Wheaton guard Nick Schiavello brings the ball up the floor during the championship game of the Lee Pfund Classic against John Carroll at King Arena on Saturday, November 19, 2022.
Jimmy Naprstek | Kodiak Creative
Nick Schiavello has waited his turn at Wheaton College, and now he’s one of the players providing the thunder for the Thunder.
Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan, the junior from Columbus North scored a career-high 21 points to lead Wheaton to a 79-58 victory. Earlier this week, he was named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Student-Athlete of the Week for men’s basketball.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but it’s a nice honor to be recognized,” Schiavello said. “The individual accolades are nice, but I want the team to win. We all do. That’s what makes playing at Wheaton so great. We have a great culture.”
Schiavello scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half and finished with a career-high five 3-pointers.
“One went down early, and I started to feel good,” Schiavello said. “They were letting me open. Coach (Mike) Schauer believes in us and tells us if we’re open to knock them down, and I was able to do that.”
Wheaton guard Nick Schiavello goes up for a layup during the championship game of the Lee Pfund Classic against John Carroll at King Arena on Saturday, November 19, 2022.
Jimmy Naprstek | Kodiak Creative
After coming off the bench his first two years, Schiavello is getting his chance as a starter. He played in 10 games and scored two points in a COVID-shortened partial 2021 season. Last year, he played in all 29 games, starting seven, and averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds.
“It’s definitely been a learning experience for me going from being one of the best players on my high school team to being a bench player in college,” Schiavello said. “But I’ve had great leaders show me the way, and I’ve continually been able to get better, and hopefully, I can continue to get better the next year-and-a-half or so.”
Wheaton guard Nick Schiavello looks for an open teammate during the championship game of the Lee Pfund Classic against John Carroll at King Arena on Saturday, November 19, 2022.
Jimmy Naprstek | Kodiak Creative
This season, Schiavello has started all 10 games for the 8-2 Thunder. He ranks third on the team with 11.1 points and 4.9 rebounds and second with 2.2 steals per game.
“We’re off to a good start,” Schiavello said. “We lost a lot of guys last year, so it’s been kind of an adjustment with some transfers and stuff, but we’re getting better every day and looking forward to having a chance to make a deep postseason run this season.”
Wheaton guard Nick Schiavello goes up for a layup during the championship game of the Lee Pfund Classic against John Carroll at King Arena on Saturday, November 19, 2022.
Jimmy Naprstek | Kodiak Creative
Schiavello’s shooting numbers have been sizzling. He is hitting 61 percent from the field, including 41 percent from 3-point range.
“Similar to played in high school a little bit, I get a lot going to the rim, and that opens up the outside a little bit,” Schiavello said. “We also have a point guard (Tyson Cruickshank) who is really good at driving and kicking, so that opens up a lot of shots for us.”
The 6-foot-4, Schiavello has put on about 25 pounds since he graduated from high school and now weighs in at 195.
“You kind of learn right when you get to college you have to be in the weight room if you want to compete with guys at that level,” Schiavello said. “It was just learning from the older guys and putting my body in position to be able to compete at that level.”
Schiavello is currently back home in Columbus for Christmas. He heads back to Wheaton on Monday, and the team leaves Tuesday for the Stevens Tech Tournament, which is Thursday and Dec. 30 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Then, it’s back to CCIW play after the first of the year.
“Right now, I’m just focused on winning,” Schiavello said. “I want to do whatever I can to help the team win. It’s important to focus on what the real goal is, which is taking this time off and then coming back and finishing out the season strong.”
The Thunder went 22-7 last year, but fell to Illinois Wesleyan in the Round of 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
“It was pretty disappointing,” Schiavello said. “We had aspirtations of going a lot further last year. We’re a program that’s used to winning, and we want to go back there and go even further. We have aspirations of making a deep run this postseason.”
