With GM Steve Nash of Victoria about to unleash an NBA-laden Golden Generation Canadian team in 2016 Rio Summer Olympics qualifying, Steve Priolo got to thinking he made the right decision to switch from hoops to lacrosse.
鈥淏asketball would have been a tough national team to crack,鈥� said Priolo, the former University of Windsor Lancers basketball player turned lacrosse defensive specialist extraordinaire.
鈥淚n lacrosse, I鈥檝e done it.鈥�
The pride drips off the tongue when Priolo, who helps lead the Victoria Shamrocks (5-2) into a Western Lacrosse Association tilt tonight in Maple Ridge against the Burrards (2-5), talks about donning the Maple Leaf for the first time.
Priolo will join fellow Shamrocks Dan Dawson, Ryan Dilks and Aaron Bold on the Canadian team for the 2015 World Box Lacrosse championships in September at Syracuse and Buffalo in New York state
鈥淩epresenting your country is a dream come true,鈥� said the 26-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont.
Priolo was acquired by Victoria from the Ontario league.
He had an assist in his debut Friday night in the Shamrocks鈥� 10-9 victory over the Coquitlam Adanacs before 2,432 fans at the Q Centre.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think words will be able to describe it when I pull on the national team jersey. Representing your country is the highest honour in sports. It鈥檚 something special.鈥�
Priolo was a standout in basketball at Holy Cross Secondary and also in Junior 鈥楢鈥� lacrosse for the St. Catharines Athletics.
It was after his freshman basketball season in the CIS for Windsor when he was selected 21st overall by the Buffalo Bandits in the 2009 pro National Lacrosse League draft.
鈥淚 got drafted and lacrosse just took off from there,鈥� said Priolo, one of three finalists for the 2015 NLL defender of the year award.
At six-foot-five and 235 pounds, Priolo is well suited to both sports. But seeing his future more in lacrosse, he transferred from basketball at Windsor to play field lacrosse at Brock University, from which he graduated with a degree in recreation and leisure.
Priolo is fast and fluid for a big man. There鈥檚 not an ounce of fat on this guy.
Body control and agility are valued in basketball. So is an ability to push the ball quickly up the court.
Those are attributes Priolo has transferred well from the hardwood to the lacrosse floor.
Playing pro in the NLL in National Hockey League rinks is a high, said the six-season Buffalo Bandit.
鈥淵ou get chills when the lights go down and you run through the fog at the start of the games,鈥� said Priolo.
But the Mann Cup, the national championship for the summer season, remains just as special for Canadian lacrosse players.
鈥淭he Mann Cup is almost more important than winning the NLL pro title,鈥� Priolo said about the significance it still holds.
Priolo has hoisted neither so far in his career.
The Shamrocks have been knocking on the door, winning the WLA title only to lose the Mann Cup final to the Ontario-champion Six Nations Chiefs the past two seasons.
It seems like a marriage made in lacrosse heaven, with Priolo and the Shamrocks hoping to cross the threshold together this season.
