After a trying year, Stevenson senior guard Rocco Pagliocca thinks he has finally turned the corner.

Pagliocca, whose father, Jeff, is the general manager of the Chicago Sky, was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in November 2024 and was sidelined for 20 days after surgery.

But that was only the beginning. Over the summer, there were times when Pagliocca’s heart rate reached 165 beats per minute while he was just sitting up in bed. In August, he was diagnosed with dysautonomia, a disorder of the nervous system that disrupts body processes.

“They were not my best few months,” Pagliocca said. “There were many times in my mind when I was scared that I would never feel like myself again — not even just basketball-wise, but things like going to school and going through normal activities. It’s pretty cool to look back and know that I’m in a much better place.”

Pagliocca returned for Stevenson’s season opener last week and scored 21 points in the win. One day later, he put up 24 points and eight rebounds in another win. For those two games alone, he was named to the Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic’s all-tournament team.

“That was pretty special to me and a lot of people I’m close to,” he said. “Being able to step onto a basketball court, it’s what I love.”

Pagliocca had a productive junior season after his surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals as the Patriots won a share of the North Suburban Conference title, and he was named to the all-conference team.

But Pagliocca knew something still wasn’t right. He said he experienced brain fog, severe fatigue and vision impairment, in addition to a heightened heart rate.

“There were times last season where I couldn’t even get out of bed,” he said. “I kept telling myself that I was OK, and I had to convince myself that I wasn’t making things up and I wasn’t crazy.”

Pagliocca didn’t compete on the AAU circuit in the spring but decided to play for the Patriots in June. There were flashes of him at his best, like when he scored 38 points in a game. But it became commonplace for him to go to the bench.

As symptoms worsened, Pagliocca made multiple trips to emergency rooms, and it became clear that he couldn’t play in July, an important scouting period.

“I couldn’t do it anymore,” he said. “Besides the physical symptoms, it was a big struggle mentally.”

Those close to Pagliocca knew he needed to recalibrate.

“Rocco’s best weapon may be his toughness, but it got to a point where it wasn’t intelligent to keep playing,” Jeff Pagliocca said. “It wasn’t about him coming back and playing basketball but living a regular life as an 18-year-old.”

Stevenson’s Rocco Pagliocca, center, runs with teammates during a practice on campus in Lincolnshire on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Talia Sprague / News-Sun)

After visits with numerous doctors, Rocco Pagliocca was diagnosed with dysautonomia, for which there is neither a cure nor a universally recognized treatment. He went to physical therapy twice a day and had strict limits on physical exertion.

That regimen became Pagliocca’s new daily grind. It didn’t include attending school. He missed more than two months of classes.

“I know he missed basketball dearly and being around his teammates,” Stevenson coach Will Benson said. “On a personal level, though, it didn’t seem like it was a fun way to live.”

In late October, Pagliocca reinserted himself back into normal activities. Better coping with his symptoms, he felt good enough to go to classes.

“There were really small steps, but it was definitely progress,” he said. “There were still no guarantees since I had been told this would be with me the rest of my life.”

As Pagliocca began to feel better, he thought about basketball, even though he had been told by doctors on multiple occasions that the odds of him playing at any point this season were slim to none. But he received medical clearance, and his family felt comfortable that he wouldn’t be in harm’s way if he played.

Pagliocca shrugged off the fact that he hadn’t touched a basketball since June.

“This has given me a totally different level of motivation,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to destroy anyone I play against.”

Stevenson’s Rocco Pagliocca shoots a free throw during a North Suburban Conference game against Warren in Gurnee on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (Mark Ukena / News-Sun)

Pagliocca made that clear in the first two games of the season. But he landed on someone’s ankle after making a 3-pointer late in the second game, prompting yet another ER visit for X-rays, which were negative.

Pagliocca missed the Patriots’ third game, a loss to Palatine, but is ready for their North Suburban Conference opener against Lake Zurich on Friday. He’s looking forward to a special senior season, during which he could become the eighth player in program history to score 1,000 career points.

“I would need both of my ankles removed at this point to keep me from playing,” he said.

Even more important, Pagliocca is equipped with valuable life lessons.

“Even at my lowest, I knew in the back of my mind that it was temporary,” he said. “At some point, I knew I would come out of this even a better player than I was and a more complete person.”

Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/05/basketball-stevenson-rocco-pagliocca-dysautonomia/