Hempfield grad Kason Harrell grateful to lead team to tournament title in Ireland

When he left the Yough boys basketball coaching staff last year, Kason Harrell was unsure of what his own basketball future would entail.

Would he coach elsewhere, continue to train young players or keep grinding in the gym to try to prolong his professional playing career?

Harrell opted to press on and re-signed with Killester Basketball in Ireland, wearing the familiar fire orange of Team Pyrobel.

His latest story has quite an ending, although Harrell, 28, assures this is far from the final chapter.

On Saturday night, the Hempfield and Purdue Fort Wayne graduate won a championship.

Killester defeated the UCC Demons, 92-75, to claim its sixth Pat Duffy National Cup title and first since 2019.

Harrell, a 6-foot-2 guard, scored 16 points in the title game.

The national cup is like the NBA Cup. In fact, European leagues are the blueprint for the newfound in-season competition in the U.S.

Killester still has regular-season games left as well as the Super League playoffs. But the national cup brings Harrell joy.

“All glory goes to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” Harrell said. “I’m just thankful He allowed me to return to Dublin, which has become a second home for me. It’s my fourth year playing over here, and every year I’ve built more and more friendships and more memories with my teammates, coaches and other people within the club and city as well.”

Previous to this season, Harrell played three years in Ireland, leading Killester in scoring and pouring in 56 points in an Irish Super League game in 2022.

This year, he again was named an all-star.

The national cup win was another box to check for Harrell.

“When the final buzzer went off, I was super emotional because in my first three years, I’ve been able to lead the league in scoring, be an all-star and came close to winning the league last year but failed,” he said. “This club has a rich history of winning over here and after the way Killester welcomed me as a fresh college graduate and has treated me from then to now in Year 4, I felt like I hadn’t done anything special in this league if I couldn’t help bring more hardware to the club.”

Harrell was scoring at a 24-point clip last year in 22 games and is again averaging double figures.

“The job’s not finished,” he said. “Hopefully, we can get another shot at the league championship. Our team this year is super close on and off the court, and we have great coaches who keep us focused every single week. It was fun celebrating winning the cup over the weekend, but now it’s back to work to go for the league championship now.”