Stevenson senior guard Rocco Pagliocca has yearned to play college basketball for as long as he can remember.
Making an impact on the Patriots’ varsity team as a freshman and receiving his first scholarship offer as a sophomore were telltale signs that Pagliocca would be able to fulfill that dream.
But that was before health issues — thoracic outlet syndrome and dysautonomia — interrupted Pagliocca’s past two seasons and forced him to miss the majority of the past two summer evaluation periods as well.
“I was not in the best place to finish out this season,” he said. “I was just pushing through. So this spring, there was a lot of focus on my health. I went through a lot of physical therapy, and I was put on some medicine. The chronic migraines were the last piece.
“It’s finally feeling like I’m at the end of it, which is pretty cool to say.”
Pagliocca, whose father, Jeff, is the general manager of the Chicago Sky, can also say he will play college basketball after committing to Illinois Chicago recently. He announced his decision on Thursday.
“It definitely feels a little surreal, waiting my entire life for this,” he said. “To think that I’m not going to be playing high school basketball next year and that I’ve got my college plans in place is pretty weird. But it’s pretty happy stuff.”
Even though the 6-foot-2 Pagliocca didn’t feel close to 100% during his senior season, he showcased his skills enough to remain on college coaches’ radars. He scored 41 points against Waukegan on Jan. 30, and UIC coach Rob Ehsan was in attendance 11 days later when Pagliocca scored 27 points against Zion-Benton.
“He can obviously really shoot and does so with incredible range,” Stevenson coach Will Benson said. “He’s got really good footwork and can make plays at the rim too. He’d slither through the lane and make a tough shot, and we’d look at each other asking how he made it.
“And to think that he was able to do what he did after missing so much practice. When the ball goes up, he’s locked in.”
That last statement is noteworthy because Benson estimates there were as many as a dozen occasions during the season when pregame discussions focused on whether Pagliocca would be able to play.
People in the stands wouldn’t have known. Pagliocca averaged 17.5 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals for the Patriots (21-11) and was named a Class 4A all-state special mention by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.
“This is what I’ve been wanting to do my whole life, and there was a point where I was wondering how I was going to make it happen,” he said. “In the back of my head, I knew it was going to be a lot harder and that I’d have to put in more effort to be able to do what I do best. But I wasn’t going to let anything stand in my way.”
That doesn’t mean Pagliocca, a three-time team captain who became the sixth Stevenson player to score 1,200 career points and helped win four regional titles, was free from doubt. He was one of the last players on his travel team to commit.
“I felt like everyone else one by one was figuring out what they were going to do,” he said. “There were times where I’d be sitting back wondering what would happen to me.”
Pagliocca had been talking with UIC since the winter, took in a few practices and visited the campus last month, leaving him convinced it was the right place. He’s particularly excited about joining a team on the upswing. Under Ehsan, the Flames have won a combined 36 games over the past two seasons and advanced to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game in March. They also added former Lake Forest star Asa Thomas recently.
That’s not all that appealed to Pagliocca.
“I noticed right away how happy everyone was to be around each other,” he said. “They were very welcoming to me, and they competed against each other super hard. I really appreciate the culture that’s being built.”
Starting over can be daunting, but Pagliocca’s difficult road has prepared him, according to his father.
“He’s proven time and time again that he can handle more being thrown his way than the average kid,” Jeff Pagliocca said. “I’ve yet to see him not be able to answer the bell. We’re very proud of his accomplishments and glad someone at that level took a chance on him.”
Perhaps it’s not surprising that Rocco Pagliocca intends to major in psychology.
“Everyone’s journey is different, and mine was definitely a special one,” he said. “These experiences have made me who I am, and I fully embrace that.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
