Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
COLUMN: The 25-year-old, seventh-year senior says goodbye
2/26/2023 6:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DeAndre Dishman embodies the best of Blue Raiders around the world
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Senior Saturday for Middle Tennessee men's basketball was a subdued affair compared to years past. When your team's only player in his final year of eligibility went through Senior Day festivities a year ago, not knowing he'd come back for a seventh year of college basketball, that tends to be the case.
But the subdued nature of how DeAndre Dishman was honored, not with a walk-out with his family to meet with Head Coach Nick McDevitt and Director of Athletics Chris Massaro at center court, as Dishman did last season, but with a PA read before starting lineups and a curtain call in the final minute of MTSU's 63-49 win over LA Tech, made the standing ovations DeAndre Dishman received from the Murphy Center crowd stand out all that much more.
"It was surreal," Dishman said of coming off the court to that reception. "Just feeling the energy from the fans and all the support. They've seen me through the downs, they've seen me through the ups since I've been here. It feels good to get that appraisal from the fans."
"Dish," as nearly everyone around the Blue Raider Basketball program calls Dishman, is one of the easiest athletes to root for that I've covered. A lot of guys in his mold, undersized posts that have great physical gifts and smart basketball instincts to help make up for being smaller than a lot of the guys he beats and bangs with on a game-to-game basis, get that sort of love from their home fans.
Reporters that come in for MTSU games on CBS Sports Network or Stadium, they might be intrigued by the eye-popping, but true, description of Dishman: he's a 25-year-old, seventh year senior, thanks to a redshirt year due to transfer in 2018-19, a medical redshirt in 2019-20 and a freebie COVID season that didn't count toward his eligibility in 2020-21.
But the folks around Murfreesboro? They've heard the full story — starting his career at Eastern Kentucky, leaving the Colonels after a coaching change before the transfer rules changed to allow immediate eligibility, having to sit out a year, then injuring his knee on a preseason trip to Costa Rica costing him the next season when he was supposed to back in action. It often sparks immediate interest. As McDevitt pointed out, between the mandatory redshirt, the injury and rehab, Dishman missed around 1,000 days of basketball during that time.
"Sitting out and not being able to do something that you love to do, that's hard," McDevitt said. "I never did that. I haven't gone through, in my teenage years or adult life, a catastrophic injury like he had."
Most of those folks around MTSU watched the comeback for Dishman, with him relearning how to play center when he could no longer out-jump anyone in the gym. How he had to put on a suit of armor of pads and braces under his uniform just to be able to take the court when he first took the court. How he eventually found his burst again in the C-USA Tournament last season, where he put together two of the best games I've ever seen a post play back-to-back to try to will MTSU to the title game.
That 2021-22 season, where the Blue Raiders won the C-USA East, fulfilled a promise Dishman made right after he got out of knee surgery.
"When I had surgery, the coaches told me that when I was drugged up, I told them we were going to win a championship," Dishman recalled. "Although we didn't win the tournament, we won the regular season last year, so that's a big accomplishment."
The end hasn't hit Dishman yet, he said. And who can blame him if it hasn't, given the two road tests in Texas, plus the C-USA Tournament, that lie ahead for the Blue Raiders. There's still many hard days of practice in the Glass House ahead for DeAndre Dishman.
His teammates and coaches, however? Already know that impact Dishman has had on them will be hard to replicate.
"Dish, he is a very vocal leader," Elias King said. "He talks to us. He's very aggressive in his leadership. We need him. We know that we're going to know his leadership."
For Nick McDevitt, that leadership made it all the sweeter he and his team could give Dish a final home game to remember.
"If you took that uniform off, you'd see all kinds of bandages and scars and all kinds of things to keep him put together," McDevitt said. "But he is a tough young man, happy for him to be able to finish off his home career here with a win."
Dishman though? That hospital bed promise is still on his mind.
"I think it will hit me later in the season, once we finish those away games, once we hit tournament time when it's either win or go home," Dishman said. "But we've got the rest of this season, we're here to chase a conference championship."
But the subdued nature of how DeAndre Dishman was honored, not with a walk-out with his family to meet with Head Coach Nick McDevitt and Director of Athletics Chris Massaro at center court, as Dishman did last season, but with a PA read before starting lineups and a curtain call in the final minute of MTSU's 63-49 win over LA Tech, made the standing ovations DeAndre Dishman received from the Murphy Center crowd stand out all that much more.
"It was surreal," Dishman said of coming off the court to that reception. "Just feeling the energy from the fans and all the support. They've seen me through the downs, they've seen me through the ups since I've been here. It feels good to get that appraisal from the fans."
"Dish," as nearly everyone around the Blue Raider Basketball program calls Dishman, is one of the easiest athletes to root for that I've covered. A lot of guys in his mold, undersized posts that have great physical gifts and smart basketball instincts to help make up for being smaller than a lot of the guys he beats and bangs with on a game-to-game basis, get that sort of love from their home fans.
Reporters that come in for MTSU games on CBS Sports Network or Stadium, they might be intrigued by the eye-popping, but true, description of Dishman: he's a 25-year-old, seventh year senior, thanks to a redshirt year due to transfer in 2018-19, a medical redshirt in 2019-20 and a freebie COVID season that didn't count toward his eligibility in 2020-21.
But the folks around Murfreesboro? They've heard the full story — starting his career at Eastern Kentucky, leaving the Colonels after a coaching change before the transfer rules changed to allow immediate eligibility, having to sit out a year, then injuring his knee on a preseason trip to Costa Rica costing him the next season when he was supposed to back in action. It often sparks immediate interest. As McDevitt pointed out, between the mandatory redshirt, the injury and rehab, Dishman missed around 1,000 days of basketball during that time.
"Sitting out and not being able to do something that you love to do, that's hard," McDevitt said. "I never did that. I haven't gone through, in my teenage years or adult life, a catastrophic injury like he had."
Most of those folks around MTSU watched the comeback for Dishman, with him relearning how to play center when he could no longer out-jump anyone in the gym. How he had to put on a suit of armor of pads and braces under his uniform just to be able to take the court when he first took the court. How he eventually found his burst again in the C-USA Tournament last season, where he put together two of the best games I've ever seen a post play back-to-back to try to will MTSU to the title game.
That 2021-22 season, where the Blue Raiders won the C-USA East, fulfilled a promise Dishman made right after he got out of knee surgery.
"When I had surgery, the coaches told me that when I was drugged up, I told them we were going to win a championship," Dishman recalled. "Although we didn't win the tournament, we won the regular season last year, so that's a big accomplishment."
The end hasn't hit Dishman yet, he said. And who can blame him if it hasn't, given the two road tests in Texas, plus the C-USA Tournament, that lie ahead for the Blue Raiders. There's still many hard days of practice in the Glass House ahead for DeAndre Dishman.
His teammates and coaches, however? Already know that impact Dishman has had on them will be hard to replicate.
"Dish, he is a very vocal leader," Elias King said. "He talks to us. He's very aggressive in his leadership. We need him. We know that we're going to know his leadership."
For Nick McDevitt, that leadership made it all the sweeter he and his team could give Dish a final home game to remember.
"If you took that uniform off, you'd see all kinds of bandages and scars and all kinds of things to keep him put together," McDevitt said. "But he is a tough young man, happy for him to be able to finish off his home career here with a win."
Dishman though? That hospital bed promise is still on his mind.
"I think it will hit me later in the season, once we finish those away games, once we hit tournament time when it's either win or go home," Dishman said. "But we've got the rest of this season, we're here to chase a conference championship."
Players Mentioned
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