Guilderland’s Platek Proving Crucial to Saints’ Success in Return to Region

A homecoming is usually a pretty special thing. Seeing old friends for the first time in forever, visiting the old stomping grounds, things of that nature.

For Andrew Platek, the Capital Region was home, and was the backdrop for the moments that put him on the map in college basketball.

Now, he's back for more, and has paid immediate dividends for Coach Carm Maciariello and the Siena Saints men's basketball program.

Andrew Platek Was a Standout at Guilderland High School

Platek spent time with Northfield Mount Hermon in high school, but is known around the area for his play with Guilderland  High School. According to his page on the North Carolina Tar Heels' website, Platek averaged 25.3 points per game as a senior in Guilderland, which turned heads at the time.

He also spent time with the Albany City Rocks program, an incredible travel basketball organization that has produced some of the best basketball players in the area. After his career in the region was done, he took his talents down south to begin his college basketball career.

Platek Began His College Basketball Career at North Carolina

Platek was a role player to begin his career in North Carolina, but quickly grew into a reliable bench shooting option for the Tar Heels as his career progressed. He started a career high nine games as a junior, and averaged a career high in points per game, at 4.1.

In total, the Guilderland native played in 119 games with North Carolina, and started 11 of them. He made 123 total field goal shots, 46 of which were behind the arc. With the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility to all athletes due to COVID-19, Platek now had a graduate year with which to play.

Much to the delight of sports fans in the Capital Region, he chose to come home.

Platek Returns to the Region For More

After a career with North Carolina that saw Platek reach the regional semifinals as a sophomore as part of three trips to the NCAA Tournament, the decision was made that he was headed back to the Capital Region to finish his collegiate career off.

The story was reported on by our own Big Board Sports, who heard in an interview with Siena Coach Carm Maciariello that Platek had "lost his love for the game", but had rediscovered it during the summer months, and began to pursue his post-graduate career at that time. This story came out on November 18th, and he made his Saints' debut a day later, on November 19th at Georgetown.

Since then, he's started three of the five games in which he's played, and is fourth on the team in points per game. All that, and it appears as though Andrew Platek is just warming up.