AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — If you go to a Daemen men's basketball game you'll watch Andrew Sischo make plays, and he's been doing that since he joined the program full-time in 2017.
As an inside force for the Wildcats, it's hard to believe a guy with minimal offers out of high school has become one of NCAA DII's top players.
"Basketball is basketball," Sischo said about playing DII. "It's not always about where you go, but it's about the experience you wanna have there and the people you're putting yourself around."
Sischo has come a long way over the years, but it doesn't really come as a surprise. Coach Mike MacDonald says they saw that raw talent right away.
"He was very difficult for us to stop," MacDonald recalled about Sischo's first year with the Wildcats. "I used to be mad at the older guys, saying hey you can't guard him. Well it turned out a lot of people couldn't guard him."
He's consistent, he's turning heads, and he's also making history. With more than 2,700 career points, Sischo is now the all-time leading scorer among all NCAA players in New York State.
"It's been awesome to be able to be the guy that we've gone to," Sischo said. "It's also been great to see the other guys on our team have success."
"You have guys who can really play at this level," MacDonald added. "Andrew is a great example."
Sischo also leads all of Division-II this season in rebounds [289], double-doubles [18] and field goals made [199] through February 6th. It's a lot to be proud of, but he's most proud to wear the Daemen jersey.
"Just being able to have that team success has been more important to me than anything that I could have ever had," he said. "To have that opportunity for a championship every year is just what I've been here for and I'm glad that we're actually getting to that level now."
The Daemen men are currently 16-6 overall and 13-0 in ECC play. They're trying to build off the program's first ever trip to the NCAA DII Elite 8 in 2021.
