Nick Citeroni

How's everyones summer going? I hope a little better than mine. I hope everyone is working to the extreme each and everyday to reach new goals in not only there life but in there basketball abilities. I've been out of basketball for over a year with ankle issues and even had to take a year off from school to regain my physical ability. I can't wait to get back on the court and play the game i love with a great solid family like team. My teammates are my brothers and i'll look out for all of them whenever its in need. There's a lot of potential this year and i'm ready to help anyway i can on the long ride to success.

So this will techinally be my Freshmen year and i've never been more excited to start something. I'll be studying Sports Medicine and hoping to go into Physical Therapy. I graduated from Homer-Center class of 2010 which is a little town between Indiana and Blairsville about 45 minutes from UPG campus. As soon as i first checked out UPG i knew this was the campus for me. Wonderfully nice people, beautiful campus and a basketball team with a lot of potential that'd i'd love to help go far. The way the team interacts is big for me because i see my basketball team as my family and not just five fingers playing basketball, we come together as a fist and fight strong and i found that here.

Excited to represent Pitt basketball and the University as well. Can't wait for the best basketball season of my life. Get ready for the bobcats to breakout and play championship basketball. See you all soon.

Nick Citeroni

Ty Phillips

Whats going on guys, hope everyone is working hard this summer. My name is Ty and I am entering my sophomore year at UPG. I am a Criminal Justice Major and of course a member of the basketball team. I graduated from Penn Hills High School I played AAAA basketball for four years varsity 3 of those years. The reason I chose UPG most importantly is the degree holds weight in this country, and life after basketball is important to me. The classes are a decent size not to big so I still get individual attention.

The other reason I chose UPG is of course basketball I feel like we have all the proper pieces to do something great for our school and community, we just all have to buy into it. Last season was a bit disappointing but still a learning experience. I feel that the 2011-2012 season will be our run for the AMCC Championship we are all hungry for it and we all are passionate about the game and hate losing. The team chemistry will be great this year we all get along well and have a lot of fun together except Brock he doesn't go out much haha. I look at this team like a family and I plan on playing like one this upcoming season I cant wait to see you guys soon 1 month and counting

Stay Hungry Fellas

Ty

Dylan Reigel

Hey guys, what's going on? My name is Dylan and I will be a freshman this year at UPG. I plan on majoring in Mathematics with a minor in Actuarial Science. I just graduated from St. Marys Area High School, which is roughly a two and a half hour drive to Greensburg. Our basketball program had not had much success in recent years. Going into my junior season we lost our five starters from the year before and had a new coach coming into the picture. Needless to say, we ended the season with a 2-18 record. A lot of people might get down on themselves after a season like this but we used it as a learning process. As soon as the season was over I started preparing for my senior year. We were all determined to reach our goal of District Champs. Going into the first game of the year we faced Johnsonburg. They beat us both times the year before, one of which was by thirty points. We went into that game full force and won 77-41. After that game we just kept on rolling to a 17-8 record and our first District 9 championship in 11 years!

As I went on my college search I was looking for a place not too far from home that also had my major. I was also looking to play college basketball. Towards the end of my season I received an e-mail from Coach Strickland inviting me to the campus to check it out. Upon arriving I knew UPG had everything I was looking for: A small campus, supplied my major, and I could play basketball. Along with this I will be receiving a degree from the University of Pittsburgh. All of these factors make UPG the right fit for me. I have already met some of the guys at the open gym I attended and I look forward to meeting the rest and getting the season started. See you guys in a month!

Dylan Reigel

Anthony Papini

Hope all you fellas are having a great summer. With that said I also hope everyone is working on their game as well. I'm an incoming Junior and have had a good 2 years at Pitt-Greensburg. I've gone through a lot within those 2 years and believe that I have grown to a better person. In the classroom I've realized how important your studies are and I strive to do well in the classroom to allow a good future for myself. I'm majoring in Accounting and really like the program at Pitt-Greensburg, it's very good and prepares you well.

As for basketball, I can't say i have experienced the same success in college as in high school. In high school my teams where very successful by having the first 20 win season in 20 years my Junior year and the first District 6 Title Game appearance in school history my Senior year. However thus far in college haven't had those successes. My freshmen year we made the playoffs as the last team in and my Soph. year didn't make the playoffs. I haven't been part of team that is accustomed to winning YET. Earlier I said that I've grown as person which also translates to the court. We have the pieces to be a great team in the AMCC but haven't played with the poise or togetherness to allow greatness to happen. This year we once again have the pieces to be a great team, which is why I'm gonna take personal responsibility to not make the same mistakes as prior years. I really do believe we can be a great team, we have the potential to be great with our returners and newcomers. I look forward to having the opportunity to lead us to becoming a great team. We have all the pieces, and each piece is an important as the next, its on us to put them together.

Stay Easy,

Anthony Papini

T.J. Olesky

I'm T.J. and I love to party

I am going to be a sophomore majoring in Information Systems. I graduated from Greensburg Salem High School which is about 10 minutes from the UPG campus. I live in a house off campus with a guy, his wife, and a dog. They happen to be my parents so the university has labeled me a commuter. I still get out at least five times more than Brock does and I save a ton of money so it's not a bad experience. My high school finished second in the state in AAA my Junior season and I hope that we can reach a similar milestone at the college level.

This past season was a great experience for me. I'm glad I decided to stay close to home because I've met a lot of great friends. All of the players and coaches love basketball as much as I do and are dedicated to being the best that they can be. Getting SWOLL in the gym and working on my game is making me really excited to get going this season. I hope that the plan of us having morning practices subsides but if it doesn't, I'm sure it will be good for us and help us get where we want to be.

Hope everyone has a good last month of Summer

T.J.