Former Villanova star Ryan Arcidiacono gives back during COVID-19 shutdown
He's one of our local heroes, but instead of shining on the court in Chicago, former Villanova University basketball star Ryan Arcidiacono is stuck in his apartment waiting to finish off his third NBA season.
"There's only so much you can do. I haven't touched a basketball since the day everything stopped. They closed the practice facility, gyms, took rims down in Chicago. You can only do so much," Ryan told Action News.
How do you keep busy without being able to play basketball? Talk basketball.
Arcidiacono has been FaceTiming with kids from East Coast Power, a Montgomery County AAU club, to help give them pointers on the game, and lessons in life.
"I think there were over 100 people on the FaceTime call," he said. "I wanted the kids to know the journey it took to get to where I am. You gotta work super hard, be positive, start at an early age," he said.
Edward Patruno is a 6th grader at Colonial Middle school, who even named his dog Archie, after Ryan. He says hearing from one of his favorite players was a huge pick me up during this quarantine downtime.
"His advice to us was to work harder than everyone else, have a positive attitude and be the best teammates we can be," said Patruno.
And for Arch, it's a chance to connect with who he was-- just a kid from Bucks County who loved basketball and turned it into his dream career.
"I'm living out a dream so many kids are unable to, but I hope that doesn't deter kids to try and achieve their dreams like I did. If a kid from Langhorne, Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Neshaminy High School can make it to Villanova and the NBA why can't any other kid?" said Arcidiacono.
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