Patient Ortale secures his spot
Patience can be a difficult demand for anyone. For a high school athlete, it can be the ultimate ask.
Michael Ortale had a Division I scholarship basketball offer from Siena College and strong interest from other schools, and then he did not.
Ortale, at the time in the first month of his junior season at Bethlehem, suffered a severe right ankle injury and his recruitment virtually dried up in an instant.
The hard work and the conviction he truly was a Division I player never wavered in Ortale, so he was forced to play the waiting game. That patience paid off.
Sunday, Ortale decided to accept an offer from Iona coach Tim Cluess to play his Division I basketball in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.