Amica nears return to health
Injuries have kept him sidelined since February of 2021
Will Amica is coming into his third year of college but has played just nine minutes for the University at Albany men’s basketball team.
Injuries have kept him on the sideline since February 2021, when he had six points and three personal fouls against Umass Lowell.
But after surgeries on each hip last season, Amica can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. He’s been cleared for full-court activities and 5-on-0 drills, though not full contact, and has a few more weeks of recovery to go.
“I can’t even put it in words. Playing basketball to me is my whole life. So not being able to play these past two years, it’s just been a little setback. But I’m super excited for this upcoming year,” Amica said.
“The message to Will and his family,” is “Just run your race. There’s no rush,” coach Dwayne Killings said.
But Amica has been itching to get back on the court.
“When I couldn’t stand, when I was on crutches, I was shooting in a chair,” he said. “I want to play fully. I want to do everything, but I can’t. I have to make sure that my body is in the right position to be able to do that.”
Changes on the court
Killings also spoke about making some changes to the way the Great Danes play. “I thought we had to manufacture offense through certain people last year. I think we can do it more by committee this year,” he said. “We’ve added a couple kids through the portal that allow us to be a little bit more versatile, a little bit more explosive in transition. We’ve upgraded some of our shooting.”
Location, location, location
Planned renovations to SEFCU Arena and Ualbany’s Physical Education building mean it’s possible the Great Danes will need to play games off-campus next season. “We’re working on it every day trying to make something really that fits for both the community and our team. We don’t want to have to be in buses and get people way out of their way, but I think it will be an exciting opportunity for our program to get into some spaces maybe that we haven’t been in to grow our families,” Killings said.
He said more would be announced when the schedule is released in a few weeks.