MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Less than two years ago, Mekhi Hendricks had no scholarship offers to play college basketball. Not one. Now, the sophomore is the starting point guard for a Millersville men's basketball team in a heated battle for position in the PSAC East standings. 

The 2019-20 season hasn't exactly gone as planned for the Marauders. They lost starting point guard and PSAC East Athlete of the Year candidate Jaden Faulkner six games into the season. Starting center Caden Najdawi missed six games with a pair of fluke injuries. Starting power forward Justin Nwosu missed three. The projected starting lineup at the start of the season played just three games together in November. On Jan. 3, the team held a 5-7 record. Now, it has won seven of its last 10 games with the three losses coming by a total of four points. It took the team time to adjust in the wake of all the injuries, but the steady improvement of Hendricks has been one constant. 

During Millersville's recent four-game winning streak, Hendricks averaged 19.2 points per game, shooting an efficient 58.1 percent from the field and 15-of-25 (.600) from 3-point range. He's one of only four players on the team to have played in all 22 games, and his averages are now up to 11.3 points and 2.2 assists--all while transitioning from sixth man to starting point guard on the fly. For a player who earned a spot as an invited walk-on and scored just 3.3 points in his limited 11.3 minutes per game as a freshman, Hendricks has come a long way. 

But where he is now, a major contributor to a team with no seniors and getting better by the week, is no surprise to Hendricks. He bet on himself and it's paid off. 

Baseball was actually Hendricks' first love. His father, Kacy, pitched in the minor leagues for two seasons. Mekhi played youth baseball in the spring, summer and fall and hit in the batting cages after winter basketball practice. But it didn't take long Mekhi to trade in his cleats for sneakers.

"Around eighth grade, I just wasn't rocking with baseball anymore. It was getting overwhelming," said Hendricks. "I played my last game in eighth grade, and I was so scared to tell (my dad) because he loves baseball so much. I said I just want to focus on basketball. He said, 'OK. If you are, you have to take it seriously.'"

Hendricks went on to score over 1,600 points and win 53 games as the conference's back-to-back player of the year in his junior and senior seasons. Despite the accolades, only Christopher Newport, a nearby Division III school, expressed interest in Hendricks. Hendricks' high school coach, Brian Hooker, a Pennsylvania native who had served as an assistant coach at Donegal High School (15 miles from Millersville), recognized the name of the head coach at Millersville University. Hooker played high school basketball against Stitzel when he was at Phoenixville and Stitzel was a 1,000-point scorer at Lansdale Catholic. 

"(Hooker) called me," said Stitzlel. "We had just taken a couple of guards in that class, but I told him I would take a look at Mekhi if he sent me some film. I liked him. I thought he was a good player but it's hard to judge on film. Give Mekhi credit. Even with no offer he came up and visited anyway...People were thrown off by him. There aren't a lot of DII programs in Virginia, and he doesn't look the part. A lot of coaches are thrown off by that--including myself. What is he? 6-0? 5-11? But he's really athletic. He can throw it off the backboard and dunk it. The one thing I noticed right away when I started looking at his film was that he scored 1,600 points in high school. I don't care who you are playing against. If you can score you can score...I told him that whether you get no money, a full ride, half, it doesn't matter. If you are good enough, you'll play. That's exactly what happened."

"I knew I was a Division II basketball player," said Hendricks. "I really wanted to play Division II basketball. Coach (Stitzel) told me that they didn't have any scholarships left but if you want to compete for a spot, if you are willing to, we'd love to have you. I was willing to do anything. I accepted the challenge and said, 'I'm coming here and everyone in front of me I have to beat out.'

It took time for Hendricks to earn playing time as a freshman. Five minutes here, eight minutes there. From Nov. 9 to Jan. 16, he landed two DNP's and 18 shot attempts in 13 games. But at Kutztown on Jan. 21, Hendricks came off the bench, scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and helped Millersville to a key road win. Over the final 13 games, Hendricks served as one of the first players off the bench. He logged double-digit minutes in 10 of those games. In a PSAC Tournament-clinching, double-overtime victory against Kutztown on Feb. 21, Hendricks played 40 minutes, made three 3-pointers and scored a career-high 18 points. Not only had Hendricks become a key role player, he had become a big part of the program's future. 

"I give guys who are willing to come for no money and prove it a lot of credit," said Stitzel. "Usually, with a recruit, if you say 'no money,' you hear the phone hang up and never hear from them again. I give him and his family a lot of credit."

