BOSTON — Fans of the Tewksbury High Boys basketball team will no doubt remember Giovanni Ciampa fondly. After all, the 2018 TMHS graduate had a terrific career for the Redmen, serving as a two-year captain and a three-year starter, twice selected to the All-MVC team and earning team MVP honors at the of his senior season.
But for those who played with and coached Ciampa, it’s not his 741 career points or the 16.8 points per game he averaged as a senior that will stand out the most. Rather, it will be his propensity to make the big play when his teammates needed it, as well as the leadership he provided to his team. And more than anything, they’ll remember the amount of work he put in to become the best player he could be, and one of the best in all of MVC.
Some things, of course, never change. Ciampa, now in the middle of his senior season as captain at Emmanuel College, has maintained his reputation as the hardest-working player on his team, and a player his Saints teammates know to be depended on in the hardest times. great times.
It’s a well-earned and well-deserved reputation for Ciampa, according to coach Emmanuel Littell White, who has seen his playmaker grow from a promising first-year rookie into the kind of leader every coach wants to have in their team.
“Gio is a fantastic teammate and a fantastic leader. The other kids want to emulate him,” White said. “He’s the enforcer for our team. He’s firm with his teammates, but he never asks anyone to do anything he isn’t already doing himself. He’s the hardest working kid in the program and has been since he arrived on campus.
Back in his high school days, Tewksbury High coach Tom Bradley knew the kind of leader he had in his star guard. Speaking about Ciampa after a clutch performance in the Tony Romano Christmas Tournament, where he hit several clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the Redmen’s decisive tournament win over Beverly, Bradley sounded a lot like White in his eulogy of Ciampa.
“Since the end of the season last year, Gio has probably fired 200 rounds a day,” Bradley said at the time. “He lives in the gymnasium. He cares about the program and he wants to be the leader of the team, and that’s what you have to do in that role is step up at the end of the game and make free throws like that. These were huge.
Ciampa himself is also very proud of his efforts. His commitment to the team and his craft has never been more evident than last season, when Emmanuel, like many other teams, did not compete due to COVID-19. But having no season was no excuse to stay away from the gym, at least not for Ciampa.
“I went to school every day last year. Just because we weren’t playing didn’t mean I didn’t have to work to improve,” Ciampa said. to be the first there and the last to leave. Doing a job like that will pay off.
How committed was Ciampa to the team last season? He was so committed that he was chosen as the team’s MVP, despite the fact that there was no actual season.
“Gio deserved it. He was the guy who worked the hardest when he didn’t need to,” White said. “He was the MVP because he was the guy who was the role model for other guys. He wanted to be ready for when there was a season, and this year we saw the result of that. It’s really paying off for him now.
Ciampa also used last season to appreciate how much he enjoyed being with his teammates, even if it was only in training. Ciampa credits White for making the best of a tough situation.
“Coach White tried to amuse us,” Ciampa said. “We played a lot of games against each other and we just enjoyed being together. We tried not to focus on not having games, but just focusing on each other and being together as a team.
That ethos has continued this season, where more than ever, Saints are committed to making the most of every day, whether in training or in a game.
“Last year was definitely tough, so this year has been great to be able to get back on the pitch with the team. We try not to take him for granted because we know he can be taken out at any time” Ciampa said, “We recently had a canceled tournament, which was kind of a big wake-up call that you never know when it might all be scrapped, just like that.”
The philosophy of taking nothing for granted certainly seems to be working for the Saints, who enjoyed an 8-3 start to the season after claiming an 87-77 victory over St. Joseph’s on Saturday afternoon. Ciampa has undoubtedly played a huge role in the Saints’ success this season, starting all 11 games and averaging 4.8 points per game. But even more important than that was the leadership he provided to the team, along with fellow captain Zach Crisafulli
“Zach is a great player and he’s a little more vocal with the guys. He’s a great captain,” Ciampa said. “I try to let my work ethic speak for itself. I try to stay consistent in my efforts, especially now. You don’t know if you’re going to have to run out of time or anything like that, so I always try to motivate the team to keep working, even if they have to run out of time.
The 8-3 record should probably come as no surprise given the Saints’ success in recent years, where they won 19 straight seasons in Ciampa’s freshman and second year before last season was called off.
This was not always the case, however. Prior to Ciampa’s arrival on campus, which coincided with the arrival of former head coach Danny Lawson, as well as the arrival of White as assistant coach, the Saints had struggled to enter the victory column. The year before they arrived, Emmanuel had struggled to a 3-19 season, and the year before they had won just eight games. The turnaround was a source of great pride for Ciampa, who cited the team’s success as his greatest memory of his four-year career.
“I remember coming into first year with a new coach, and we won 19 games that year and we did the same in second year,” Ciampa said. “We played an important role in overturning the program which had not gained much in recent years. It was really nice to be part of it. I was very proud to be part of it. »
White, who took over as head coach during last season’s COVID campaign, fully agrees with Ciampa.
“He should be proud of that,” White said. “It was among the most successful second and third seasons in Emmanuel’s history,” White said. “They won three games the year before he came here. But he came into the lineup in his first year with the program and immediately made a difference and has been a big part of our success ever since.
Ciampa played in all 25 games for the Saints this freshman season, starting nine of them, averaging 3.8 points per game, including a 20-point effort in a win over Nova West. England. He was even better in his second season when he started all 26 games and averaged six points per game, while posting 15 games with three or more assists on the year, ending the season with 89 assists. to place seventh overall in the GNAC.
“It was definitely a difficult transition at the start. I don’t think my stats indicate how difficult it was for me. But I worked on it. It was just constantly in the gym trying to improve. and trying to beat the upper classes,” Ciampa said. “Now I see the younger guys doing the same with me, trying to beat me. We’re teammates, but we’re all trying to improve and get on the It’s just a constant cycle, and that’s what college is, just trying to get into the field.
Ciampa credits Saints coaches, first Lawson and then White, with much of his success. Lawson left Emmanuel after Ciampa’s second year to take up an assistant coaching position at Division 1 UMBC in Maryland, but he left a lasting impression on Ciampa. Ciampa also couldn’t have been happier when White was chosen as Lawson’s successor.
“My freshman year, Coach Lawson was pretty hard on me, but that was because he expected a lot of me. When he left for UMBC last year, my teammates and I really pushed to that Coach White gets the job,” Ciampa said. “Coach Lawson had built a great foundation, but we’re building the house now.
“Coach White has proven to be very worthy of the head coaching position. He’s been a huge help to me, not just with basketball, but with everything, helping me with interviews and things like that. I know he will be a friend for life and I am so grateful to him for everything he has done for me.
Perhaps the only people who supported Ciampa more during his career than his coaches were his family.
“They were unreal. My parents, especially my father, didn’t miss a game,” Ciampa said. “Even the coaches noticed it. In some games the crowd is quite small, but my dad is always there. The rest of my family and my girlfriend’s family were great too. I was very lucky to have such support.
As his basketball career draws to a close, Ciampa, a criminology/criminal justice student, who hopes to pursue a career in law enforcement, took a moment to reflect on his time at Emmanuel and how important he will miss being a saint.
“I will definitely miss it, and I will miss being with the team,” Ciampa said. “It has been a big part of my life. This game made me the man I am today, and that’s the most important thing that really comes out of it.
