen) season picked up, I stopped playing as much but she keeps playing. So, she ended up getting better. And, I recently hopped on and I’m like, ‘Man, I must have not played the game in a while!’”
Heading into her final postseason run with the Bulls, Summer’s biggest piece of advice for Justin and all college student-athletes is simple – don’t overthink anything.
“Just understand that even if things aren’t going your way, just put your head down and continue to do the work,” she said. “Don’t think that you deserve anything. You have to work for everything… Times might get bad and all that, but as long as you keep your head on your future goals and you speak great things into existence, you can only know what will come your way, as long as you continue to do what you need to do and not focus on who’s doing what or they’re doing this.”
And as they both agreed, your siblings eventually become your best friends. “Sometimes, it may feel like they’re being mean, or they’re being weird to you or sometimes they just don’t want you around but – you got to understand – they’ve already been through the stuff that we’ve been through and sometimes, they don’t want us to make the bad decisions that they’ve already made,” said Justin. “It’s cool to be friends. And, being close with your older siblings, sometimes it may not feel like you guys already close. But, at the end of the day, they’ll always love you.”
The mutual love runs deep between the Hemphills. But, when asked on who would win in a one-on-one match today, they made it clear they still know how to trash talk each other.
“I’m giving him buckets, that’s just that!” said Summer. “He’s gonna tell you differently – I already know he is – but, I’m giving him buckets, and that’s just that. I might let him score a few times here and there.”
“She’ll get five points at the most, and that would be me being nice there,” Justin responded with a big laugh. “We used to play one-on-one a lot when we were younger, but that was when she was taller than me or I was just reaching her height. But now, it’s like, she’s my big sister, but I’m way bigger than her and my game has definitely grown. She’s definitely a good player. I can’t take that away from her. But when it comes to me and her, she’s not winning!”
It’s a toss-up on who would win that contest, but it can’t be denied that the Hemphills will have plenty of stories from the hardwood that will last a lifetime – and shared by an irreplaceable bond.
