Sellitto summons
a higher court

Hawaii Pacific basketball coach
relies on faith to combat cancer

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

Some prayer shots find their mark. Tony Sellitto's did.

A month and five days after undergoing prostate cancer surgery, the Hawaii Pacific University athletic director and men's basketball coach is busy in his downtown office

This season holds so much promise. The Sea Warriors are ranked No. 1 by Street & Smith magazine, No. 3 in the NAIA coaches poll. Senior forwards Robert Parker and J.J. Lucas are preseason All-America picks. And senior guard Llewellyn Smalley is tabbed as the NAIA Player of the Year.

Sellitto, 60, has a lot to live for. And he thanks God for every day.

"It was very, very scary," said Sellitto, who is beginning his 10th year with HPU. "I feel very fortunate that -- so far -- I'm OK. I can coach again this year.

"It's a sensitive thing to talk about. If I had never wanted anyone to know, I wouldn't have told anybody. But I think it's important for a person who is real to the people (in Hawaii) rather than professional people like Arnold Palmer and Jim Colbert to say this, 'I have a message to any man who is over 40: 'Get a PSA.' "

A Prostate Sensitive Antigen test is a screening method for detecting prostate cancer. Sellitto, who was recuperating from a stroke suffered last June, had PSA tests every three months.

"On Sept. 10, I went in for a biopsy," Sellitto said. "That afternoon, my doctor called back and said, 'You've got cancer. Come down here now.'

"I was fortunate that I was in pretty good shape after my stroke, had lost about 20 pounds. My stroke doctor said to go ahead with the operation. I was glad that they discovered the cancer early and that we reacted immediately. I didn't want to have cancer any longer than I had to."

The experience has changed Sellitto. He rests more. Not because he's tired, but because he doesn't want to get tired.

Physically, he's lost another 39 pounds. And there's a scar that begins its long downward run at his navel.

The emotional scars run deeper.

"It's embarrassing, the catheter and everything," he said. "You want so much to be in that percentage of guys who aren't going to have to wear diapers the rest of their lives or even six months. You want to be in the percentage that fully recovers.

"Having cancer was scarier by a ton than my stroke. But with a stroke, you can lose weight, take your medicine, check your heart and you'll be fine. You even become a little confident as time goes on. With cancer, you're never confident."

Has it affected his coaching style? He said he'll try to let his assistants do more of the coaching -- and yelling. And if someone makes a schedule change: "Now I say, who cares" Sellitto said. "Whatever they want to do, I'm just happy to be at the game site, to be walking around. When the whole team came down to the hospital, I told them I hoped to be back on the floor with them. I feel lucky to be around."

The cancer is gone, but now come the follow-up tests. The strong support he's had from his family, friends and the school administration has helped.

Job-wise, there are no worries. The winningest coach in HPU history (210-84) signed a five-year extension in August, which will allow him to retire at 65, if he chooses.

The basketball team has a new five-year agreement with the Blaisdell Arena for its home games, which includes a new basketball floor decorated with the Sea Warriors' logos.

As it moves to NCAA Division II next season, the athletic department recently received an 'A' from the national raters for its Title IX/gender equity success.

"I think a big part of the recovery process is mental," Sellitto said. "You have to be positive and I think I'm a very positive person. I've got to feel good that the school and President Chatt Wright thinks enough of me to give me a five-year contract. It means someone thinks you're doing your job well and I appreciate that. It means they have a lot of faith in me."

And Sellitto had faith he would recover.

"If you have faith, it's extremely easy," he said. "I think someone who doesn't have faith has a hard time. I'm sure prayers work. I've prayed every day since I was I don't know how old. But now you're not doing it as a casual thing. It's a serious talk now.

"Before the stroke, I hadn't had anything happen to me in years. I felt almost indestructible. But now . . . I'm sure my mom has been lighting candles. And I stop at the cathedral as often as I can."