Three North Platte Community College Knights basketball players signed national letters of intent to play basketball at the next level on Wednesday. Marco Pascolo will continue his playing career with the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Hardrockers. Riley Rice and CJ Polk will both play for the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota – Crookston.
Pascolo, who came to North Platte from Udine, Italy started 53 of the 65 total games including all 33 games this past season.
In his North Platte career, Pascolo averaged 11.0 points per game, 5.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. Pascolo made 104 out of 236 three-point shot attempts for a 44.1 percentage. This past season, Pascolo was elected to the All Nebraska Community College Athletics Conference first team.
The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Hardrockers, located in Rapid City, S.D., were 9 – 17 this past season. The Hardrockers are a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II college and a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Pascolo said “The school is a perfect fit for me. Academics played a big part in my decision. I had several schools that were interested in me. I chose the School of Mines because of the reputation in engineering program nationwide. That is something very important to me”.
Pascolo said that playing for NPCC and Coach O’Connor helped prepare him to play in the NCAA coming from overseas
Pascolo is a straight-A student and plans to major in engineering. Pascolo was recently inducted into the Alpha Beta Theta chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, a junior college honor society.
CJ Polk is moving on to play at the University of Minnesota – Crookston.
Polk came to North Platte from Milwaukee, Wis. This past season for the Knights, Polk played in all 33 games averaging 9.1 points a game. Polk started 14 games., averaged 2.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.9 steals a game.
Polk said “I always wanted to play NCAA basketball, Division I or II, it doesn’t matter as long as I can keep playing basketball. Coach Dan (Weisse) is pretty nice. The business department is pretty nice, which is what I am going to school for.“
Crookston plan on using Polk as a point guard, having him handle the ball all the time and hit key last second shots.
Joining Polk at Crookston is teammate Riley Rice. Rice, a Mullen native, played sparingly his freshman year, but developed over his sophomore season and started 14 games. He averaged 3.6 points per game, 3.9 rebounds per game and 1.2 assists per game in his sophomore year. Rice, although he played primarily under the basket, could step out and hit a three-pointer.
Rice plans on studying sports and recreation management at Crookston.
Rice said “They took me there for a visit, the school and coach were nice. The school was amazing. I fell in love right away with the place.”
Rice said that he enjoyed the experience at NPCC. “I wouldn’t be going where I’m going if it wasn’t for here. North Platte was a huge stepping stone to the next level”.
University of Minnesota-Crookston is a NJCAA Division II school. They are a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Crookston was 7 – 20 this past season.
Knights Head Coach Kevin O’Connor said “We are extremely happy for all three of these guys to be able to pursue their athletic and academic goals at the four-year level. One of the main priorities for our program has been trying to help guys prepare and get an opportunity to go to the four-year level when they are done here. Marco, Riley and CJ, all were very instrumental in our team success this past year winning 24 games.”
The two seasons that Pascolo and Rice were members of the Knights, the Knights went 51 – 14, making the Region IX semifinals both seasons.
O’Connor said “Not only were they tremendous players on the court, they were super individuals in the classroom and off the court. We will miss them, but wish them the best of luck. I think a couple of programs are getting some quality people.”