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26 CAVALIER CORNER F rom serving as a co-captain of the 1974-75 Virginia men's basketball team to building a successful career in real estate, Andrew Boninti has made his mark on the Charlottesville community. Boninti spent his earliest years living with a foster family in the Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing project in Amer- ica, located in the Long Island City neigh- borhood of Queens, N.Y. He admits that it was rough growing up in Queens. However, Boninti found solace in basketball and quickly made a name for himself within the local pick-up basketball community. "The basketball gave me the street cred to allow myself and my mother to walk around and have a good life," he said. By high school, Boninti was one of the highest recruited basketball players in the state of New York. As he began to look at colleges, Boninti looked to his brother-in- law, who attended Princeton, for guidance as he navigated deciding where to enroll. His brother-in-law strongly pushed Boninti, who would be a first-generation student, to consider an out-of-state school with strong academics. In addition to his guidance, Boninti considers former Virginia standout Barry Parkhill to be a significant influence in his decision to consider the University of Virginia. "The true legend is Barry," Boninti noted. By the spring semester of his senior year of high school, Boninti was still undecided on where he wanted to play. Although Boninti had verbally committed to Rutgers, he still had coaches from across the coun- try doing all they could to win him over. Terry Holland, who was the head coach of Davidson at the time, even made a surprise appearance at Boninti's high school to per- suade him. However, his brother-in-law still pushed for him to consider UVA. The morning af- ter a conversation with his brother-in-law, Boninti changed his mind and officially committed to coming to Charlottesville. "Coach [Bill] Gibson and his assistants got in a plane, they flew up here, I stayed home from school, they arrived at my house at 10 a.m. and we signed," Boninti said. "The rest was history." Boninti arrived on Grounds as a first-year on the basketball team in 1971. Not only was he a student-athlete learning the ropes of college, but also during his first year he was drafted into the Army. Unlike previous years when college students could receive a military deferment, this was no longer the case and became a great challenge for him. He learned from the dean of degree programs that if he joined the University's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, he could remain in school, but this added to his workload — academics, athletics and, now, Army ROTC. "It was a very difficult first semester," he shared. Boninti remained in the ROTC for two years to complete his service. Following his second year, he married his high school sweetheart, Frances, to whom he has been married for 49 years. CONTINUED SUCCESS: MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER ANDREW BONINTI Boninti, a 6-foot-2 guard, ser ved as co-captain of the 1974-75 men's basketball team, which was the first squad coached by the legendary Terry Holland at Virginia. (Photo courtesy UVA)