Chase Stadler, Mike Mooney, Chris Beane, Jack McKeever, Michael Douglas, John Scipione
Photo courtesy of Don Schill Photography
By Lauree Padgett / Exclusive to Haddonfield[dot]Today
For more than 15 years, I have regularly highlighted the graduating players in conjunction with Senior Night. Last year, since the lone senior was Jake Dewedoff, I interviewed him via email. The year before, there were eight senior Dawgs, and I corralled them in the cafeteria ahead of a game with a big assist from their coach Paul Wiedeman. This year, with six seniors, the cafeteria-style meetup seemed like the way to go. Wiedeman arranged for a 6 p.m. gathering the night of the Sterling game, and when I got down from the stands, all six—Chris Beane, Michael Douglas, Jack McKeever, Mike Mooney, John Scipione, and Chase Stadler—were waiting for me.
I asked them to sit in order of their uniform number so I could have them answer my questions in that order. (As a hearing-impaired person, it is often tough to know where a voice is coming from, so having me at the end of a table with three boys on each side was quite helpful.) Since this is often the first time I’m talking to the players beyond a “Great game” comment in passing, Ahead of me firing questions at them, I like to give them a bit of my background: how long I’ve been coming to games (since the late 1960s, when I was about 7), when I started covering games (in high school a bit, but then regularly after college in about 1987, first for The Haddon Gazette, which warped into The Suburban, which just went away. There was a long break until David Hunter hit me up to cover playoff games for What’s On in Haddonfield during the Brian Zoubek era playoff games; that progressed to doing nightly recaps on Haddonfield Online, and after a few years’ break again, I have been doing mostly weekly wrap-ups for Haddonfield.Today. I didn’t go into all that with the seniors, as I didn’t want them to fall asleep.)
First I wanted to know how long they had been playing basketball, and then how long they had been playing together. I found out all six of them had been playing since grade school. John said he’s been playing as long as he can remember. They all have been playing with each other since their HYBA days.
As a follow-up, I asked if any of them play other sports. Mooney (to differentiate between him and Michael Douglas, as they both answer to “Mike”) and Chase both play golf. Michael played football up through his freshman year. Jack has played football all 4 years, mostly tight end and linebacker. I found out that in the 2024 gridiron season, he tore his ACL, which is why he missed all of last year’s hoops season.
Since it was still fresh in everyone’s mind, including mine, I wanted to hear about the game at Haddon Township the week before, which went to two overtimes before the Dawgs had been able to pull it out. That really got all the guys talking!
Mooney started off, noting, “We knew [the game] had to be close.” Michael relayed that they hadn’t stopped hearing about how the Hawks had upset the Dawgs on their home turf the year before from the coaches, and that, Jack said, made winning this time at Haddon Township a matter of pride. John said the mindset was “We can’t lose 2 years in a row.”
I wanted to know if the players felt any momentum swing after the Hawks came back from a 9-point deficit at the beginning of the 4th quarter to force overtime. Mooney felt even in OT, the team was in control and never doubted that the Dawgs would win. Michael did get a sense that a bit of a shift had occurred, but along with Mooney, always expected that the Dawgs would come out on top. This attitude kept the players focused on winning, not on why the game went into overtime to begin with. Jack added that every Dawg on the court had a part to play in securing the victory.
I was curious to know what the seniors think makes this year’s team special or fun. Chris thinks it has a lot to do with how hard the seniors play and the fun style of their collaboration. Mooney acknowledged that it’s the defense that has gotten Haddonfield to where it is now, especially the trapping. Chris added that the Dawgs approach to going up against a tough opponent is “just bring it.”
I’m not sure what made me bring it up (my handwriting is so pitiful, I often can’t read my shorthand after the fact), but I went “off script” to ask what they all thought about the new “running clock” rule. (If anyone needs a refresher, hear is Paul Wiedeman’s explanation about it” “Any point during a game a team is winning by 35 points there is a running clock. The only time the clock stops is during time outs or if a player is injured. The clock will resume back to normal if the game becomes tied again.”)
Not one of the seniors had a good word to say about it. In Jack’s opinion, it sends the message to the team that’s down by 35, “Let’s get these dudes out of the gym.” John views it as ruining a good game. Chris pointed out that with the clock running, it means the younger guys don’t have as much time to get into a game to show Wiedeman what they can do. Jack agreed, saying the running clock is keeping those players coming in off the bench at the end from having any meaningful minutes.
So, in case you haven’t been keeping “score,” not one person, from Gary Vermaat and my brother-in-law Wayne Grear, whose opinion I asked over the weekend, who both played for Haddonfield in the last century, to our scoreboard operator Jeff Holman, the coach himself—even the young ref sitting behind me at the Haddon Township game who I was talking with gave it a thumbs down—or our six seniors see any merit in the running clock. Let’s hope it gets run out of the game by next season!
They did feel it was “time” (my bad pun, not theirs) to see a shot clock come into high school hoops. Chris said it makes sense since it’s part of college and the pros. Having it high school would make it easier to adjust in college. Jack sees it as a double-edged sword, at least for Haddonfield, since part of Haddonfield’s success is the team’s ability to slow a game down, but does feel it would enable teams that might be trailing to have more chances to score.
After those unplanned debates, it was time for my favorite part of the interview: asking the players to use a word or phrase to describe each other. I’ll share some of what was said about each senior.
