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Viva Italia
Thursday, January 29, 2009
By: Tim Warren, Princeton Alumni Weekly
Mason Rocca left Princeton in 2000 with a degree in electrical engineering
and a profound sense of what might have been in his basketball career. Injuries,
some of them serious, limited him all four years, and the moments on the court
that he could savor were counter- balanced by stints rehabilitating a knee or
nights spent watching the Tigers from the bench in street clothes.
Eight years later, Rocca still has to contend with injuries — being an
undersized center (6 feet, 8 inches) with a hard-nosed approach to the game
will do that. But he has flourished as a professional player in Italy, becoming
one of the most respected post players on the continent. He also has enjoyed
the personal journey, reclaiming his Italian heritage by immersing himself in
the country’s language and culture. He’s even bought some land near
Jesi, where he began playing in 2001, and cultivates 70 to 80 olive trees that
produce “a very good olive oil,” he says with a note of pride.
“I really had no idea things would work out this way in Italy,”
Rocca said after a November practice with his current team, Armani Jeans Milano.
“Being over here has allowed me to finally show what I could do on the
court, against some of the top players and teams in Europe, and also to learn
about and appreciate my background. I feel extremely fortunate.”
Rocca’s success has surprised even his biggest fans. “[H]e’s a very single-minded guy,” says Bill Carmody, who coached Rocca for all four seasons at Princeton before moving to North-western. “He had it tough in college because of all the injuries, but his stick-to-it-iveness is amazing.”
To read Tim Warren's piece in its entirety, courtesy of Princeton Alumni Weekly, please click here.
