Antonelli’s Name To Be Lifted Into Ring of Honor

No one knew the name of the end-of-the-bench player or staffer who was called for a technical foul on NC State’s women’s basketball team.

Was she a little-used reserve? Was she the equipment manager? Was she a freshman from Cary who had no business saying anything, much less questioning an official’s call during a heated moment in a game against North Carolina?

Legendary coach Kay Yow didn’t know either. When official Tommy Salerno walked to the scorer’s table, he only identified a player wearing a warm-up jersey, with no number visible.

Sheepishly, Debbie Mulligan (now Antonelli) raised her hand and revealed her jersey number (No. 12) when Salerno pointed in her direction.

It was late in the game, and such a mistake by a bench player could have been costly. Fortunately for Antonelli, the Tar Heel player on the line missed the two free throws, and UNC missed a shot on the following possession. So the technical foul had no bearing on the 97-82 Wolfpack victory.

Days later, before the team’s next practice, Antonelli stopped by Yow’s office to apologize and to accept whatever punishment the Hall of Fame coach might dole out. She expected it to be a difficult conversation.

“I was just shrinking into the couch,” Antonelli says. “She was explaining to me what it means to be a member of the team, what leadership qualities mean and all the intangibles of being one of her players.

“We don’t get technical fouls.”

Then, as the coach finished expressing her disappointment, Yow added: “However, to have a freshman on the end of the bench that did not even get in the game, knowing how much you wanted to win — I’ll take that energy and that passion all the time.

“Just don’t get a technical [foul].”

For Antonelli, it was a redeeming moment, one of the many times the legendary coach’s advice and grace lifted her up. From that experience, she added the word “build” to her personal mantra: Build, Serve and Empower.

Antonelli went on to become a three-year starter for Yow, helping the Wolfpack women to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, two Sweet Sixteens and the 1985 ACC regular-season and tournament championships.

On Thursday, the no-name freshman from the end of the bench will be forever recognized when Antonelli’s name is added to the Reynolds Coliseum Ring of Honor, high in the rafters above Kay Yow Court.

“She was always so constructive with me,” Antonelli says. “I made a mistake, but she gave me another chance.” 

Much later, Antonelli got a chance to demonstrate her gratitude by working with the NC State Board of Trustees to have the basketball court in Reynolds named after her former coach in 2007.

“I’m so lucky that I had that relationship with her,” she says. 

Antonelli has used the lessons she learned in that relationship throughout her pioneering 35-year broadcasting career for men’s and women’s college basketball games. She’s used them to help with charitable initiatives, such as her “24 Hours of Nothing but Net,” in which she spends 24 consecutive hours shooting free throws in her Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, driveway to raise money for Special Olympics of South Carolina.

She has been inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Last fall, she received the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame at its annual induction ceremony.

She’s a lifetime member of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund Board of Directors and a half dozen other nonprofit boards, a decorated contributor to the Special Olympics and the co-founder of the Frankie and Friends anti-bullying campaign, named in honor of her middle son, Frankie, who was diagnosed at birth with Down Syndrome.

Frankie, in fact, is the inspiration for what Antonelli calls her most important achievement: the College of Education’s Elevate program, which launched this semester with an initial cohort of seven students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, thanks to a structure created by the College of Education and $3 million in annual funding from the North Carolina General Assembly.

Frankie graduated from a similar program called ClemsonLIFE several years ago, and Antonelli has worked tirelessly to kick off a program like it at NC State. Like the mission of 321 Coffee, which opened a shop on Centennial Campus last fall, Elevate will help a previously underserved population at the university.

“I think it’s by far the greatest use of my platform ever, and I say that knowing I had a role in Kay’s name going on the court at Reynolds Coliseum,” Antonelli says. “To see those seven students get their start in a program … and what it will mean to their families and to those young people to get a chance to experience NC State as a student.

“Now, every person who has a child with some intellectual disability or learning disability has hope. I’m just so proud of NC State for fulfilling its land-grant mission, to serve the entire population of the state.”

It feels like a career-capping achievement for the extremely active broadcaster who is still inspired by the Wolfpack women’s coach who lifted her up more than four decades ago.