Skip To Main Content

Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
smillie award 2019

Petrucelli Named John Smillie, Jr. Award Recipient

5/14/2019 10:15:00 AM

By: By Mike Miranto, Sr. Associate A.D. for External Operations & Communications
AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College redshirt senior men's basketball player Nick Petrucelli (Hicksville, N.Y.) has been named a recipient of the John Smillie, Jr. Award given annually to the East Coast Conference student-athlete of student-athletes who have overcome personal or physical challenges and hardships to pursue their intercollegiate athletic careers. The award, given in honor of John Smillie, Jr. who served N.Y. Institute of Technology as an athletic trainer for 14 years prior to his passing in 2008, was presented last evening at the annual ECC Awards Dinner held on the campus of Mercy College.

Petrucelli is certainly a worthy recipient. The 6-foot-3 guard overcame serious injury hurdles throughout his five-year stint on Main Street. Petrucelli suffered a combined four tears of his right and left anterior cruciate ligaments, injuries that surely could have derailed his collegiate career. Despite the injuries, Petrucelli managed to appear in 72 games and make 17 starts for the Wildcats, and was part of teams that have collected 105 wins over the last five seasons.

"Nick is one of the hardest working student-athletes that I've every had the pleasure to work with over my 25 years as an athletic trainer," said Jeff Sage, assistant athletics director for sports medicine and performance, who submitted Petrucelli as a nominee for this honor. "His level of resolve is unmatched. After each of his five surgeries he came back to rehab every time with a passion to return to the court. He just wanted to play. Even after suffering what quite possibly could have been a career-ending injury for most people, he dug down deep, did the rehab and re-committed himself to return and finish out his senior year. Nick exemplifies toughness."

After helping Daemen capture the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division I national championship as a freshman during the final year of Daemen's transition to NCAA Division II, Petrucelli emerged as a starter early in his sophomore season. He was averaging 9.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game when he suffered a tear of his right ACL that cost him the final 13 games of the 2015-16 season.

The wait for Petrucelli to return to action got longer when his surgically-repaired ACL tore again during a workout prior to the 2016-17 season. The injury kept him out for the entire season.

Petrucelli went through the rehabilitation process again, and was cleared to return to the court early in the 2017-18 season. Just two games and 22 total minutes of playing time into his comeback, the improbable happened. Petrucelli tore his left ACL during an 80-77 road loss at Slippery Rock University on November 26, 2017. For the third time in his career, he was forced out of action and missed the remainder of the season.

The Long Island native was again undeterred, working tirelessly to make a return for a fifth and final season. He did just that, playing 11 minutes during a 75-60 win over Caldwell University to open the 2018-19 season. The following day, Petrucelli scored 10 points in a win over Nyack. It was his first game with 10+ points since January 17, 2016 when he scored 11 points against NYIT, one game before his first ACL tear. Another milestone came in the next game when Petrucelli made his return to the starting lineup for a road tilt at Mercyhurst University. With his knee troubles seemingly in the rearview mirror and Petrucelli contributing for a team picked to finish near the top of the ECC, it appeared his path on the road less traveled was finally coming to an end.

But, adversity struck again when the surgically-repaired ACL in Petrucelli's left knee tore during a team practice in mid-November. This was it. The end. There was no way he was coming back again. Except he did. 

After consultation with Sage and team physician Dr. Keith Stube, Petrucelli elected to rehab his injury without a season-ending surgery in the hopes of returning to the team. He missed just five games, returning before the calendar switched to 2019. He logged eight minutes and scored two points in a win over St. Michael's College on December 29. The stats were inconsequential; the fact he was on the floor competing again, returning from a fourth torn ACL, was the story.

Petrucelli went on to appear in every game the rest of the season, and logged double-figure minutes in nine of the final 10 contests. His efforts helped Daemen ascend as high as No. 10 in the Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) national media poll and No. 13 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll, while also capturing the program's second ECC regular season championship and the first NCAA tournament berth in team history. 

Petrucelli becomes just the second Daemen athlete to earn the John Smillie, Jr. Award, joining former women's volleyball player MacKenzie Knihinicki who was a 2014 recipient. It's also the second honor Petrucelli has received in relation to the physical obstacles he's overcome; he was named the recipient of the Daemen Sports Medicine P.R.I.D.E. Award at the 2019 Daemen Night of Honors earlier this month. A Business Administration major with a specialization in Sport Management, Petrucelli will walk the stage at Daemen's commencement ceremony this coming weekend. A Q & A with Petrucelli was recently posted as part of an ongoing series highlighting 2019 graduates at daemenwildcats.com.

"This award is a testament to Nick's perseverance and toughness," said head men's basketball coach Mike MacDonald. "People like to talk about grit. Nick Petrucelli epitomizes the word 'grit'. To be able to play this year with a torn ACL and to play a meaningful role on an NCAA tournament team is a testament to his competitiveness, his toughness and his grit. There is no doubt we would not have had the historic season that we had without Nick."

For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.







 
Print Friendly Version