A month before starting at Marist, freshman guard Cam Sweeney did not think his next stop was college.
Before even starting the process of committing to Marist, Sweeney decided to play a postgraduate year. Within the next three weeks, the guard completed both the college recruitment and commitment processes, switching his focus from postgraduate basketball to Division I hoops.
“I was really close,” said Sweeney. “I was planning on going to the prep, and then I kept playing AAU. Then, [I] got more attention from DI coaches.”
Originally in the class of 2026, Sweeney reclassified to the class of 2027 and committed to The MacDuffie Prep School in Granby, Massachusetts, for his postgraduate year.
Before committing to play for the Mustangs, he drew Division I interest from Penn State, Syracuse, Villanova and Temple. Those schools were interested in his football talents, as he only fielded Division II basketball offers.
Sweeney played football on the Hershey High School varsity team for five years, including in eighth grade. Throughout his career, the quarterback tallied well over 5,000 total yards and 50 touchdowns, with rushing accounting for nearly half of his yards and 33 of his touchdowns. Despite the success and collegiate interest on the gridiron, his true love centered around the hardwood.
“[During] my last year of football, I had fun, but it just didn’t seem right,” said Sweeney. “Once I played basketball, I had more fun, and that picked it for me.”
In high school, Sweeney never had a full year of playing strictly basketball since he balanced it with both football and track. Reclassifying would allow him to focus solely on hoops, and, with his high school coach Paul Blackburn on board, they decided to take the full basketball-focused year.
“We all wanted to see how I could do with a full year of basketball and see how good I can get,” said Sweeney.
Sweeney set Hershey’s program scoring record with 1,457 career points and led the program to its first ever state title appearance while winning its first district championship in over half a century. Still, he struggled with basketball recruitment.
“We weren’t focused on it [posting and emailing] in the beginning. We were just focused on having fun and playing,” said Sweeney.
Thankfully for Sweeney, his AAU team supported his recruitment process greatly. At Sideline Cancer, an independent AAU team, he played on the MADE Hoops circuit under head coach Trevor Orr. Beyond bringing attention to cancer, the team allowed Sweeney to play at DMV-area Live events in front of over 120 college coaches.
Though his 2025 performance caught the attention of six Division I schools, he only officially received Division II offers. He played at the event again in 2026, advertising himself as a class of 2027 player, where interest from the NCAA’s highest division turned into actual offers.
“We had great competition lined up, two of the top teams in it,” said Sweeney. “I played really well.”
Sweeney felt that he showcased all of his talent, including the ability to score on all three levels. By the event’s second day, coaches approached him. Two of these coaches were head coach John Dunne and associate head coach Dalip Bhatia of Marist University.
The coaches knew about Sweeney because Orr was close to John Allen, a former Seton Hall player that Dunne coached in the early 2000s. That allowed Bhatia and Dunne to watch him at the event and begin the recruitment process.
“He had so many Division I attributes and the things that we look for in our program,” said Bhatia. “[His] toughness and competitiveness was through the roof. [He] initiates physicality, […] and you could see his competitiveness from a football field to the basketball court.”
Bhatia and Dunne both pointed out Sweeney’s starting quarterback role, connecting it to the vision, toughness and IQ he displays on the court. These attributes, paired with his ability to see a play before it develops, translate directly for a point guard, who is responsible for directing the offense just like the quarterback in football.
On the hardwood, they noticed a player who could dribble, pass and shoot with good technique. The next step was for the coaches to steal Sweeney away from prep school and bring him to Poughkeepsie, knowing he could join the team this upcoming season.
“We just recruited him hard. He was thinking about going to prep school, so we convinced him to bypass that and come join the fam,” said Dunne.
The quick recruitment process required extra effort because Sweeney still favored prep school. It took over two weeks for him to commit after his May 19 offer. He and his family even asked if the coaches would still recruit him if he went to prep school.
“We didn’t think it was a foregone conclusion,” said Dunne. “In the old days especially, you’d offer a high school player a college scholarship, and he’d jump right away.”
According to Dunne, Blackburn urged Sweeney to strongly consider Marist. On June 4, he made it official and joined the Red Foxes.
“Cam’s a really good guard,” said Bhatia. “[I’m] excited to have Cam in our program, who brings a lot of skill to both guard spots. I think it was a good fit for everybody.”
Dunne noted Sweeney’s feel for the game and his strength, especially against smaller guards given his six-foot-two frame.
“He’s got a good poise [and demeanor] about him on the court, even as a freshman,” said Dunne. “Sometimes freshmen are usually 1,000 miles an hour. He’s not. He doesn’t get overly sped up, which is great.”
Dunne sees Sweeney playing in a lot of decision-making situations, such as ball screens, similar to those of Justin Menard last season in a non-point guard role. Sweeney is one of 10 newcomers to the Marist roster, seven of whom are freshmen.
“We just liked him. It was really that simple,” said Dunne.
Edited by Ryan Eichem and Mike Schiavone
Graphic by Xavier Angel
Photo from Marist Athletics
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