Sabety came up big for Sailors

Oceanside High School’s Hunter Sabety recently capped off a three-year varsity basketball career by earning All-County honors for a second time and being named runner-up for player of the year in Nassau’s strongest conference.

While most seniors have represented a school on the basketball court for the final time, Sabety is just getting started. The county’s top big man, who averaged 22 points, 17 rebounds, and eight blocked shots per game, will play college ball at Tufts, one of the country’s most prestigious universities.

Sabety, who had nearly 20 offers from Division I programs, including Columbia, Iona, and Marist, selected Tufts for all the right reasons. “It was a tough decision, but, in the end, Tufts had everything I was looking for,” Sabety said. “The pre-med program is outstanding, and the basketball team is up-and-coming. The key is academics. That was the deciding factor.”

Basketball didn’t become important to the 6-foot-8 center until his freshman year. In fact, Sabety had more or less given up on the game before he hit his teen years. “I played CYO at St. Anthony’s and played AAU ball, but I wasn’t very good and I really didn’t love the game,” he said. “In ninth grade I started to take basketball seriously, began to train hard, and enjoyed the game a lot more.”

Sabety also got a little nudge when he ran into another head topper at the Queens Center Mall; 6-foot-11 ex-St. John’s center Mohammed Diakite. “He saw how tall I was and struck up a conversation with me because he figured I played,” Sabety said. “He told me that he worked with young players. I’ve been training with him for over two years.” 

Oceanside, which finished 10-8 in 2012-13, rode Sabety into the Class AA playoffs. In late January, the Sailors appeared to be out of the running when they embarked on a tremendous run. With Sabety averaging 28 points and 20 boards a game, including a career-high 48 points in an out-bracket playoff game against Massapequa, Oceanside won its last four games to earn a playoff berth. 

Sabety, who registered six triple-doubles (double figures in points, rebounds, and blocks), set a program record for blocks in a career, and set a single-game record when he swatted away 14 shots in a win over Hempstead.

Oceanside head coach Dan Keegan believes Sabety will be a very good collegian. “As good as Hunter has become, he understands that with the coaching he’s going to get, he has the potential to get a lot better,” Keegan said. “He’s a hard worker, and takes the game very seriously. He projects well as a college player.”

Keegan also made note of Sabety’s leadership away from the basketball court, saying he had a bit of the “Pied Piper” effect. 

Sabety embraces the role. “I think that it’s a big deal to be a good role model,” Sabety said. “I see the kids I coached in clinics around town and at our games, and I know how important it is to be a positive person for them to look up to.”