It’s your typical big brother-little
brother tale - and then some.
Brothers grow up in a basketball family.
Big brother goes off to college and is a star.
Big brother plays professionally. Little
brother follows in tow, with big shoes to fill.
Same school. Same expectations.
It's a story Nebraska junior forward Troy
Piatkowski is all too familiar with.
Piatkowski has had to follow in the foot
steps of his brother, Eric, who played for NU
from 1990-94, was a two-time first team
All-Big Eight Conference selection and is
the second leading scorer in Cornhusker
history. Eric Piatkow'ski now plays for the
Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA.
Troy Piatkowski said he knows he’ll
never be as good as his brother. The statis
tics say the same.
Eric Piatkowski was a part of four
NCAA Tournament teams. Troy Piatkowski
hasn’t been a part of any. Eric Piatkowski
averaged double figures in points all four
years as a Husker. Troy Piatkowski has yet
to reach that plateau, averaging a modest 7.0
points per game this season.
“It never bothered me that my brother
was a great player here,” Troy Piatkowski
said. “What bothers me is that everybody
thinks I’m supposed to play the same way as
my brother did and do the’lame things .
“Basically, I've been in his shadow ever
since I came down here to play.”
And he’s had time to get used to it.
The basketball clan
Growing up, the Piatkowskis had a
steady diet of roundball. Their father, Walt,
played professional basketball in the
American Basketball Association from
1968-72. Along with brothers Dave and
Sean. Troy and Eric Piatkowski had spirited
battles on the hard court.
"There was the usual amount of compe
tition among the brothers,” Walt Piatkowski
said. “A lot's been made out of how good of
shooters Troy and Eric were, but their dad
was still the best.”
From the brothers’ younger years
through Rapid City (S.D.) Stevens High
School, Troy Piatkowski said his family
developed a reputation around its basketball
prowess.
Most of it. Troy Piatkowski said, was
brought on by Eric Piatkowski.
“Really Eric's the one that made the
name for us,” Troy Piatkowski said.
“Everybody would always say, ‘Oh. here
comes the Piatkowskis. Do they have a bas
ketball in their hand?”’ Troy Piatkowski
said. “Every town we went to it was, ‘Here
comes the Piatkowskis, they must be
good.’”
But those times were easy compared to
the road Troy Piatkowski faced when he
arrived at Nebraska.
lhe struggle to achieve
Troy Piatkowski has a learning disabili
ty, dyslexia, which prevented him from
playing his freshman season at Nebraska
because he did not qualify academically.
“Troy’s a person that does not have an
easy time with school,” Walt Piatkowski
said. “Sometimes he’ll read a defense
wrong or have problems with a certain
offense.”
Because of his academic situation,
Piatkowski could not practice with the team
his first year at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, a^d he was forced to hone his
skills at the Campus Recreation Center.
Piatkowski said it was often he, current
NU forward Larry Florence and former NU
guard Alvin Mitchell who would make the
trek to the campus rec to play pick-up
games.
“It was pathetic,” Piatkowski said. “We
played against really average guys who
would do anything they could to beat us. It
didn’t help me much to go there, but that’s
all I could do.”
When his sophomore year began,
Piatkowski said his playing chances looked
good as NU Coach Danny Nee was pre
pared to start him at forward.
“Coach Nee said he already had me
penciled in as the starter since I was prac
ticing really well,” Piatkowski said. “I was a
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Matt Miller/DN
NU FORWARD TROY PiATKOWSKI (front) has spent much of his life following in the footsteps of his older brother, Eric, now with the Los
Angeles Clippers. Eric Piatkowski, who played at Nebraska 1990-94, is the Huskers second all-time leading scorer.
shooter like my brother, and we needed one
of those on the team.”
Then the roof caved in.
Piatkowski made just 18 of 60 shots (30
percent), including a dismal 6 of 27 (22 per
cent) from 3-point range. He averaged 7.8
minutes per game while playing in 22 of 33
contests.
“I felt like I let Coach Nee and the fans
down,” Piatkowski said. “The level of play
just overwhelmed me a little bit when I came
in.”
Though he had an 11 -point game against
Oklahoma State toward the end of the sea
son, Piatkowski would have to wait until his
junior year until he became the basketball
player he wanted to be.
Out of the shadows
The wake-up call for Piatkowski this
season came in Hawaii during the
Outriggers Rainbow Classic Dec 29. After
starting in 10 games, Piatkowski said he had
a “defensive breakdown” in a 87-62 loss to
Hawaii.
“I realized out there the kind of basket
ball I wanted to play,” Piatkowski said.
“Offensively, I’m a shooter, and I had to take
some pressure off the other guys.”
Since that game, Piatkowski has come
off the bench and scored in double figures
three times, including a career-high 18
points against Kansas Feb. 1. He had 17
points in a 69-63 loss to Kansas State with
his brother in the stands last Saturday.
Piatkowski also leads the Big 12
Conference in 3-point field goal percentage
at 48.6 percent making 18 of 37 shots.
Nee said Piatkowski is developing into a
solid offensive option for the Huskers.
“He’s making and taking more big shots
than he used to,” Nee said. “He’s looking for
his shot more, and that shows his confi
dence.”
Eric Piatkowski said Troy Piatkowski is
becoming more of a factor from outside the
arc.
“He’s starting to find his spot on the
floor and knows when to take that shot,”
Eric Piatkowski said. “Teams are starting to
know that he’s a great shooter.”
Walt Piatkowski said he’s proud of how
his son has come through the tough times at
Nebraska.
“Troy has really handled the whole situ
ation well,” Walt Piatkowski said. “It’s
incredible to see him shoulder all of the
pressure like he has.”
Possibly the most amazing thing about
Troy Piatkowski’s journey is that he was
never forced to take it. He always could have
chosen baseball.
Diamond dreams
There are two qualities Troy Piatkowski
possesses that baseball scouts love in a
pitcher: his 6-foot-5 frame and his left hand.
Piatkowski was the top pitcher on his
American Legion team in high school that
went to the American Legion World Series
and lost in the semifinals. His performance
throughout the summer of 1995 had people
wondering whether basketball was the right
sport for him.
“I had guys coming up to me at the
regional tournament in Salina (Kan.) and
telling me I’m crazy to have my son playing
basketball,” Walt Piatkowski said. “With
his size, his potential as a baseball prospect
is great.”
For his part, Piatkowski said he had a
choice when he came to Nebraska between
the two sports.
“Coach Nee sat me down and said if I
take the spikes out of the closet, I should
just keep on playing baseball,” Piatkowski
said.
“I just like basketball’s atmosphere a lot
mere. In baseball, as a pitcher, you only
pitch twice a week and then you sit and
watch the rest. I wouldn’t like it as much.”
Still, after his college career is over,
Piatkowski said he would like to pursue his
career in baseball. j
“If I don’t go overseas to play basket
ball, I’ll put time into working my arm back
up,” Piatkowski said. “Baseball is definite
ly something I’d like to try.”
Eric Piatkowski said he’ll be happy to
see his brother do whatever he wants at NU
and after.
“I didn’t expect him to be an NBA play
er or anything,” Eric Piatkowski said. “I just
want Troy to have much fim as he possibly
can here.”