During his senior year at Mahopac, teammates and coaches routinely referred to Foley as “the beast.”
Foley cemented his legacy with clutch characteristics during the Indians’ 7-5 victory over Lakeland/Panas in the 2011 Section I championship at Suffern Middle School.
Turn the clock back two years.
Foley was a senior salivating at the sight of a sectional championship plaque.
Having helped pioneer ‘Pac to Section I final and semifinal appearances in football and basketball, the notion of capping his career with another runner-up certificate didn’t sit well.
With the May heat and sectional title pressure searing, the senior finally lived up to his handful of loud nicknames.
Foley dropped the go-ahead goal, a dramatic catch-and-pop to crack a 4-4 deadlock. He blasted home an insurance pop with 5:35 remaining, as Mahopac seized a 6-4 edge.
Heroics gained, championship attained.
Now, back to the future.
Foley finished his sophomore year at Drexel as a role player. The team’s high-scoring quartet was headlined by Robert Church (33 goals, 24 assists).
While he is no longer the beast amongst boys he was at Mahopac, where refs (in jest) asked to see his birth certificate before games (Aiden Hynes is 14 years old, factual information that’s been verified, so there’s no way Foley was over age in HS), he’s no puppy.
Foley’s ability to rocket shots with both hands helped him gain some burn. He must develop into more of a shootist next year, when he’s likely to have a more prominent role.
At Drexel, Foley said the system is predicated on beating your man and either firing or creating an open look.
“It’s just really basic,” said Foley of the new offensive system. “Here it is essentially, beat your guy and make the right look and someone is always open, so there’s a lot of emphasis on being cerebral with the ball. We have a set. Depending on which way (the ball handler) goes, everyone just reacts.”
With his focus on this new style of play, Foley has vowed to increase his foot speed and explosiveness this off-season. The whole process of ascending the ladder, working up the ranks and proving your worth is similar to high school.
“I’ve just got to get faster and develop that quicker step,” said the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Foley.
If recent history is any portent, Foley’s work ethic won’t falter.
“After his first year at the Division-I level, he worked out plenty and he came back looking like a mammoth,” said Indians senior Ross Thompson, a former teammate.
Foley’s senior year at MHS, he quarterbacked the football team to a berth in the Section I championship game.
In hoops, Foley was a interior presence who inhaled rebounds and provided hustle points.
That deep, veteran-loaded core (no longer the stepchild to football and lacrosse) ended an 11-year County Center drought, utilizing a balanced offensive attack and applying draping team defense. The Indians fell to Jabarie Hinds-led Mount Vernon in a lackluster Section I semifinal game.
“T.J. was a quiet leader, but he led by example,” said former Mahopac co-coach Dave Haddeland, currently the offensive coordinator at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island.
