Q&A With Ryan Pettinella

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Ryan Pettinella is a 6-9 senior forward/center from Webster, N.Y., who is in his second year in the Virginia basketball program. Pettinella played his first two years of college basketball at Penn. Last season he played in 23 games for the Cavaliers, starting seven, and missed nine games because of a knee injury. Pettinella averaged 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds a game while shooting 70 percent (28-40) from the field. His value to the team isn’t measured in statistics alone. He brings energy every time he steps on the floor and refers to himself as a “hustle guy.” Through Virginia’s first 18 games this season, Pettinella started eight games and played in 15. He averaged 2.5 points and 2.8 rebounds a game. Pettinella missed three games with a shin injury.

Question: You took a rather circuitous route to arrive at the University of Virginia. How did it come about?

Pettinella: “It was definitely a long journey before ending up at Virginia. I played at Penn for two years and decided to leave for various reasons. I left Penn after my sophomore year and ended up committing to the University of Cincinnati to play for Bob Huggins. I was there that summer working out and Bob Huggins left. I ended up taking the year off at home in Rochester, N.Y., going to a community college and taking a couple of classes. I opened up the recruiting process again and talked to Coach Lanier and Coach Leitao at Virginia. I came for a visit and fell in love with the University. I felt like I hit it off with Coach Leitao and decided to commit to Virginia.”

Question: Are you familiar with Tom Sheehey, a former Virginia player (1984-87) from Rochester, N.Y?

Pettinella: “I am familiar with Tom Sheehey. He played at my high school, McQuaid Jesuit. I think he was living in Hilton Head for a while where my family vacations and we ran into him a couple of times. So I’d see him every once in a while, but I haven’t talked to him since I’ve been at Virginia.”

Question: How do you see your role on this year’s team?

Pettinella: “I think my role has definitely increased this year. Coach has asked me to step in and do a little bit more than last year. I really try to bring a lot of energy off the bench every time I get in there, run the floor, rebound, bring some defensive intensity and do whatever I can to help us win the game.”

Question: You are obviously a very energetic and aggressive player. Have you always played that way?

Pettinella: “That has always been my M.O. I’m an energy guy, a relentless player and a hustle guy. I got into that role and stuck with it ever since high school.”

Question: You’ve been hampered by injuries the last couple of years. How frustrating is that when you’re into the season and you get injured?

Pettinella: “Having an injury is extremely frustrating. You put in all that work in the off-season and you’re working hard every day in practice. You’re getting a game rhythm and really getting into the rotation and helping the team, and then an injury comes along and takes that all away. It really puts things into perspective and makes you appreciate the times you’re healthy. I think I’ve come back from both injuries. Last year I had arthroscopic surgery on a knee and was out for six weeks. I worked back this year and got my stride back and then I had the shin injury. It is frustrating, but I just try to work through it and know I’ll be back.”

Question: What do you consider the strength of your game?

Pettinella: “I think it’s the intangibles I bring to the game. It’s running the floor, playing intense defense, rebounding and a lot of stuff you don’t see on the stat sheet. I think I’m kind of a blue-collar guy down low. You might call me a hustle guy or a banger down low in the post. I think that’s my biggest asset.”

Question: You’ve been playing significant minutes recently. That’s got to feel pretty good after coming back from the injury and working your way back into the rotation.

Pettinella: “Coach has given me an opportunity and I’m very grateful for it. I’m just trying to take advantage of it every day and really work hard. That actually inspires me to work even harder and motivates me in that way. It is fun to be a big part of the team and I’m just going to try and continue to play hard.”

Question: I have to ask you about your free throw shooting. You’re constantly working at your free throw shooting, but you’ve struggled at the line. Has that always been the case with your free throw shooting?

Pettinella: “I was a four-year varsity player in high school and finished about 70 percent shooting from the line. My first year at Penn I was a little over 60 percent and then I went down to a little over 40 percent. It even dropped lower than that last year. It’s gone down hill since I went to Penn. I don’t know if that’s because I changed my form or anything. I’m really working in practice to improve and I’m working on my form with Coach Courtney. I think I’m getting better. I’m shooting 50 percent in ACC play (through Virginia’s first five ACC games) so that’s encouraging.”

Question: This has been a difficult stretch for the team with some tough losses recently. The schedule doesn’t get any easier. What are your thoughts on the recent past, the road games coming up this week and the challenge of the ACC schedule?

Pettinella: “We knew coming into the ACC schedule there would be no easy games. Anyone could beat anybody else on a given night. You can see that in our games because we’ve had a lot of nail biters. We could easily be 4-1 in the conference instead of 1-4, but you can’t really look at it that way. We have to accept where we are and really work to get back in the race game by game. We have a couple of tough ones coming up against Maryland and Virginia Tech on the road. We’ve got a lot of work to do and it gets done best in practice. For Sean, Adrian, Tunji and me it’s our senior year and we’d like to go out on a positive note. We’re working every day in practice to accomplish that.”

Question: What are your thoughts as your senior season begins to wind down and you look ahead to the rest of the season?

Pettinella: “It’s kind of scary seeing the finish line this spring as I graduate and I’m done with my college basketball days. I value every day I get in the gym, I value my teammates and I love being around the coaches and the guys on the team. I’m trying to soak everything up this year and play as hard as I can every day because I’ll never get the day back in college basketball again.”

Question: What do you hope to be doing next year?

Pettinella: “If I have the opportunity I’d love to continue playing basketball whether it be in Europe or here in the United States. Any where I’d land I’d love to continue playing.”