JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WSVN) — It was magical moment for a high school student who got to play the game he loves for the first time. He has a heart condition that keeps him off the court, but his dreams finally came true.
Robert Piccirillo always wanted to be a high school basketball player, and for one very special night last week, he was.
He was born with a heart condition and needed five surgeries throughout his life. Playing varsity sports wasn’t an option.
But Piccirillo found another way to be involved.
For the last four years, Piccirillo served as the team manager for a high school in Jacksonville. Last week, the team’s coach, Sean Sweeney, made Piccirillo’s dream come true; he was suiting up with the Broncos on senior night.
“You know, that day I got emails from teachers saying how happy they were that he was going to play in that game, and it was just a special night, something I’ll never forget,” Sweeney said.
“Since I was a little kid, I always wanted to be a basketball player and play for a team,” Piccirillo said. “But because of my heart, I can’t. So, I just tried to find ways to be able to participate and do what I love, which is participating in basketball and just playing.”
Sweeney said he would have been thrilled if Piccirillo made one shot, and he did.
Then he made another and another.
When the Broncos put the ball in Piccirillo’s hands with the clock running out, he nailed the buzzer beater to cap a 12-point-game.
Broncos fans rushed the court to celebrate their team manager turned three-point-ace.
There were plenty of tears to go around and memories to last a lifetime.
“It felt completely different than sitting on the bench,” Piccirillo said. “I wish i had more time, I wish I had more games. I’m not going to lie, it felt amazing. I wish I could just play more.”
“I kind of told the guys afterwards, I was like, ‘It doesn’t always work this way,’ this was a fairy tale storybook ending for him and the nice guy doesn’t always finish first, and I felt like that happened Friday night, the nice guy finished first,” Sweeney said.
The coach said the night was difficult to describe with words.
While the game was never in question, they won 66 to 32. It was an emotional evening, Sweeney said, would stick with him forever.
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