2/19/2020 football Edit

Debbie Antonelli is shooting for a cause

Tim Peeler

The Wolfpacker contributor

For the first time in 32 years as a broadcaster, former NC State women’s basketball standout Debbie Antonelli asked out of calling a college basketball game.

The hardworking men’s and women’s basketball analyst was scheduled to work the Mississippi State-Texas A&M men’s game on ESPN Saturday, but it conflicted with something she has looked forward to – and was terrified of – from the moment her second son was born some 22 years ago.

Antonelli’s inspiring story of raising Frankie, her middle son who was diagnosed with Down syndrome at birth, has been well-told through the years, especially in a lengthy 2016 profile in the Washington Post by Sally Jenkins.

With husband Frank, oldest son Joey and youngest son Patrick, the Antonellis have been role models in maintaining a structured family atmosphere while working around everyone’s tricky schedules and family needs.

Debbie Antonelli (right) and her son Frankie are active in the Special Olympics. (Debbie Antonelli)

This weekend, however, is about fun. Antonelli is using some of the $85,000 she raised last May in her “24 Hours of Nothing But Net” free-throw shooting marathon to take all members of the ClemsonLIFE program to participate in a Special Olympics basketball tournament in Atlanta.

“The idea of sending Frankie on a field trip scared the crap out of me when he was younger,” says Antonelli, a Cary native who was recently elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. “I’m sure other parents in our situation felt the same way. But this is a field trip I am looking forward to.”

More than 60 people – players, students, parents, teachers and volunteers – are going to the tournament, hoping to see Clemson’s team win three games to win the title. That adds up to two busloads of folks heading to the games and to an NBA contest between the Atlanta Hawks and the Dallas Mavericks.

Antonelli’s eyes will be on No. 35, the starting point guard wearing “DJ Frankie Smooth” on the back of his jersey.

That’s Frankie, who also spins tunes when he’s not on the court or palling around with best friend Dabo Swinney, Clemson’s football coach. Frankie’s an accomplished Special Olympics athlete, winning multiple gold medals in multiple sports during his career.

Two years ago, he was accepted into ClemsonLIFE, an education program for students with intellectual disabilities looking for a postsecondary experience on a college campus

“There is about a 19 percent acceptance rate,” Antonelli says. “It’s like getting into Harvard for our family.”

It is a fully residential, two-year program for qualified students at Clemson. And this weekend is an added benefit.

“We have such a great collection of parents and students,” Antonelli says. “This is just another opportunity for them all to get the full college experience.”

Antonelli used her basketball skills in a unique fundraiser for Special Olympics. Last May, she spent 24 consecutive hours making 100 free throws per hour. She called the event, held at a newly opened Mount Pleasant community gym, “24 Hours of Nothing But Net” (#24HoursNBN). At one point, she made 75 consecutive free throws.

She needed 2,553 shots to make her 2,400 free throws – an amazing 94 percent that would be better than Division I career leader Presley Hudson of Central Michigan, who made 92.4 percent in her four-year career. She managed just 15 minutes of sleep and very little rest on the air mattress and tent she set up just off the court.

“I had it at 95 percent at one time, but it kind of got away from me between 3, 4 and 5 a.m.,” Antonelli says.

Getting small checks, some big bills, on-line donations and matching funds, Antonelli exceeded her goal of $75,000 to raise awareness for the Special Olympics by more than $10,000.

This year, she plans to do it again on May 22, this time with the hopes of exceeding $100,000. To learn more, or perhaps to make a donation to Antonelli’s effort, visit www.24HoursNBN.com.

Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu.