From St Mary’s to Mount St Mary’s; Giannattasio Commits

Representing St Mary’s ‘for life’, just got a little easier for Amira Giannattasio (5’7”, G, St Mary’s, 2014).

On August 29, 2013, the Hamilton, ON native that attends St Mary’s high school in her hometown, committed to attend Mount St. Mary’s of NCAA’s Northeast Conference.

“It’s such a relief “, said Giannattasio about the pressure that started to build about making her big decision. “I just want to focus on my senior year and worry about school basketball for now, and just school in general. I can just enjoy the last year without having to worry about anything.”

The decision she made to attend the Emmitsburgh, Maryland institution was pretty much solidified on her June visit to the institution, as a culmination of the relationship she had formed with the Mountaineers’ staff was able to make with her. And with the attention they continued to show her throughout the July viewing period, it she knew it would be the right choice for her.

“They’ve been recruiting me for a while,” she said. “You want to go somewhere where you’re wanted and you’re a top priority. They just showed a bunch of love.”

The facility was great. The campus was beautiful. And the girls are very family-like,” she said about the connection she felt with her new teammates. “That’s what I really liked because, I’m going really far away from home and I wanted to be somewhere that was like a family.”

“It just came down to how much we both wanted each other.”

Giannattasio plays far bigger than her size. She is quite deadly from the 3-pt arc and is always willing to sacrifice her body whether it be diving for loose balls or meeting the challenge of any contact she might face enroute to the basket. She is a competitor with a big heart and very good speed. A lot of those qualities were on display during the April viewing period earlier this year, where she shot the lights out from distance playing with her rep team, Transway, at Boo Williams this Spring.

And almost without fail, she continued to bring her solid play throughout the summer with her Canada Drive AAU team. A experience that she really relished, including a very accomplished Semi-Final at the USJN Nationals in Washington.

“I loved being apart of that team because it was just a bunch of good players coming together. Even though we only played two tournaments together, we still finished high in our division [at the USJN in Washington]. We just worked hard. It was just a bunch of kids that wanted to get better and play basketball. And, that what we did.”

With the start of school right around the corner, and the eminent start of the high school season, Giannattasio is looking to end her Senior year with a bang. Having already won the provincial high school title 3 times so far, she would like nothing better than to put a bow on a memorable career with St Mary’s. One last title, for each of her high school years wouldn’t be a bad way to remember her year’s in her Hamilton high school.

“We have an OFSAA (Ontario High School) Championship to win. We want to go four-for-four. We just want to make it a last good season because it’s our last year playing together at our high school level.”

Look for Giannattasio’s toughness, aggressiveness and 3-Point shooting to be keys to the on court success of this future Communications Major. You’ll be able to find her running the open court on fast breaks and working off screens as other ways that she’ll be able to contribute so that she can aim to continue her St Mary’s high school successes on over to the Mount.