Michael Mastro's son, Luca, brings him luck against Donte Howell

Recently, there have been a couple examples of athletes starting to perform better after having a child. Fred VanVleet started playing much better in the NBA playoffs after having a son, where he saw his scoring average increase by 10.7 points on his way to an NBA title. Donald Cerrone went on a three-fight win streak after the birth of his son.

At the UH level, Michael Mastro found some luck when he brought his son, Luca, to Garden City last night when Jeurys Familia took on Donte Howell and X-Men. Mastro’s teams had lost the last six meetings against teams led by Howell in the Garden City Draft League, but Jeurys Familia was able to end that run with a 78-74 overtime win last night.

Mastro, with his son Luca, getting interviewed by Leo

“It’s the first time he’s come to a game. I was kind of nervous cause we were playing Donte, Donte’s had our number the last couple of times we’ve played him, but my little guy gave us just enough to win in overtime,” Mastro said in a post-game interview with Garden City Co-League Coordinator Anthony Leo. He was holding Luca during the whole interview, resembling Steph and Riley Curry.

Luca was in attendance to see his dad put up a stat line of 17 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on 8-12 shooting from the field. He also saw the first win for Mastro against Howell in Garden City since October 16, 2018.

Before the interview was over, Leo asked Mastro about the possibility of getting inducted into the UH Hall of Fame.

“Hopefully this little guy gives me a little bit more luck, Mastro said. “You know how much I love Ultimate Hoops. It would be a great honor for me to represent Syosset, Garden City, all of Long Island and New York City.”

Luca came through again, as Mastro was inducted into the Hall of Fame this afternoon.