While awaiting news from the new US ownership, which hopefully will arrive as soon as possible, the first excellent farewell to Estra is already to be recorded. Carl Wheatle leaves Pistoia after five seasons and settles in Venice with a multi-year contract: only the official press release is missing, but the deal is done. The greetings via social media from my teammates bear witness to this, as is confirmed by all those involved in the sector. Wheatle arrived in Pistoia in 2019 together with Michele Carrea and the director Marco Sambugaro from Biella and has become in recent years not only one of the fans’ favorites but an important and fundamental pillar, together with the captain Gianluca Della Rosa, Lorenzo Saccaggi and Angelo Del Of course, of that hard core that was the basis of the team’s successes. A fundamental player from both a technical and tactical point of view, Wheatle has also proven to be versatile, being able to play all roles on the pitch. Carl immediately fell into the way of life in Pistoia and above all into the way of understanding basketball that is popular in these parts, that is, a basketball made of passion, of the desire to fight and never give up, of a sense of belonging. Wheatle was great not only on the pitch but also off it, a unique, cheerful boy, never a word out of place or over the top and his very English manner won everyone over.
In his five seasons with the red and white, Wheatle made a total of 184 appearances, placing him in fourth place ever behind Fiorello Toppo, Gianluca Della Rosa, and Lorenzo Saccaggi. Fourth place also in terms of points scored with 1767. This year Wheatle ended the year with almost 8 points and 5 rebounds on average. It goes without saying that Wheatle’s farewell to the red and white shirt is a serious loss for the team, for the group and for the square because when you are lucky enough to find players and men of this type they should not be allowed to escape. A farewell, that of Wheatle, which arrived practically a few days after game three of the play offs and this raises some doubts. It is true that keeping him was a real feat already in the last two years, but it remains to be understood whether it was only the economic aspect and the ambition to compete in a higher level team that pushed Wheatle to make such a decision. What is certain is that we are faced with a decision taken quickly (with the championship still underway, moreover) and evidently arrived without even a major attempt at mediation between the club and the player. Wheatle is therefore the first to leave Pistoia but the feeling is that the list is destined to grow. At the moment there are three players under contract, Della Rosa, Saccaggi and Del Chiaro, as well as the coach Nicola Brienza and the sporting director Marco Sambugaro: but even in the case of a written agreement, there are few certainties.
Maurizio Innocenti
