April 27, 2009

Santa Clara freshman forward Marc Trasolini is a dunking machine in practice these days! Well, maybe not every single time, but in a drill recently he dunked the ball 46 times in a row. The native of Vancouver, Canada has big shoes to fill next year when he works to replace some of the points, rebounds and dunks! put up by graduating senior and WCC Player of the Year John Bryant. Trasolini broke the school record in field goal percentage this season, hitting 68% of his shots. Traz scored 6.7 ppg and grabbed 4.8 rpg.

Trasolini spoke late last week about how his Dad and younger brother Andrew surprised him recently by being techno-savvy, what he is working on in practice (watch out next year - he's a dunking machine!) and what he is looking forward to this next year ... All those answers and more follow.

SCU: So, you are from Canada. When they play the National Anthem before games, when you start for the Broncos, do you ever think they should play `O Canada' as well?

MT: Yes, but I don't blame them for not doing it because I am the only Canadian so I'm sure it's not on their mind. I miss hearing it being played a little bit. It's weird to just hear the US Anthem played every time.

SCU: Are you a hockey fan?

MT: Canucks fan. I have been watching the playoffs and following the Sharks a little bit too. I was surprised they lost two at home, but I think they can come back to win the series. I think the Canucks are definitely going to win the Stanley Cup. I really do think they are going to win.

SCU: What's your nickname? Why?

MT: I've have a few. Traz, Trazzy. My last name is long so people try to shorten it a bit.

SCU: What sports did you play growing up?

MT: Pretty much everything. Soccer, football, ice hockey, baseball, track, and of course basketball. Besides basketball, I was best at football in high school. I was a wide receiver and free safety and I also played some tight end. I scored a lot of touchdowns - they just threw me fades all day. I didn't think about playing football as much in college. I was thinking mainly basketball, but I probably could have played football in college in Canada.

SCU: What do you look forward to the most this spring?

MT: I would say having a fun quarter, improving a lot basketball-wise and improving my body. I also want to do well in school, have fun in general and enjoy the weather.

SCU: Do you miss the snow?

MT: (laughs): Not right now at all. I love the heat and I would stay in the heat all year round if I could, but a little snow here and there is nice.

SCU: What are you working on during individuals?

MT: A lot of ball handling and perimeter shooting to extend my range. I am working on a lot of guard work to extend my range. I am also working to be more explosive and to be quicker when finishing. I am working to get more explosive and quicker so we do a lot of jumping drills.

SCU: Scott Thompson said you two have a dunking competition at the end of practice, but it's more of a drill than a competition. You put down two balls on each side of the basket, pick one up, dunk it, pick up the other and dunk and so forth until you miss. Who is winning now? He said he would catch you sooner or later, has he?

MT: Yeah, I guess he is kind of close but I usually win (smiles). I think I will always win, but he has a few inches on me so he has a chance. At the start I could do 20 dunks until I missed. Now the most I have ever done is 45 or 46 dunks in a row without a miss. Scott has done 35 or 36 at the most, but he is getting better. I don't do 45 every time because it's pretty hard and it takes a lot out of you.

SCU: Fans always want to know: are you working on your free throws?

MT: Of course. I was a pretty good free throw shooter at the end of the year, but at the beginning of the year I wasn't very confident. I had to find a routine and get some confidence.

SCU: Have you thought about next year at all yet? What game are you looking most forward to?

MT: I am looking forward to playing Gonzaga at home again. I hope we can get more wins at home this year and I hope I can continue improving individually. And as a team I hope we can make it to the NCAA Tournament.

SCU: Did you watch the NCAA Tournament?

MT: Yep.

SCU: Did you pick the four teams that made the Final Four?

MT: I didn't pick the Final Flour. I picked Pitt, UCONN, UNC and Louisville, I didn't expect Michigan State to do so well and I didn't pick Pitt or Louisville to get upset either.

SCU: Who impressed you?

MT: I couldn't pick one person. As far as teams Villanova was pretty good, that was pretty crazy. Michigan State wasn't expected to be in the finals, they were strong. UNC was really solid and the best team there.

SCU: Did you learn anything watching the NCAA Tournament?

MT: I wouldn't say I learned anything, but it fueled me and got me motivated to play in the tournament next year and in the future.

SCU: You are a good student. What is your major and what are your plans after graduation?

MT: I got a 3.6 GPA last quarter or somewhere around there. It wasn't my toughest quarter. This quarter I am doing well so far. I am taking a little bit more this quarter.

I am a Business undeclared major. I hope to play professional basketball somewhere after graduation and then maybe start a business or work in the field of business.

SCU: Knowing what you have coming back on the team and what players the team has coming to Santa Clara next year, how excited are you for October 15 to get here?

MT: I can't wait. It's going to be a really fun year, especially with the new guys coming in. We have a lot of good players coming in. I have gotten to know some of them pretty well. They have come down and played open gym with us and we know it's going to be fun next year with them. They are all really good and each has their own special skills so it's going to be good to see what they can do for us next year. We are all looking forward to it.

SCU: You were on the WCC All Freshman team this past season and you set the school record for the top field goal percentage. Surprised by any of that?

MT: I guess a little bit especially to be mentioned in school history. I tried to make sure I took good shots throughout the whole year and everyone had a really good chance of going in. I was happy, but not completely.

SCU: Santa Clara has a Twitter page (@SCUBroncos). Franco Trasolini joined this week. Any idea who that is and do you know how to Tweet?

MT: Franco is my Dad (big, big smile and laughs). That's pretty funny because he's not one of those guys who spends a lot of time on the internet chatting with other people. But he is a dedicated Bronco supporter. I laughed really hard when I saw that he was on Twitter today. I think it's funny because I don't even know that site, how to Tweet or have an account there. I might just check it out to see what all this hype is about (his brother Andrew joined during the weekend and Trasolini was just as surprised!).

Go Broncos.