Hendricks continued to improve in the offseason, dialing in his shot, ball-handling and pick-and-roll offense with his trainer. He also spent one to two hours in the weight room each day, preparing his body for the physical demands of PSAC play. 

"He had some days in practice this fall where he was one of the top two or three players on the court," said Stitzel. "When we were figuring out who to start, when we got into our scrimmages, I thought he deserved to start but James (Sullivan) and Khari (Williams) gave us more size, and I pictured Mekhi as that microwave, Vinnie Johnson, Lou Williams, come off the bench, go small, come in for Jaden, play off of Jaden and be a shooter."

With two starters out in the season opener, Hendricks found himself in the starting five. Against a Fairmont State team that reached the NCAA Atlantic Regional in 2019, Hendricks totaled 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. Two games, later he scored 14 points with three assists. The Marauders were starting to roll. And then, in the first half at Gannon, Faulkner went down. The Marauders went into a tailspin and lost five of the next seven games as they tried to adjust to a game without a 6-4, do-it-all point guard. 

"It was tough," said Hendricks. "I was just a spot-up guy, getting looks off of Jaden's play-making. After that, my role changed. I've had to create for myself more. It's not that I didn't have it in me but I hadn't done that since high school. It was having to get back into that mindset. It's tough because when we went through that stretch losing games, I was playing timidly. I know I could have played better so I feel like a lot of those losses are on my shoulders. Now I realize how much better we are when I am aggressive, and all five guys on the court are aggressive. When I became the point guard I thought I had to get nine or 10 assists every game. But that wasn't what we needed."

"Early this year, he got comfortable playing a role," said Stitzel. "We would go to a four-guard lineup against teams that didn't have much size. We would spread people out and we had a ton of success with that, scoring a lot of points. When Jaden went down, Mekhi's role changed. It took him about three weeks to figure out how to do that--be a point guard sometimes and also play off the ball."

Millersville started to right the ship in an 82-79 win over East Stroudsburg on Jan. 6. That started a three-game winning streak, but Hendricks still struggled. Over the next four games--two of which Millersville lost--Hendricks shot 3-for-15 from three and averaged fewer than 8.0 points per game. Hendricks searched for an answer. Then, in the locker room before playing at Lock Haven, Hendricks pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and started to write. 

"Be in attack mode. Attack in transition. Be patient in the pick-and-roll. Shoot it with confidence."

Hendricks left the locker room and poured in a career-high 22 points, sinking 5-of-7 3-pointers while also grabbing six rebounds. 

"I had been trying different things and didn't know what to do," said Hendricks. "So I just got a piece of paper before the game, wrote down all the things I needed to do, wrote down all the things that haven't been working, what I've been working on and positive reinforcement...I was trying everything. I was going through a tough spot at the time. I just wanted to clear my mind."

Hendricks scored 21 points in his next game--another Millersville win. The Marauders' beat West Chester for the first time in five years behind Hendricks' 18 points the next time out. The winning streak stretch to four as Hendricks poured in 16 points at Bloomsburg. His pregame exercise has continued throughout.

"I really think helped with the game," said Hendricks. "I've been doing it ever since. It's like speaking things into existence. I really believe in that."

Hendricks is one of several Marauders expanding their roles during a season plagued with injuries to key players. Redshirt freshman Ryan Davis displayed flashes of offensive brilliance during a recent stretch. Sophomore Brandon Craig is turning into a gritty, winning player who defends, blocks shots and gets put-backs on the offensive glass. Millersville is still a young team with no seniors only three juniors playing prominent roles. Stitzel often says that failure is part of the process, and for Hendricks, Davis and Craig, the challenges they face now are only helping them grow as players.

"The best thing about it is that guys like me, Ryan and Brandon have had an opportunity to showcase what we can do. We'll be better for it in the long run," said Hendricks. "It shows how much promise this team has if we can stay the course and keep progressing together."

Millersville is locked a three-way tie with West Chester and East Stroudsburg for second place in the PSAC East with Kutztown looming a half-game behind. The final stretch of the regular season begins with a road trip to East Stroudsburg--a place where Millersville hasn't won since 2009. As far as Hendricks as come in two seasons, he faces another stiff challenge Saturday as the primary ball-handler against the Warriors' 40-minute, full-court press.  

"The job isn't done," said Hendricks. "I have more to accomplish, another level to reach. I have to make sure I am never satisfied.

"We feel confident that we can get the two seed in front of us," Hendricks continued. "We have to continue to play well, win some important road games, handle stuff at home, and we might have a real shot at surprising some teams in the PSAC."