PURCHASE, N.Y. – Former Manhattanville men's basketball standout Angelo Laroche '10 will be taking his game to the next level this season, as the Brooklyn native has signed on with the Staten Island Vipers of the American Basketball Association, it was announced recently.
Laroche is the second Valiant men's basketball player to sign with a professional team in recent program history, following the footsteps of Donte Chisolm '08, who also signed with the ABA's Jersey Express before the 2008-09 season.
A 2010 graduate of Manhattanville, Laroche was named to the All-Freedom Conference second team as a senior, when he finished second on the team with a career-best 13.6 points per game. As a four-year letterwinner on the basketball court, Laroche averaged 8.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 97 career games, while also shooting 47.3 percent from the field.
After graduating from Manhattanville in 2010, Laroche remained active in the game, first playing against local companies as part of the MasterCard basketball team and soon moving on to more competitive local events with RPSA Basketball and the West 4th Street Basketball League. It was then that the competitive fires pushed him to get back into the game full time.
“After having a couple games that I played really well in, I considered actually doing something basketball-related, realizing I still got some juice left after my four years playing for Pat Scanlon,” Laroche said. “After playing all over the city during the summer, I told myself I would try to go pro.”
After a great game in the West 4th League during the summer, Laroche was handed a flyer to try out for Staten Island's first professional basketball team, the Vipers. After consulting Chisolm about the quality of play and the probability of making the team, Laroche battled more than 100 players from all over the area for a spot on the team. Even with a severely sprained ankle, the former Valiant still didn't give up.
“The road was not easy, as tryouts lasted for about one month and then training camp,” Laroche said. “Unfortunately, I sprained my ankle during training camp and I knew it was bad. But after rehabbing constantly throughout the day I had to return a couple days later to complete training camp, and I played at 50 or 60 percent with one goal in mind: to be a pro. Luckily, the heart and hard work paid off – I can proudly say I am now a member of the Staten Island Vipers.”
Laroche will be playing under head coach Wesley Matthews, who played nine years in the NBA and won a pair of NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987 and 1988. With the Vipers, he will play alongside players of varied backgrounds both geographically and athletically.
“My teammates come from many different competitive areas of basketball,” said Laroche. “A couple notable standouts are Utah's Lawrence Borha and Missouri's Zaire Taylor, both of whom come from Division I programs and have played overseas for Germany and Holland. Some other teammates have played for other ABA teams and all have diverse collegiate experience playing for Division I, II, and III.”
After overcoming injuries during the preseason just to make the team, Laroche looks to make his mark on the Staten Island squad. The Vipers are scheduled to begin the 2011-12 season this weekend, beginning on Saturday when the team travels to New Jersey to take on the Jersey Express at 7 p.m.
For more information on Laroche and the Vipers, go to http://www.sivipers.com.