READING, Pa – Robert Rossiter was looking for a different basketball journey than the rest of his family.
The Staten Island native watched both his cousins Ryan and Steve stay on the Island and star at Monsignor Farrell. Both went on to play Division I basketball at Siena and Davidson, respectively. Robert Rossiter considered staying on the other side of the Verrazano Bridge, but wanted a different atmosphere and better competition. After a talk with his parents, who wanted him to get away, he headed to CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens and Xaverian instead.
“It’s probably one of the best decision’s I’ve ever made,” said Rossiter, a junior.
Xaverian coach Jack Alesi knows the Rossiter family well. Ryan and Steve both went upstate to the former Carnesecca-Sarachek Camp, where he was a director and their father Steve was a referee. Robert Rossiter reminds him very much like the two of them in the way he plays and carries himself. He’s fit right in with the blue-collar philosophy at the Bay Ridge school.
“We are glad that he’s the one [who came],” Alesi said. “Both of his cousins were terrific ball players and he is built from the same mold. The biggest complement I can give Rob is he is a typical Xaverian player. He’s what I want a typical Xaverian player to be.”
The 6-foot-4 Rossiter gives the Clippers, who are competing in HoopGroup Elite team camp this weekend, a versatile piece. He has the strength and smarts to play an undersized forward, the perfect complement to star guards Lamel Faison, Raven Owen and George Lambert.
Rossiter scored twice in the post in a loss to Gil St. Bernard at Albright College on Saturday in the consolation round of the National Bracket. Rossiter, who was playing the high post, can also shoot the 3 and get out in transition.
“He will think his way around the game,” said Alesi, who was their watching as his son Chris coached. “He will think his way around the court and he is a listener. … He handles what you say to him.”
It’s his IQ as much as his skill that got Rossiter moved up to the varsity as a sophomore. Alesi said he and his staff found themselves trusting him and putting him on the floor in crunch time because of his steadiness and his ability to carry out a game plan. He has seen an improvement in his shooting so far this summer and Rossiter wants to shore up his handle and defense. He talked about how much he loves going up against some of the city’s elite big men.
“I love trying to play my best against them, trying to outhustle them and outmuscle them,” he said.
It’s the opportunity he afforded himself and wanted when he picked Xaverian.
“When I was younger I thought about [staying on Staten Island], but when I got into eighth grade I just wanted to play at a high level,” Rossiter said.