Sean Durugordon is always ready for whatever adversity comes his way.

“I feel like adversity isn’t the worst thing. It brings people together,” said Durugordon, a redshirt junior guard for the Siena men’s basketball team. “Just want to live a life that I’m proud of.”

Growing up in New York City, his older brothers introduced him to basketball.

“Being the smallest when I was younger, we had a backyard court, so I was always outside playing with them. We were playing all the time. Obviously, they were stronger than me, but that got me better,” Durugordon said.

That bond and connection was crucial to Durugordon, especially when his mother passed away from cancer when he was 9 years old.

“Basketball during that time was everything to me,” he said. “That’s kind of what made me and what kind of started my dedication.”

As Durugordon excelled on the basketball court, tragedy struck again at age 15. He lost his father to a fatal heart attack.

“Obviously going through another loss, that was really tough on me and my family. But basketball, again, is something that kept me going,” Durugordon said.

After losing both parents, Durugordon’s brothers stepped up and to take care of him. They took him to practices, games, and aided him through the college recruiting process.

“They obviously watched how my parents were raising me, so it wasn’t really hard for them to catch on and kind of finish off the job,” Durugordon said. “So, it was great. I felt like it made our bond really closer, too.”

He started his college career at Missouri and then Austin Peay before transferring to Siena. However, more challenges came Durugordon’s way. As a second-time transfer, the NCAA denied his waiver request, making him ineligible for the start of this season.

“To be honest, toward the end of the process, I was kind of losing faith,” he said.

But his brothers told him to keep believing. So Durugordon kept working and stayed ready. In mid-December, it paid off when a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction, making Durugordon and other second-time NCAA transfers immediately eligible.

“Just excited to give him this chance to play. He has gone through a lot to get here, and now he can,” said Siena men’s basketball coach Carmen Maciariello after the ruling was handed down. “Just really excited to have him join our group in the full capacity.”

Through all the hardship, Durugordon has not lost sight of his goals: win a MAAC championship and play in the NBA.

“Family is everything to me,” Durugordon said. “At the end of the day, they’re the ones that keep me levelheaded. They’re really the ones that I do it for. Just trying to make a better life for them, so they’re my everything.”