An injury cost Miles Nelen his entire sophomore basketball season. He more than made up for the lost time in his junior year.
The Cooperstown standout is the 2024-25 Daily Star Boys Basketball Player of the Year after helping to lead the Hawkeyes to a 24-1 record and the Section III Class C Championship.
Nelen suffered from a case of osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the elbow, a condition sometimes seen in adolescents who play sports that cause repeated stress on the elbow such as basketball.
Given that the injury affected his shooting elbow, Nelen had a long road to recovery. But that time he missed on the court with his teammates served as all the motivation he needed.
“I worked as hard as I could to get back to where I was during the season,” Nelen said.
“The big thing was getting my jump shot back to where it was before. And also figuring out how to win. All that matters to me, really, is winning. I don’t really care about points or anything like that. I just care about how to get my teammates points, how to make them happy and how to get wins.”
His coach John Lambert — the Daily Star’s Boys Coach of the Year — saw firsthand the work Nelen put in during the offseason.
“He’s done a great job of getting stronger and really taking the time to learn the physical part of the varsity game that he’d only seen as a freshman,” Lambert said.
After a few down seasons, the Hawkeyes came out of the gates with a vengeance and never let up, posting a perfect 20-0 regular season record and dominating in the sectional playoffs. Their run came to an end in the Regional Final with a 55-48 loss to defending state champion Moravia.
Despite the disappointing ending, it was an outstanding season for Cooperstown and Nelen in particular, as the junior averaged 22.9 points per game en route to earning First Team All-State honors.
“It was a culmination of them putting the work in,” Lambert said. “It ended up being a nice mix with regards to them growing up, them being familiar with the system and them being hungry to win.”
Nelen was a prime example, setting the tone from the beginning of the season with his on-court ability and leadership.
“He’s just a basketball player,” Lambert said. “He’s got a great basketball IQ, he knows the game, he wants to win, he’s a leader.
“He’s not a boisterous player,” he added. “He’s a ‘I’ll let my actions do my talking’ player.”
Many of those actions took place behind the scenes. Lambert said Nelen’s work ethic, whether coming to practice early or staying late to work on his game, made an impact on his teammates.
“I’ve emphasized to them, ‘You can go to math class every day and you’ll learn math. But if you want to get really good at math, you’ve got to do math outside the classroom,’” Lambert said. “And it’s the same thing with basketball. Miles is the perfect example of that — he’s constantly working on his game all the time.”
Cooperstown didn’t just win games this season — it routinely dominated its opponents, as only three of the Hawkeyes’ 24 wins came by single-digits. The offense was particularly potent: Cooperstown averaged 77 points per game and scored 90 points five times, with the highlight being a 109-point performance against Cincinnatus in the opening round of sectionals.
As the coach of such a dominant team, Lambert’s biggest challenge might have been keeping his players motivated from game to game.
“Keeping it fresh in practice, keeping the drills competitive was really important,” he said.
“One of the fun parts of coaching is trying to figure out the psychology of keeping everybody engaged and everybody focused on what’s happening. But these kids just wanna win, so it wasn’t overly difficult to keep them focused on what we had to do.”
Nelen had no shortage of memorable performances in 2024-25. Lambert pointed to an early-season win over rival Waterville in which Nelen scored a game-high 40 points. Even more than his scoring, though, Lambert singled out how Nelen’s intensity and leadership sent the message that this Cooperstown team was different from past editions.
For Nelen, a 73-45 win at home over Hamilton on Jan. 13 was a season highlight. Both teams entered the game undefeated but the Hawkeyes dominated from the start. Nelen finished with 20 points and eight assists and said the win served as revenge for a pair of blowout losses to Hamilton from the previous season.
Nelen’s relationship with Lambert goes back to when he was five years old serving as the team’s manager and Lambert the assistant coach. Their bond has only grown as both have settled into roles as leaders of the program.
“He’s even a better person off the court,” Nelen said. “He’s a very nice guy. He never puts us down. He’s always giving us compliments. We couldn’t ask for a better coach.”
Nelen said he and his teammates are already preparing for next season when expectations will be at an all-time high. Cooperstown had only one senior in the regular rotation this year, so next year’s squad will have every opportunity to take the next step.
It’s a challenge that Nelen and company are ready to embrace head-on.
“The loss that we took… Everyone knows we were much better than that but we just didn’t perform,” he said. “But everyone is gonna remember that the whole year. We’re coming out to kill right out of the gate.”
Player of the Year: Miles Nelen, Cooperstown, junior
Coach of the Year: John Lambert, Cooperstown, 24-1
BOYS BASKETBALL ALL-STARS 2024-25
All-State Class A: Brady Carr, Oneonta (7th Team); Britten Zeh, Oneonta (honorable mention)
All-State Class B: Connor van der Sommen, Sidney (13th Team); London Gardner, Walton/Downsville (honorable mention); Tyler Reed, Walton/Downsville (honorable mention)
All-State Class C: Miles Nelen, Cooperstown (1st Team); Blake Fortunato, Deposit-Hancock (4th Team); Seamus deMauro, Delhi (6th Team); Micah Simmons, Deposit-Hancock (8th Team); Christian Lawson, Cooperstown (9th Team); Ivan Richardson, Delhi (11th Team); Xander Johnson, Unatego/Franklin (honorable mention); Tommy Nagy, Delhi (honorable mention)
All-State Class D: Ryan Murphy, Morris (2nd Team); Jackson Reed, Schenevus (3rd Team); Hunter Balcom, Margaretville (4th Team); Connor Wayman, Margaretville (5th Team); Michael Cashman, Sharon Springs (honorable mention); Braymon Clark, Edmeston (honorable mention); Matthew Sanders, Worcester (honorable mention); Carter Swayer, Morris (honorable mention)
Center State Conference: Jackson Crisman, Cooperstown; Christian Lawson, Cooperstown; Brody Murdock, Cooperstown; Miles Nelen, Cooperstown
Delaware League: Cole Whitbeck, Charlotte Valley; Cody Ciaravino, Gilboa/Roxbury; Patrick Terk, Jefferson/Stamford; Gavin VanEtten, Jefferson/Stamford; Hunter Balcom, Margaretville; Connor Wayman, Margaretville; Jack Byrne, South Kortright; Boston Quarino, South Kortright
Midstate Athletic Conference: Seamus deMauro, Delhi; Tommy Nagy, Delhi; Ivan Richardson, Delhi; Blake Fortunato, Deposit-Hancock; Micah Simmons, Deposit-Hancock; Donovan Rickard, Oxford; Connor van der Sommen, Sidney; Xander Johnson, Unatego/Franklin; London Gardner, Walton/Downsville, Tyler Reed, Walton/Downsville
Southern Tier Athletic Conference: Grayson Brockington, Oneonta; Brady Carr, Oneonta; Maddox Imperato, Oneonta; Britten Zeh, Oneonta
Tri-Valley League: Braymon Clark, Edmeston; Noah Pain, Gilbertsville-Mount Upton; Ryan Murphy, Morris; Carter Swayer, Morris; Jackson Reed, Schenevus; Michael Cashman, Sharon Springs; Matthew Sanders, Worcester