James Garavaglia (#33), Ryan Gilbert (#5) and Drew Krantz (#23) took lessons learned from time spent on a championship contending team and brought them to the U.S, military
(Courtesy of NT Basketball Alumni)
*** As seen in Twin Cities Sun, July 17, 2020 edition ***
By Joe Kraus
Executing on a championship caliber team requires persevering through adversity and teamwork. That’s all enhanced when you join the largest national team possible – the United States military.
That was the case for North Tonawanda’s James Garavaglia, Ryan Gilbert and Drew Krantz. After leading the Lumberjacks to a share of the Niagara Frontier League title and a runner-up finish in the 2015 Section VI Class A-1 finals, the trio exchanged their jerseys and gym shorts for military uniforms four years ago and carried some life advice with them.
“Just got to roll with the punches,” said Gilbert, who served four years as a radio operator with the Marines in North Carolina and then California until last December. “Whatever’s thrown, you just gotta take it like a grain of salt and just keep pushing forward. Whatever hurdles are in the way, just overcome them.”
Coming from families with NT ties, all three learned the value of hard work through sports.
Gilbert and Garavaglia, who are cousins, fell in love with basketball at an early age and started their careers locally in the North Tonawanda Youth Center program. Krantz picked up the sport around middle school after getting hooked on football first through NTAA and watching former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith. When the three were joined by their future varsity teammates as seventh graders in the winter of 2010, the on-court magic started.
“I think the Rec league, for being a rec league, was extremely competitive, especially the kids,” said Krantz, who finished four years as a fuels operator (POL) with the Air Forces overseas in March. “I feel like I got some of my competitive spirit from the Rec league, definitely. We practiced for a little bit but once it came to the games, it was pretty heated.”
After starring on Pat Kennedy’s junior varsity team as sophomores in the 2012-13 season, the three became varsity reserves their junior campaign before contributing in their own ways in their senior season.
Gilbert, inspired by Michael Jordan and Russell Westbrook, was the Jacks’ starting point guard. Krantz was the quiet, lead-by-example senior off the bench and Garavaglia was the three-point shooting sixth man who defended his teammates when the games got out of hand.
“When things got hectic or heated, I was never scared to have my teammates backs,” said Garavaglia, who is stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia but is currently on a 10-month European rotation. “We were very close and I wouldn’t let anyone try to bully or intimidate anybody on that team. I feel like you should always be able to rely on your teammates to have your back in tense situations.”
With an “on to the next one” team mantra, Gilbert said the way they practiced led to their on-court success.
“It was a grind but it was fun going through the whole thing,” said Gilbert, who had a memorable buzzer-beating three-shot in a home win versus Kenmore West. “We got better throughout the season. I wish we would’ve made it a little further but it is what it is. It’s still a good run.”
“We may not have been the most athletic or strongest team in the league but we stuck to our fundamentals and coach (Ryan) Mountain’s game-plan and its proven success,” added Garavaglia.
Hearing of their post-high school success was no surprise to their former coach Mountain.
“It takes a lot of guts to say, ‘I’m going to (forego) four years of my young adulthood to serving our country’ and not knowing where you’ll go, not knowing how far away from home you’ll be, not knowing if you will be in combat,” said Mountain. “We could say all we want about being soldiers on a basketball court. That is special in its own way… But it doesn’t hold a candle to what soldiers experience, especially those unfortunate enough to have to be involved in combat.”
Today, Gilbert and the others said NT’s past success have bred more postseason success, including another Class A-1 title this past March.
“It seems like we’re almost a lock in at Buffalo State as of right now and that’s a lot of credit to Mountain,” said Gilbert. “He’s a great coach. He’s really turned this town into a basketball town. That’s our sport, for sure.”
While Gilbert and Krantz are now getting into their studies in Electrical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering, respectively, at the University at Buffalo, Garavaglia is still on the other side of the globe.
In what was supposed to be only a three-month stay as part of a multi-national training event, Garavaglia remains in Poland until at least early 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. With plans of clearing from the Army and resuming school once he returns home, Garavaglia said Mountain’s lessons stand out five years later throughout this experience.
“We used to laugh at the saying, ‘Cry in the dojo, laugh on the battlefield’ but it actually makes a lot of sense because you train hard and suffer with just your team behind the scenes – and it’s all worth it when you go out and accomplish a higher goal and you know you did because of dedication and hard work,” he said.
All three joined the armed forces for differing reasons. Gilbert’s step-dad also served in the Marines. Garavaglia was inspired by an uncle who joined the army in the 2000s. And Krantz, although he didn’t have military ties in his family, had relatives who were police chiefs, fire chiefs and police detectives.
But they all agreed joining the service was the best decision they ever made.
“If you are ever confused or not sure what you want to do with your life, the military can offer you a good career and opportunities,” Garavaglia said. “It will also provide you with being a part of something bigger than yourself and experiences you would never get anywhere else.”
Joe Kraus is a Canisius College 2020 graduate and Journalism major whose work has appeared in the Twin Cities Sun and other local publications in Western New York. If you have any comments or an idea for a future story, please send to joekrausnt@gmail.com
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