With 10 new players this season, Cabrini men’s head basketball coach Matthew Macciocca is “very excited about the new team.”
Macciocca, who is returning as head coach for his second year, was born and raised only minutes from Cabrini’s campus. He played four years of college basketball at DeSales University and had nine years of coaching experience under his belt before coming to Cabrini.
The men’s basketball program is based on the qualities of their five pillars: commitment, character, sacrifice, responsibility and discipline. Macciocca believes that these qualities make his players successful on and off the court.
He uses the five pillars during all practices. Macciocca said, “They’re not just here to score points and win basketball games. As long as they succeed in life I’m happy.”
The team’s two captains are both juniors at Cabrini. Accounting major Randy Reid and marketing major, Greg Clifton are two players that Macciocca believes are great examples of being successful on and off the court.
This season there are seven returning players, meaning more than half of the team is new to the program. Adam Bowen, a senior communications major, is this season’s undergrad coach. Bowen sees the new team as “young but talented. It’s a good opportunity for people to step up.”
Macciocca expects to start practices using 100 percent of the player’s ability. The kick-off practice for the team is at midnight on Sunday, Oct. 15 with their first game only a month after.
He also has high hopes of eventually taking the team across seas to play internationally. Places of interest to him are Spain and Canada.
Reid plans to have a successful and fun season with all the new faces on the team. He is also anxious to play against rival Gwynedd-Mercy because of a heart-break loss at the buzzer last season.
Macciocca shows a lot of love for the fan support as they were by the team’s side win or lose.
“We didn’t win as many as we should have but the fans were always there. The support last year was phenomenal,” he said. “The fans are a big part of motivation for the team.”
The last victory in the PAC championships was in 2002. Macciocca believes the team has great potential to go very far this year, however “the game is very unpredictable but that’s what makes it fun; you have your bring you’re A-game all the time.”
Reid said, “Since it’s been a while since we’ve won a championship we’re working hard to get a banner back up in the gym.”
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