Ian Nicholas, Reporter
@IanNicholas25
New Canaan Boys basketball has risen to heights they have not reached in decades over the last three seasons. 5th-Year Head Coach Danny Melzer has guided the team to a 36-15 record since the start of the 2018-19 campaign, and their first state championship win since 1962. But successful coaches often need their star players, such as former Rams Matt Brand, Alex Gibbens, and Ryan McAleer.
Two of the three senior captains on this year’s squad have seen plenty of court time the past two seasons. Leo Magnus is a lengthy, athletic 6’5 forward who’s heading to Colorado College to continue his basketball career next year. Christian Sweeney is a 3-sport athlete who has been a regular rotation player on the hardwood since his sophomore year. But who exactly is point guard Will Bozzella both as a player and a person?
“It’s unfortunate to watch the injuries that he’s had to go through because I think he could’ve had one of the best high school careers that you could see in New Canaan,” assistant coach Michael Tiscia said. “And to watch him go through those [injuries]were heartbreaking. I look forward to seeing him as a senior.”
This is high praise for a student-athlete who before this February hadn’t played in a varsity game since March 19, 2019; the Rams state title win over Granby. But the praise has been well-earned for a player Coach Melzer describes as “the ultimate team guy.” The story of Will Bozzella’s high school career is one filled with injuries and personal struggles, but with one constant: his perseverance. He has endured two major knee injuries, one that wiped out the entirety of his junior campaign, but has finally worked his way back onto the floor.
Even Will’s 4th grade teammates felt that he was bound for high school stardom. “You could always tell he had great instincts, and a knack for being a great point guard,” Leo said. “He knows how to involve his teammates and get guys open shots. You could see it when he was 9 years old. It translated to the high school level.”
Will impressed Coach Melzer and his staff early on, and they felt that they had something special on their hands. “He never was the most athletic kid on the floor, never the quickest or fastest or highest jumper. He still isn’t,” Coach Melzer said. “But, he still figures out a way to get to where he needs to go every time. That’s a credit to how intelligent he is and how instinctual he is.”
Heading into their 20-5 state championship season, Will, then a sophomore, was set to play a large role for the Rams leading the second unit. “He did a lot of things that summer and fall that showed me that he was ready. He wasn’t scared, he wasn’t afraid, he didn’t defer to everyone else,” Coach Melzer said. “When you play young kids, it’s not just about whether they are physically ready. Are they mentally ready? I knew he would be.”
The team and coaches trusted Will, and by mid-season, he was contributing to the Rams’ success. “Prior to his injury, he had a huge game against Greenwich. He had 14 points, knocking down some big 3’s in a pretty big game for us,” Coach Tiscia said.
Shortly after, New Canaan traveled to play Danbury, where Will would experience his first major injury. “It was the Danbury game, and we were in a 1-3-1 defense late in the fourth quarter. I was playing pretty well. There was this kid, [Jah Joyner], and he was their best player last year. He faced up, he passed out, and then they shot a 3. I knew I had to box him out, and he was huge,” Will said.
Former Danbury Hatter Jah Joyner is a 6’5, 250-pound giant. He is currently a Division 1 football player at the University of Minnesota. Many considered him one of the most gifted FCIAC athletes of the time of the Danbury-New Canaan game. Will, a 6’2 sophomore at the time, took him on.
Will described his attempt to box-out the now Division 1 football player. “In the moment, I thought ‘Oh my god. Let me try my best here.’ I jumped for the ball and I actually got the rebound, but then I landed and my knee gave way. I couldn’t really stand, knowing then that something wasn’t right.”
The official diagnosis was a partially-torn medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) in Will’s right knee. The majority of his teammates assumed his season was over right then and there, but he had other plans. “Since it was partially torn, my doctor said no to surgery, and instead try to get as much rest, ice, and physical therapy as I could,” Will said.
With this plan, Will made progress. “My doctor did think that pushing it back for the season was a stretch, but I made really good progress in my [physical therapy]and the knee itself was strong, as strong or stronger than my other knee. My doctor then said if I played with a brace, I could get back in there.”
Will got back to playing, brace and all, his first game being in the first round of the 2019 state tournament. “First game back was against Griswold, and Coach Melzer was looking down the bench after someone screwed up a play,” Will said. Melzer’s eyes locked in on Will, and the hobbled sophomore was shocked he was actually returning to action for minutes.
“Melzer told me [before the game]that he wanted to put me in, but I took it with a grain of salt thinking he wouldn’t put me in for ‘actual’ minutes,” Will said. The brace was difficult to deal with according to him. “He puts me in, and I’m walking to the [scorer’s] table with this catastrophe on my leg (referring to his brace), giant and scary looking. It was restrictive, and I couldn’t really move side to side that well, but [I wore] whatever I had to wear to get back on the court, I didn’t really care.”
His steady, pass-first play off the bench helped guide the Rams to the promised land, even if it was premature to send him back on the court. “To be honest with you, he gutted it out his sophomore year,” Coach Tiscia said. “You could see he was still in pain, still limping around, even in games. But he was not going to let that stop him from getting out there and being on that championship run that we had. And to be able to see him at Mohegan Sun, get into that game in the state championship, it was great to see.”
Will’s gritty return from injury in 2019 also helped to show Coach Melzer more of Will the person, and not just the player. While he was still sidelined during New Canaan’s 52-49 win over Stamford that January, Melzer saw what kind of teammate he was. “If you remember the McAleer [game-winning] shot, if you watch everyone celebrating, you see one kid hobbling on one leg, running onto the floor, and it’s him. He can’t even move, but he’s just so excited for the team, that you see him hobbling around a big moshpit of people. That’s just him in a nutshell. He’s excited for others when they succeed.”
