‘An Acadia quintet’
Mahoney achieving balance between academics, athletics at Acadia
Academics has always come relatively easy to Acadia studentathlete Forest Mahoney.
This year, he is enjoying seeing the athletic side of his university experience finally starting to catch up.
“I’ve enjoyed being here (at Acadia) a lot, but especially this year,” says Mahoney, an Ontario native who is in his fifth year of university overall and his third at Acadia as a science (physics) major and varsity basketball player.
He was recently chosen as Acadia’s male nominee for the U-Sports Top-8 Academic AllCanadian designation, which he sees as an honour but, at the same time, part of his academic progression.
“Honestly,” he says, “I didn’t realize the Top-8 Academic AllCanadians was even something to consider until Zach Visser won it last year. I’m pretty competitive, and I apply that to my academics. I always like to try and be the best, in everything I do. I didn’t know Zach personally, but once I knew there was an award, I began to think more about it.”
He points out, “a lot of the skills that make you a good student don’t necessarily translate to athletics,” and vice versa.
“A lot of athletics is a blink reaction. You have to make instant decisions, and by the time you take the time to think about it, usually the moment is gone.”
Mahoney has always been a good student. Becoming a good basketball player not only took longer, it required a whole different skill set. “When I started playing basketball in Grade 9, I enjoyed the skills development more than the actual playing. It’s made my basketball career a little more challenging.”
Athletically, this year, he has turned a corner.
“It’s finally starting to come. I can see it, and others have told me they can see it. A lot of it is becoming more familiar with it.”
Mahoney is having the most fun he has ever had playing basketball, and it’s showing in his play.
At the Christmas break he was averaging a solid 11.3 points and eight rebounds per game for the Axemen, along with a 59.3 shooting percentage and 18 blocked shots, both tops in the AUBC.
Coming out of high school, he says, “I probably could have used an extra year to develop. Mentally and academically, I was ready for university, but physically, I probably wasn’t ready for university basketball. It’s been a continuous development,” and he acknowledged, “it feels good when you finally get there.”
Beachburg, Ont., an hour or so west of Ottawa, where Mahoney grew up, is small enough that “it doesn’t even have its own high school.” Mahoney attended high school in nearby Pembroke.
“I started out at an all-French elementary school, then attended an English high school because it had a basketball team and the other school didn’t.”
Even though he has “always found basketball a challenge” athletically, he enjoys the sport, and it was one of the factors in his choice of university.
One of the factors, but not the only factor.
After “applying to 13 different universities, all across the country” including Acadia, Mahoney chose to enroll at Bishop’s University, in rural Lennoxville, Que. in the fall of 2015.
He said he “liked the small school dynamic.” Both his parents and his sister had attended Acadia, and while he was drawn to Wolfville, at the time, he “didn’t want to do the ‘family thing. That’s why I chose Bishop’s.”
He played a year of varsity basketball at Bishop’s and did a second year there as a student “while I decided what I wanted to do.” Ultimately, he realized “Acadia was the place for me.”
His brother Logan, also a varsity basketball player, chose Acadia “directly out of high school,” so now the Mahoney family comprises “an Acadia quintet.”
“I picked Acadia because of its similarities to Bishop’s, both academically and in terms of the community interaction with the school.”
Mahoney has enjoyed all three years of basketball he has played at Acadia.
“It’s still a challenge, but I’ve grown to embrace the challenge.”
He admits, “when I find basketball easiest is when I’m being challenged in the rest of my life. I can compete, and be physical, and not think about it.”
He believes the Axemen will continue to improve as a team after Christmas.
“I’m having fun, and it’s a good feeling,” he said.
Due to balancing school and basketball and “underloading my courses the last two semesters,” he finished the 2018-19 academic year a few credits short of earning his degree. “I had a decision to make about coming back for a fifth year, and I’m really happy with the decision I made.”
As for what that might be, Mahoney said, “that’s a good question.” When he started university, he only knew that he wanted to play basketball.
He said he is “leaning more toward the health sciences, specifically medicine.”
Medicine as a profession runs in his family, but he said “coming out of high school, I was thinking anything but medicine. I wanted to ‘buck the family trend’, but these days, I’m finding it harder to buck.”
He says his interests tend to be “more biological rather than science or math.”
He toyed with the idea of finishing out a fifth and final year of varsity eligibility, but he has decided against returning next year.
He’s not certain what the future will hold, but Mahoney said he’s fortunate to have “a lot of options ”