Wood's Andrew Funk draws inspiration from family for success at Bucknell University

Andrew Funk didn’t have to look far for inspiration.

In fact, he didn’t even have to leave his house.

Funk, a 2018 graduate of Archbishop Wood High School, has been lucky to be around great people growing up, including his coaches at Wood and at Bucknell University, where he’s wrapping up his senior year. But he met his first role models long before he started school.

“My dad is a high school principal at Council Rock South, mom is an engineer, both graduated from Villanova,” Funk said. “They instilled in me early that you have to get it done in the classroom. Their influence and in terms of that, the standard they held myself and my brothers to, played a huge role. It’s done wonders on the court as well.”

Then there are those brothers.

Funk is one of five. His oldest brother was a three-sport athlete at Wood and went on to get a finance degree at Temple. Next is Tommy, who was a point guard at Army West Point before graduating in 2020. His younger brothers are Albert and Michael, sophomores at Wood. Both run track. Albert plays soccer, Michael does cross country.

The five are best friends, but boy do they compete.

“It’s helped a lot, hard to put into words how much they’ve helped me, they’ve done it in a variety of ways,” said Funk, who lives in Warminster. “From just competition growing up, going back and forth wanting to beat each other, learning from them in terms of work ethic. Seeing how hard my older brothers worked, pushing me, being my role models. My brothers are no slouches. They pushed me. Not an overstatement I wouldn’t be here without them.”

They must be great leaders and role models, because it’s hard to imagine someone having a better career than Funk is at Bucknell. And this week, he received quite the honor.

Funk was named the 2022 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday. He was also named Second Team All-Patriot League. He ranks second in the Patriot League in scoring (17.8), made 3-pointers per game (2.7) and minutes played (36.5). He ranks third among all Division I players in total minutes and seventh in total field-goal attempts.

But the number he might be most proud of is the 3.66 grade point average he carries.

That’s what helped earned him his prestigious award, and what probably makes his parents the most proud, although there is plenty to be proud of.

“They love basketball, but I do think they’re very proud about what I’m doing with academics because that’s very important to them,” said Funk, a finance major. “I wasn’t expecting the award, but I’ve been on the academic team on patriot before, so it was really a cool honor.

“It means a lot because one of the big reasons I came to Bucknell was because of the great basketball and the great academics. My parents instilled that in me from my from grade school days, then at Wood. It means a lot to me to carry it over and to culminate and win that award.”

Prior to attending college, Funk enjoyed quite the career at Wood.

During his junior year, he won a Catholic League championship and a state championship. He also got a lot out of the school, academically.

“Wood was very important in a number of ways,” Funk said. “I think from an academic standpoint, I saw both my older brothers go through wood and how much they enjoyed it, academically and athletically. So many great students, administrators. And coach John Mosco and on the court, my teammates, had a great impact on me. A lot of what I accomplished here is because of Wood.”

The Bison’s season ended on Thursday, falling to top-seeded Colgate 96-68 in a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal game Cotterell Court.

The loss most likely ended Funk’s basketball days at the school, but not necessarily his collegiate career. All players are receiving an extra year of eligibility, which makes sense. Last year because of the pandemic, the Patriot League only played conference games, and many of those were nixed because of Covid-19.

Funk loves Bucknell, but if he stays in school, he’d like to go for his MBA.

“I would be most likely going somewhere else because that’s not offered here,” Funk said. “I think I’m going to explore the fifth year possibilities, and even further down the line, try to play professionally, whatever level. I know I’m going to have this capable body for so long and I love basketball, so I want to keep the ball bouncing.”

No matter where he ends up, he knows he made the right decision with Bucknell.

“Bucknell has been great, it means the world to me that I went here,” Funk said. “A very prestigious school. I’ll take a lot away from it. Just that I’ve been a part of the basketball program as a whole means a lot. I’ll look back upon this, not just in basketball, but academics, in 10, 20, 30 years, I’ll still be very proud of it.”

And you never know, he could always end up back to one of his old stomping grounds some day.

This year, on top of being the leading scorer, he was also the team leader, and along with that, came an increased knowledge of the game. That will serve him during his playing days and possibly beyond.

“I think this year was my best year, in terms of leadership and it helped my basketball IQ,” Funk said. “I could definitely see myself getting into coaching, in terms of coaches who have helped me get here. Elementary, high school, AAU, they all have had a huge impact on making me the player I am, and I would love having that similar impact on a player. Basketball has been great to me.”

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Wood's Andrew Funk named Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year