New talent with an old teacher

September 30, 2024 Andy Furman

NBA great Connie Hawkins (42), seen here in a 1971 photo, encouraged Mike Senior when they met at a Brooklyn playground. AP Photo/Robert Kradin, File

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UConn, North Carolina and Duke.

And P.S. 11. Are you sure you mean P.S. 11?

Yup, add the Purvis J. Behan Elementary School, 419 Waverly Ave., Brooklyn, on the list of basketball powers.

The newest talent has connected with the oldest teacher — the master — Mike Senior.

Young Joseph Dima started his basketball career last year at the tender age of nine. “All my friends were interested in basketball,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle after finishing his homework the other evening. “I just joined the group for fun,” the fourth grader said.

And then he got serious. Or maybe we should say that Senior got serious.

The 76-year-old Senior coached basketball at Tilden High School and Benjamin Banneker Academy. Currently he directs the Selvyn Smith Memorial Sports and Educational Program, which he says has about 14,000 alumni.

“Coach (Clem) Rand at P.S. 11 is a close friend of Mike’s,” says Joseph Dima Sr., the bubbling star’s dad. “He (Mike) noticed Joseph and his skill set and invited him to join his basketball class.”

That class, of about eight to nine kids ages 10-16, meets at P.S. 11 every Monday and Wednesday at 7 a.m., the senior Dima said.

For Senior, basketball is life. After graduating Colorado Northwest and later Lincoln University, Senior’s life took a twist when he met NBA Hall of Famer — and Boys High grad — Connie Hawkins at the P.S. 270 Park on Clausson and Lafayette avenues.

“Connie told me I had the sweetest jump shot he’d ever seen,” Senior said. “And he was impressed with my jumping ability.”

The 5-foot-6-inch Senior had a 44-inch vertical jump.

“At 13,” he continued, “I played Pro Am basketball all over the country.”

He never played basketball at Wingate High School, but teaching and studying the game was, and still is, Senior’s calling.

“Joseph has improved tremendously,” says his dad. “Coach Mike is a great teacher of fundamentals; and now Joseph is quite secure with the basics — passing, shooting and dribbling.”

In fact, young Joseph made the P.S. 11 squad as a third-grader a year-ago, only one of two kids to do so.

“He didn’t get much playing time last year,” Dad said,” But he was not afraid to shoot. He scored in most of his games.”

Perhaps Joseph’s genes have been helpful as well. Dad was a quarterback at Sheepshead Bay High School (’88-’91) and also played baseball and basketball before attending SUNY Albany.

Last year, the P.S. 11 five played in two separate leagues — and, according to the senior Dima, the team made it to the championship game in both — before bowing out.

“Joseph worked out all summer, to his credit,” Senior said. “He is a workaholic. When he went on the family vacation, he took his basketball. He has the perfect form on his shot and great balance and he is very coachable.”

With Joseph Dima, Senior cites three future stars developing at the Clinton Hill neighborhood school — Mark Collins, Carter Sawyer and now Joseph.

There’s room for two more to make the squad and start touring.

“If Dr. James Naismith could invent the game of basketball,” Senior said, “well, I knew I could add to it.”

He definitely has.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] X: @AndyFurmanFSR