For a short while, at least, Joe Mazzulla was back in Rhode Island recently. He took advantage of this limited time to visit his old school, Bishop Hendricken High School. He was able to reconnect with many of the faculty, staff and administrators, all of whom wanted to know what Joe was going to do now that he has graduated from West Virginia University. He especially wanted to check in with his high school coach, Jamal Gomes, who played a great role in Joe's basketball success. Just last year Joe flew in from West Virginia to present Coach Gomes with a special award for winning his 200th Bishop Hendricken basketball game at the school's annual Sports Awards Night. They have a very special player-coach bond.

Joe had a memorable five years at West Virginia. He experienced many highs and lows. On the basketball court he had successes that even he may never have dreamed of. There was an N.I.T. Championship, a Big East Championship, and the greatest dream of a college basketball player, a trip to the Final Four. He also had to sit out a year after a serious shoulder operation almost ended his basketball career.

He used his five-year collegiate experience to his advantage, however. Not only did Joe graduate with a Bachelor's Degree, but the extra year allowed him to also obtain his Master's.

Now that his collegiate basketball career is over everyone at Bishop Hendricken wanted to know what was next.

Joe has two opportunities to continue with what he loves, basketball. The first came out of nowhere. He received a letter from the head coach at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The coach there had heard Joe being interviewed on the radio after a West Virginia-Clemson basketball game. He remarked to himself that Joe was totally into the concept of coaching. That impression coupled with the work ethic Joe displayed on the court, in playing defense and in his unselfish distribution of the ball, caused the coach to want to talk to Joe. He offered Joe an assistant coaching position and the ability to earn his doctorate at the university.

While this offer was very flattering and difficult to turn down, Joe still wanted to keep playing. His hope is that after his playing career is over there will be other similar coaching opportunities available.

So now Joe will temporarily relocate to Cincinnati. There he has an agent who will try to keep Joe playing the sport he loves. The immediate goal seems to be playing international basketball, with Europe the preference. Playing international basketball is not a new experience with the Mazzulla family. Joe's dad, Dan, spent a few years playing basketball in Chile after graduating from Bryant College.

In order to gain an advantage over other American players, Joe and his agent are looking into the possibility of Joe gaining dual citizenship. With the Mazzulla family background, there is a distinct possibility that Joe could become an Italian citizen while keeping his American citizenship also. The advantage of the Italian citizenship is that all the European teams have limits on how many "foreign" players they can have on their roster. If Joe was to become an Italian citizen he would not have to count towards that quota for any Italian league team. This would make him a really attractive acquisition for any Italian team.

No one knows what the future will hold for Joe, but be assured that if he works as hard as he did on the basketball court or in the classroom, his future will be bright.