{"id":3535,"date":"2017-10-10T15:57:35","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T15:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/?p=3535"},"modified":"2017-11-20T20:08:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T20:08:00","slug":"alum-profile-mike-dereus-15-is-a-shining-light-on-and-off-the-field-at-georgetown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/2017\/10\/10\/alum-profile-mike-dereus-15-is-a-shining-light-on-and-off-the-field-at-georgetown\/","title":{"rendered":"Alum Profile: Mike Dereus ’16 is a \u201cShining Light\u201d On and Off the Field at Georgetown"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Michael Dereus ’15 at Williston as he signed to play football for Georgetown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Matt Liebowitz<\/em><\/p>\n

In a sport where so many of his plays could end up on highlight reels, Michael Dereus\u2019 selflessness, his resistance to reflect on his talent and accomplishments, can seem almost comical.<\/p>\n

Dereus, a sophomore wide receiver at Georgetown, was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year his freshman year on the Hoyas. He said he was \u201cunsure\u201d but he \u201cmay have been in contention\u201d for a larger, nationwide rookie award, but admitted, \u201cI don\u2019t really remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAwards are nice,\u201d Dereus, 20, said, \u201cbut I just worry about getting better as a person and on the football team.\u201d<\/p>\n

This spirit of generosity is something Dereus said he grew up with, and something he carried from a childhood in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, to Another Course to College (ACC), his charter high school, and eventually to Williston, where he entered as a junior, and from where he graduated in 2016.<\/p>\n

He credited Williston, especially nightly study hall junior year in Conant and senior year in Ford, with inculcating in him strong, consistent study habits. As far as a strong and consistent character, that goes further back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWilliston gave me [the chance to] be a great person and great athlete and student,\u201d said Dereus, \u201cbut my parents instilled that into me anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise, then, that Dereus, along with his fellow Georgetown teammates, participate in the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, a nationwide program in which athletes are paired with children with pediatric brain tumors and other cancers in an effort to improve the children\u2019s quality of life.<\/p>\n

Dereus visits nearby Georgetown Hospital two to three times a month, or drops by patients\u2019 houses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s real nice to give back,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have a bad day, [or] you don\u2019t feel like the day was as good as you wanted, and then you get to impact someone and see someone deal with their issues and be grateful.\u201d Dereus said he appreciates the chance give emotional and moral support, and to feel like \u201ca shining light for them when they need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based in Hopewell Junction, NY, Friends of Jaclyn honors Jaclyn Murphy, who, at age nine in 2004, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Murphy was made an honorary member of a college lacrosse team, which then went on to an undefeated season and its first NCAA National Championship in 64 years. The Murphy family created the foundation in 2005, and since its founding, it has helped nearly 730 families. In 2016, Murphy graduated from Marist College.<\/p>\n

Dereus said that between Snapchat, phone, email, and text, he is in \u201ceveryday\u201d contact with the children he\u2019s paired with through Friends of Jaclyn. He said that with his hectic schedule, the partnership gives him a chance to step out of his routine and \u201cfocus on making someone else\u2019s day better.\u201d<\/p>\n

That routine, for Dereus, begins early every morning, with a 6 a.m. meeting. The team practices from 8 to 10:30 a.m., and then until 3:15 p.m. Dereus admits, in his characteristically understated way, that he\u2019s \u201cpretty busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pretty busy means classes on human rights and international relations, cultural anthropology, women and gender studies, biology, and philosophy. Dereus\u2019 focus is government and economics.<\/p>\n

Jacob Rivers, Williston\u2019s co-defensive coordinator, watches Dereus\u2019 games \u201cwhenever I can,\u201d he said, and the two remain in contact. Rivers coached Dereus during his senior year in football and track.<\/p>\n

Rivers said initially he was unsure if Dereus would make the transition, under Rivers\u2019 tutelage, from player to student in Rivers\u2019 senior English class. Dereus had no problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was seamless,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cHe knew when it was time to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivers added that although Dereus wasn\u2019t the top academic student in the class, \u201che worked as hard as anyone, all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI talk to Mr. Rivers all the time,\u201d Dereus said. \u201cHe gave a lot of good advice coming in to Georgetown,\u201d including \u201chow to attack training camp and come out aggressive, and meet your responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a surprise to no one at Williston that Dereus is meeting responsibilities and surpassing expectations in college, least of all Mark Conroy, Williston’s athletic director and Dereus\u2019 former head football coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a great two years here and was a huge part of a very successful two teams,\u201d Conroy said. Conroy\u2019s final year as head coach was Dereus\u2019 senior year. The team lost three games in the entire two years Dereus was at Williston. \u201cHe was a big part of that,\u201d Conroy said.<\/p>\n

Conroy, laughing, remembered a particular \u201cplay\u201d his squad would run with Dereus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d yell, \u2018Mike, go deep!\u2019\u201d Conroy explained. \u201cWe had a no-huddle offense; there were so many games where the quarterback would just throw as far he could and Mike would just run under it and score.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivers added an observation from Dereus\u2019 work on the Hoyas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be guys in zone coverage,\u201d he said, \u201cand he \u2018ll be running a simple go route, and he\u2019ll run right past them like he\u2019s driving,\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with football, Dereus ran track in the spring. In the spring of 2016 he set the Williston, and the NEPSAC, record in the 100 meters at 10.84 seconds, a record that still stands.<\/p>\n

As expected, both Rivers and Conroy praised Dereus character as quickly as they did his raw talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a beloved student here, kind, gentle,\u201d Conroy said. \u201cHis teachers loved him as much as his coaches. You\u2019d read his [teacher] comments and his teachers would say it\u2019s such a privilege to have him at school.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matt Liebowitz In a sport where so many of his plays could end up on highlight reels, Michael Dereus\u2019 selflessness, his resistance to reflect on his talent and accomplishments, can seem almost comical. Dereus, a sophomore wide receiver at Georgetown, was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year his freshman year on the Hoyas. … Continue reading Alum Profile: Mike Dereus ’16 is a \u201cShining Light\u201d On and Off the Field at Georgetown<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[383],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni-profile"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3535"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3663,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3535\/revisions\/3663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}