Some might suggest that the Isiah and Manny Pasquale are simply following in their father’s basketball footsteps. Well, not quite.
As many Sudburians are aware, Eli Pasquale can likely lay claim to being the single best basketball player this city has ever produced. He starred at the University of Victoria following a sensational career as a Lockerby Viking, leading U. Vic to five consecutive CIAU championships.
Eli was drafted in the fifth round of the NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, but achieved his greatest success with the Canadian Olympic team, leading the squad to a fourth place finish in 1984 in Los Angeles.
Naturally, the irony was not lost on some when Isiah and Manny, both born in Victoria, opted to pursue their post-secondary careers at Laurentian University a few years back.
While the father followed a natural progression upward in the sport, the boys were more the meandering types.
“Honestly, after high school finished, I wasn’t even going to keep on playing basketball,” Isaih said recently at practice, having just celebrated his 24th birthday.
The elder of the two boys, Isiah noted a strong connection to sport throughout his youth, involved with soccer, distance running and, not surprisingly, basketball — though not through any parental pressure.
“There was never a push to feel like we had to be ‘Eli Pasquale’s kids’ in basketball,” he said. “We always knew how good our dad was, but he never felt that way as a father raising us.
“Mind you, he never let us beat him in basketball,” Isaih added with a chuckle.
“I only ever knew him as my dad as a kid, not as a basketball player,” Manny said. “He never pressured us to play basketball. The only thing he ever pressured us to do was to be productive.”
Still, with a father heavily involved in running basketball camps in British Columbia, there would certainly be tips garnered along the way.
“The only advice that has stayed with me through the years is to stay low on offence,” Isiah said.
“I think it’s because it’s very specific to me, because I have a tendency to stand up and straighten my legs.”
Like so many offspring, the boys seemed to capture the contrasting strengths and personalities of their parents —an academically-inclined mother and an athletically-gifted father.
“I played more basketball than (Isiah), because he was more of an academic growing up,” Manny said. “I was more rambunctious, wanting to be running all the time. He would be reading and stuff.”
The bulk of their youth was spent on the west coast, though the family moved to Sudbury as their mother, Karen, pursued a degree in midwifery from Laurentian. Add in a trek back to the nickel capital, either for Christmas or some other holiday, every second year, and it’s clear there was an awareness of dad’s northern Ontario roots.
Back in the summer of 2008, the boys were in town for their father’s induction into the Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame. It led to their first interaction with Voyageurs head coach Shawn Swords.
“We hit it off right away,” Isiah said. “I really liked his demeanour, his approach as a coach — he is so personable.”
Despite the connection, a move east hardly appeared imminent, as both Isiah and Manny followed various basketball-related paths in their home province.
But a year later, the brothers were part of a basketball resurgence at Laurentian, one in which the team has grown increasingly competitive over the past few years.
While the first half of the 2011-2012 campaign has hit some bumps along the way, it’s clear there is promise with this year’s team.
“Everyone came in buying into what we want to do this year,” Isiah said. “We’ve been hindered and hampered with injuries, so our record right now really doesn’t indicate just how good of a team we can be.”
Beyond this year, it’s anybody’s guess for what comes next for the siblings. Isiah, who is in his last year of the English program, is looking at simply taking a year off to decide whether academics or basketball becomes the immediate calling.
As for Manny, well, he’s in his third year in the Computer Science program, but beyond that is a mystery.
“I actually have no idea. I really just play it year by year.”
In the end, both young men realize that their love of basketball has far more to do with the camaraderie of their teammates and enjoyment of the game than following in dad’s footsteps.
Posted by Jenny Jelen
