HFL Cougar Hoops

--Favorites on your iPod--
Bob Marley and The Wallflowers

--Favorite pre-game meal and junk food--
Really can't go wrong with spaghetti and meat balls for a pre-game meal and I have a sweet tooth for anything chocolate.

--Favorite movie--
There are too many to count, but Anchorman is probably my favorite.

--Start playing youth bball--
I started playing CYO bball for St. Catherine's when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. There were two HF-L teams back then, us and the HF-L travel teams. The two teams put together ended up becoming the varsity team when we reached High School.

--How did travel bball prepare you for your career--
It was my first experience in a team setting and really allowed my passion for basketball to develop. Obviously, this is where I learned the fundamentals of the game, which is the backbone of any basketball career.

--Special memories of travel bball--
We won the CYO championship a few times and receiving any kind of trophy as a young player is always a terrific experience.

--Memorable High School highlights--
We won the Victor Tournament my Senior year for the first time since my older brother Michael's senior year, which was a great experience.

--other sports in high school--
The debate is always whether to only play one sport and focus on it, or play many throughout your career. I played both football and lacrosse in high school, so I was busy each sports season and played all three during the summer. Besides staying in shape year round, lacrosse and football (actually my favorite sport) allowed me to experience different pressure situations in each sport.

--advice for current youth players--
Learn your fundamentals. In order to score points, you need to have the ball so you might as well learn how to take care of the basketball. Get in the gym as often as possible to work on your shot (not everyone will be able to dunk, but anyone can shoot a three).

--college career--
I went to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and studied Neurobiology. I had the opportunity to play Sprint Football at Cornell and it truly was the best experience of my life to this point. Sprint Football is normal Division 1 football with a weight limit (172 lbs) so its sort of a combination of football and wrestling because we had to weigh in every week. In addition to the grueling practices of college football, losing weight in order to play really takes its toll on the body, which forces you to learn the best way to stay healthy. I have had more injuries than I can count in my career, which has paved the way for my current profession, Physical Therapy. I currently work in Manhattan at Paspa Physical Therapy and am applying to Physical Therapy Graduate School to achieve my Doctorate.

--biggest rivals--
Livonia. Records go out the window for this game because no matter what is going on in the league, HFL vs Livonia is always a low scoring, defensive brawl.

--life lessons--
team work and dealing with adversity. You are not always going to be the fastest, biggest, or strongest, but the smarter player will always win.

--AAU teams--
I never actually played AAU because I was always involved in other sports.

--practice habits--
Shooting and endurance. If you can run all day, there's no defensive player who can keep up with you. I always started every practice with close range, in the paint shots, followed my free throws. Although my true love is the three-pointer, finding a routine is key to improving your shot.

--still a cougar--
I will always consider myself a cougar. Although I went on to play in College, my passion for sports that I still possess began in the black and gold.

--teams records when I played--
I don't remember the exact records, but we made it at least to the first round of Sectionals each year as well as battling Hornell every year for the league title.

--years on Varsity--
2004, 2005, 2006