Chris was described as dedicated. “He always finds a way,” one teammate said. “He makes us play harder,” another noted. “Humble” and “dedicated” were two other adjectives used. “Dawg, he keeps coming at you,” one teammate commented. The fact that he doesn’t let any situation on the court get to him helps his teammates stay focused.
Mooney was labeled a true athlete. One teammate called his on-court leaps “skyrocketing.” Another said he was a hard worker not just on the court during the game, but also in practice. “He energizes us and makes big plays.” I also found out that while he is always cracking jokes, on the court, he stays calm, which keeps everyone centered.
One word used for Chase was “shooter,” which made me bring up his game-winning 3 from the corner on Feb. 4, 2025, at Gloucester City that gave the Dawgs a 37–35 buzzer winner, but more importantly gave their coach his 600th career win at Haddonfield. One of his teammates noted that he really worked hard in middle school to become the player he is today. “Selfless” was also mentioned, as was “clutch.” His defense was also cited, as one teammate said he is hard on defenders, as his fiery demeanor on the court keeps him running up and down.
Michael was defined as an all-around player. “He does it all: shoot, pass, dunk.” He’s also a motivator. One teammate said that he keeps people in the game and picks people up when they need it. Another said he’s a tough driver in the paint and ends up with red marks up and down his arm from all the fouls that aren’t called on the players trying to guard him. The most prophetic comment came after one teammate called him “Bucket” and went on to explain, “If anyone is going to get it [a big basket], it’s Mike Douglas.” And sure enough, with time running out against St. Augustine two days later, who nailed the three to win it? The “Bucket” himself.
The first word I got for John was “scrappy,” with his teammate using John’s 11 steals against Collingswood as Exhibit A. Another described him as the one who sets up all the offense. “Underrated” was another compliment bestowed by a teammate. “He is a very good defender and knows how to pass.” John makes his teammates feel secure when he is on the court. “He finds you when you don’t even know you are open” I was told, “and makes other guys better.”
Jack got robbed a bit because before we had gone around the table for words to describe, Coach Kupersmit came in to tell the seniors it was time to get into the locker room. But here’s what his fellow seniors were able to say before that happened. “He’s an animal,” one of them pronounced. Another said Jack was “the big man we needed.” His skills at “patrolling the backboard” were also mentioned. And since not everyone got to add their comments, I’ll add that Jack really is a backboard and rebounding magnet at both ends of the court. He may not always score, but he’s always pulling down boards to either keep the opposition from getting another chance to put the ball in the basket or giving his teammates a second shot.
Mooney, Chase, Mike, and Chris were all able to get back to me with answers to my last questions. Here is a selection of what they told me.
I wanted to know how playing for Wiedeman and his coaching staff has made them a better teammate and/or person.
Chris said it “made me better because I understand the game better and the strengths that each of my teammates bring to the game.” Michael went into a bit more detail: “[Weideman] has taught me so much about the game of basketball, and I am the player I am today because of him. I love how he has not changed his standards about how he wants to play after all the years he has coached. As a person, he teaches us to be humble and to do the right thing, hang around the right people. He is a very good role model, and I look forward to finishing the year strong with him and the rest of the coaching staff.”
Mooney had this to say about Wiedeman and his staff: “For me personally, playing under Wiedeman and our coaching staff has made me a better basketball player in general. Not only skill-wise but what it takes effort-wise and the ability to understand certain terminology and concepts on how basketball should be played.” Chase told me, “Playing for Wiedeman and the other coaches has made me a better player by knowing my role and makes me see parts in the game that I would have never seen before. The structure makes me a better player and person on and off the court. The structure in our program contributes to all of our success, and I couldn’t ask for a better coaching staff.”
I asked about team personal goals, and want to start off with Chase’s response: “I do not have any personal goals for this season. All that matters to me is winning. The overall goal is to play and win at Rutgers. That’s what I have been dreaming about since I went to my first high school basketball game as a kid.” (No wonder his teammates called him “selfless.”)
Mooney, Michael, and Chris also want to get to that final game at Rutgers. Mooney shared, “I think my goals for this season is to just have fun with my friends, win a championship, and finally play my best every game. I believe I have put in a lot of work this off season to help our team be the best it can be, so I am really looking forward to how it will pay off toward the end of the season.”
Michael put it this way: : The goal for this season is 100% to win sectionals. We already won the conference, so that goal is checked off. Another goal is to win 20 games in a season, and we are close to that. But sectionals … we [the seniors] have been talking about this year for as long as I can remember, and we want to go out winning. After sectionals, we obviously want to win states, but it’s one game at a time. I want to go out strong with the group of guys I’ve been playing with my entire life.”
Did you notice that no one said, “I want to lead the team in … I want to be in the top 10 in the Colonial Conference … I want to make All-South Jersey.” From the start of Paul Wiedeman’s tenure (he’s now in his 27th year as head coach), it has always been about teamwork and how everyone plays a part in the team’s success. His players buy into that mentality, and I believe that is one reason that his teams have been so successful.
I did ask about college, and all but Mooney, who is going to Penn State, are still working that out, with some having narrowed it down to a handful of choices. Field of study is also still being decided. I was happy to hear all four hope to continue playing basketball on some level.
Mooney ended his responses with a P.S. that I wanted to pass along, as not only did it tickle me, I thought it was insightful: “I really enjoyed describing our teammates in one word! I think it really helped us bond together more and really brought us together as a group!”
I am sure that this year’s team, led by these six impressive young men (and I’m not just talking basketball skills here) will continue have much success with their remaining games, continue to represent their school with honor, and, as always, make us proud to be Dawg fans.