As the basketball season comes to a close, lone senior and captain Herb Tarpeh says goodbye to Piper hoops. Tarpeh plays center on the court, as he stands 6’7”, and is one of the tallest guys on the team.

“The first time I met Herb, I was like, ‘Okay, this guy’s a big dude’. I thought he was kind of intimidating, and as I got to know him Herb is basically the exact opposite of that. As it turns out he’s the softest spoken, kind, most laid back and one of the coolest dudes I know,” said Junior Dylan See-Rockers.

With Tarpeh’s height and athleticism he was able to lead the team towards improvement. The majority of the team is underclassmen, so Tarpeh acted as a guide toward helping his team get better together.

“He’s a good teammate and definitely been a leader. Everyone has a lot of respect for him and takes what he says seriously,” sophomore Quinton Garvis said.

However, that’s not to say the team doesn’t also joke around with him.

“We mess with Herb all the time. He’s a pretty reserved guy, so we try to break him out of his shell a little bit. We call him stupid names, as a joke, [like] OG Herbo. He’s got a good sense of humor about it,” Garvis said.

Tarpeh transferred to Hamline from Central Lakes College in Brainerd, MN after his sophomore year. Although he was only a Piper for two years, he made a lasting impact on the team.

“The thing that made me want to come to Hamline was because of how close the [team] was,” Tarpeh said. “Then being on the team, I learned a lot from the other players, because they had more experience. I could rely on them to help me get better.”

Tarpeh did improve greatly in his time at Hamline, working up to being in the starting lineup and captain for the team.

Even though the team had a challenging past season, ending 4-21, individually Tarpeh concluded his Hamline basketball career ranking third in the MIAC conference for field goals, with a 62.2% success rate.

Men’s basketball head coach Jim Hayes said, “Herb really had a tremendous senior year. It was a major rebuilding year for us, so the games were challenging at times; but he stepped up as a captain, taking a prominent role as a leader and always leading by example to the younger players.”

Tarpeh leads by example off the court as well, as he works for a community center where he helps kids ages eight to 18. He is able to run basketball clinics for the kids as well.

“I host basketball clinics, the kids can use sports as a way to connect with each other,” Tarpeh said. “Growing up, sports was a way for me to meet new people. When I was a freshman in high school, I moved from California to Minnesota and didn’t know anybody. Through sports, I could make friends, it helped me get more comfortable here.”

Tarpeh is majoring in psychology. After he graduates, he hopes to be a youth counselor ,expanding his work at the community center where he currently is employed.

Tarpeh’s teammates and coaches wish him well as he graduates from Hamline and they hope he can continue incorporating basketball into his life.