In the November 14th season opener against Northeastern, one of the 8,232 people in attendance at Gampel Pavilion was Nicholas LaTorraca, a 14-year-old Cheshire High freshman.

He was supposed to sit a couple rows behind the UConn bench but wheelchair bound because of cancer, he opted to sit behind one of the baskets with his father and a family friend. I heard of Nicholas' appearance at the game and through our mutual friend, a wonderful woman named Ann, I started the process of trying to tell his story.

When I interviewed Nicholas and his parents last month, I wondered when he would be able to walk again. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would occur less than two weeks after the story appeared in the Register.

But that is exactly what happened as he took his first steps in months. The play by play of the occasion was provided in an online journal his mother uses to update family, friends and well wishers of Nicholas' progress.

I know that usually when UConn fans think of high school freshmen, they probably focus on the recruiting efforts of the next Maya Moore or Tina Charles by UConn's coaching staff but I would suggest those people obsessed with such matters take a few minutes to browse through some of these journal entries. It will provide a sense of what is truly important.