College hasn’t worked out exactly the way Mike Cavataio planned, but then again the former St. Francis Prep standout knows nothing but hardship, both on and off the basketball court.
Cavataio’s mother, Joanne, died when he was a freshman at Christ the King, he missed most of his sophomore year with a pair of broken ankles, had to sit out his junior year because of the CHSAA’s stringent transfer policy and he’s about to play for his seventh coach in eight years.
“I’ve had to deal with a lot of adversity, but you learn from everything,” said Cavataio, who is now at the College of the Holy Cross. “You realize what really makes a difference. Not playing hurts me a lot, but in the grand scheme of life, a lot of other people have it a lot worse.”
This week, Cavataio is back at St. Francis Prep, working the school’s annual basketball camp. His return to Fresh Meadows brings back fond memories of a spectacular senior year when he averaged 25 points per game, second best in the CHSAA, and earned first team All-CHSAA honors by The Post.
“That was one of the best times of my life, playing with those guys, a bunch of my good friends,” he said. “It was so much fun. I wish we could go back and do one or two things differently and try an advance further in the [CHSAA Class AA intersectional] tournament.”
After sitting out his junior season, Cavataio exploded in his lone year of varsity ball. He reinvigorated St. Francis Prep’s basketball team, becoming an instant fan favorite and helping lead the Terriers to the CHSAA Class AA intersectional quarterfinals where St. Francis Prep lost to Christ the King.
“That was an experience I’ll remember the rest of my life,” he said. “I’ll tell my kids about all these games, the crowd here was great. It was a ton of fun.”
Cavataio signed a letter of intent to play at St. John’s University, but things didn’t work out as he planned. The Forest Hills, Queens native saw limited minutes as one of eight freshmen competing for playing time with the Red Storm. The college experience he was hoping for was lacking at the commuter school and soon he was looking for a change.
“I don’t regret any decision I made in the past. I just learn from decisions,” Cavataio said. “I wouldn’t have taken that back. It was a great experience and learned a lot there, got to play with a bunch of great players, got to play under Norm Roberts, which was a great experience as well. It just wasn’t what I wanted at St. John’s.”
Cavataio chose Holy Cross over Davidson in part because he was looking forward to playing under Ralph Willard. But Willard left after Cavataio’s first year to become an associate head coach under Rick Pitino at Louisville.
“You practice for him for a full year and I learned so much from him,” Cavataio said. “I just wanted to be out there under his system because it’s very hard to adapt to. But my game started to develop and I became a much better player under him.”
It took the 6-foot-4 swingman some time to adjust to a new system under then-coach Sean Kearney, but Cavataio blossomed late in what was a disappointing season for the Crusaders. He averaged 11.3 points per game, starting all 31 games, but he averaged 17.5 points in the squad’s final four games of the year.
“You could practice as much as you can, but when it comes to game-type situations, it’s kind of different out there,” he said. “Throughout the year I started to learn to play with my teammates better, they learned to play with me and we became more comfortable on the court.”
The preseason favorites to win the Patriot League were 9-22 last year and Kearney was out after just one season.
Another year, another coach for Cavataio.
“There’s really not too much consistency, but I guess it’s good because I’ll be able to adapt to anything Coach [Milan] Brown brings,” he said. “It’s good to have a bunch of different basketball minds coaching.”
Brown said he’s been impressed with Cavataio’s resolve.
“We preach all the time that physically and mentally tough teams win and I love the fact that he’s definitely, from what he’s had to go through, shown his mental toughness,” Brown said. “That’s why I think he’s going to be successful.”
Brown also likes Cavataio’s versatility at the wing position, his ability to post up smaller guards or take bigger players off the dribble.
“You could tell on tape that he was a much different player in February than he was in November and December,” Brown said. “If he keeps progressing, he could have a really good two years for us.”
More than anything else, though, Cavataio is just looking forward to some consistency in his final two years at Holy Cross.
“I’m ready to finally have two years of stability,” he said.
After Holy Cross, Cavataio would love to play professionally overseas “even if it’s just for one or two years,” he said. But the first order of business is helping the Crusaders rebound from a disappointing 2009-10 campaign.
“The team definitely feels like it has a chip on its shoulder,” Cavataio said. “We want to get out there and take home a Patriot League championship next year.”