Brian Ehlers
Brian Ehlers
brought a distinct skill-set to the basketball floor.
The former
standout was undoubtedly one of the best guards to ever play on College Hill. At 6-foot-4, Ehlers had the size of a small forward but the skills to play either guard position.
Ehlers was a dangerous 3-point shooter, but also had a good mid-range jumper and possessed the strength and athleticism to take it to the rim.
Ehlers, who graduated from Lafayette in 2000, is the school’s third all-time leading scorer with 1,836 points. Upon graduation, Ehlers pursued a career in professional basketball.
Name
: Brian Ehlers
Local connection
: Lafayette College (Class of 2000)
Notables
: Led New York state in scoring at 31 points per game as senior at Bay Shore High School
Suffolk County Player of the Year as senior
Third team all-state selection as senior
Played in Empire State Games in high school
Four-time member of All-Patriot League team
Patriot League Player of the Year as junior and senior
Lafayette’s third all-time leading scorer with 1,836 points
Inducted into Lafayette College Maroon Club Hall of Fame (2010)
Currently resides
: Bay Shore, N.Y.
After two seasons, chronic knee trouble caused Ehlers to give up basketball. He proceeded to teach a high school business course for a couple of years. Today, he works as a County Police Officer near his hometown of Bay Shore, N.Y.
Ehlers, who has a business and economics degree from Lafayette, says he never envisioned himself pursuing a career in law enforcement.
“No, definitely not,” he said. “I saw an advertisement in the newspaper after I hurt my knee about a job on the police desk. I can’t tell you what persuaded me, but I took the test, scored high enough, and here we are.
“Absolutely, it’s a good job for me. The funny thing is (Lafayette) Coach (Fran) O’Hanlon said ‘once you play pro basketball you’ll never find a better job.’ He’s right but I think I found the next best thing.”
Ehlers was not heavily recruited despite averaging 31 points per game as a senior at Bay Shore High School.
“I never really figured that out,” he said. “I led the state in scoring, played in a decent league. Bay Shore was a well-respected program. They played the best teams around. It was kind of surprising.”
Ehlers first wound up on Lafayette’s radar when former Leopards' assistant Rob Jackson spotted him playing in the Empire State Games during his senior season.
“The Empire State Games are pretty much like a mini-Olympics in New York,” Ehlers said. “It’s divided into five or six regions. For example, you’d take the 10 best kids in Long Island against the 10 best in the city.
“It was a pretty big event. We played four or five games and I think I was the leading scorer for my team.”
Ehlers ultimately chose Lafayette over nearby Stony Brook, the University of Albany, and Colgate.
“The coaching staff showed great interest in me,” Ehlers said. “Coach O’Hanlon, (Pat) Brogan and Jackson came to see me play all the time. Stefan (Ciosici) was a freshman. Ted Cole and Ross Harms were there.
“They sold me on the fact I’d be getting playing time early. And it was fairly close to home. Those were the biggest factors.”
Ehlers scored what was at the time a Patriot League championship game record 31 points as a sophomore, but Lafayette lost to Navy.
Lafayette proceeded to win the next two Patriot League titles, and Ehlers won back-to-back league MVP awards. The Leopards’ first Patriot League title, in 1999, earned the school its first NCAA men’s basketball tournament berth since 1957.
Lafayette was a No. 15 seed and proceeded to lose to second seed Miami 75-54 in the Fleet Center in Boston. The following season the Leopards also earned a 15th seed and dropped a 73-47 first round decision to No. 2 Temple in Buffalo.
“Both years were pretty unique when we went to the NCAA tournament,” Ehlers said. “Just the hoopla surrounding that was pretty amazing. Being able to repeat my senior year was pretty awesome. If we don’t win that (championship) game (against Navy), I don’t think my career would’ve been complete.”
One of Ehlers’ personal highlights occurred his junior season when he hit a short fall-away jumper in the final seconds to defeat Colgate in the Patriot League semifinals at Army.
“Hitting that shot was definitely a great feeling because I knew we were playing (the championship) at home and we had a great shot (at winning). That was one of the biggest shots of my career, if not the biggest.”
Lafayette won the championship five days later by defeating Bucknell at Kirby Sports Center. Leopards' guard Tyson Whitfield banked in a shot from three-quarters court at the halftime buzzer. It was one of the most played highlights on ESPN Sportscenter that evening.
“That shot was huge because it changed the momentum,” Ehlers said. “We were trailing at the half.”
One victory that stands out in Ehlers’ sophomore season was a midnight tip-off before a packed house at Colgate that was televised on ESPN2.
“That was an unbelievable game just because it was my first time on national TV,” he said. “I knew everyone back home was watching. I got a lot of phone calls and emails. There was a lot of pressure because I didn’t want to let everyone down. Fortunately, I had a good game.”
Another intangible that made Ehlers’ career so enjoyable was Lafayette’s raucous “Zoo Crew” student cheering section.
“The 'Zoo Crew' was like having a sixth man,” Ehlers said. “I’ll never forget the looks on the opposing players’ faces when (the Zoo Crew) came marching in. They definitely gave us momentum before the game started. They were very loud, very in-your-face, great fans. You wanted those guys on your side.”
After graduating in 2000, Ehlers played briefly for the Long Island Surf of the United States Basketball League. He later played for the New Castle Eagles of the British Basketball League, where he once led the league in 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage.
Ehlers also played in the Hungarian A League where he averaged 20 points per game while playing for Budapest.
“In England they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car,” Ehlers said. “That was a big adjustment doing stick shift with the opposite hand.
“The style of play in England is more fast-paced, very high scoring. There were a lot of good athletes. It was definitely an up-tempo game and it was entertaining for the fans.
“Hungary was pretty much a half-court game. They didn’t stress entertaining the crowd. It was all about wins and losses. The only difference in Hungary is when a foul shot is on the rim you can jump up and swat it off.”
Ehlers says the pay he received was actually quite good.
“It varies a great deal,” he said. “Some guys over there make a million dollars. I thought I did pretty well. They give you an apartment and a car and all your money basically goes into your savings account.”
As his knee regressed, Ehlers eventually decided to give up pro basketball in 2002.
“I always had a lot of tendinitis in my left knee, even throughout college,” Ehlers said. “It was just never to the point where it kept me from playing.
“The Hungarian court was soft and the knee just didn’t hold up. It was giving me a lot of problems and I was limited in what I could do. I went home to rest it. Within three weeks I came back, and wound up having surgery.”
Ehlers and his wife, Jamie, have a daughter Emily, 4½, and 2½-year-old son, Matthew. Not surprisingly, Matthew already has basketball ingrained in his blood.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Ehlers said, “but he’s been dribbling and shooting for almost a year. We have four or five hoops in the house and two outside. He grabs the ball and says 'Defense'. I think that came from my dad. He’s only seen me play once or twice, but he really got a kick out of that, too.”
If Matthew turns out anything like his father, the Ehlers’ will have plenty of basketballs flying around the house in the coming years.
"Catching Up With" is a weekly online feature that runs Sundays on lehighvalleylive.com. The subjects are former local high school or collegiate athletes who no longer live in the region. If you have an idea about an athlete you would like to see profiled, send an email to kgary@express-times.com.