In a crowd of 72,000 people, Nick Nortz was in awe at what he called the best thing to ever happen to him.

The 17-year-old high school junior from Dexter, New York couldn’t sit still during the NCAA Final Four games in Indianapolis this past Saturday.

“I was just in awe of the whole atmosphere of the game,” Nortz said. “I just got caught up in the moment and didn’t even realize it.”

Nortz was able to attend the NCAA Tournament Final Four games because of the Syracuse University Sport Management Club and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and will also attend the championship game between Wisconsin and Duke on Monday night.

Nortz was asked to be a representative for the SU Sport Management Club’s auction with Make-A-Wish at the Syracuse versus St. John’s game last December. He and his family were brought down to the court for a photo during halftime when Jim Boeheim and members of the SU Sport Management Club walked out with a huge ticket to the NCAA Final Four.

“It was one thing after another that I didn’t expect. I didn’t know what to say,” Nortz said. “It was so crazy, and I’m so thankful. It was such an amazing night”

For as long as Nortz can remember, basketball has been his whole life. He recalls trying to dribble a basketball at the age of 2 and tagging along with his dad to the practices and games that he coached.

So when Make-A-Wish heard about his struggles with chronic kidney disease they reached out to him and his family. The organization came to his house to ask for his three wishes last winter, and it only made sense that Nortz wished to go watch the NCAA Final Four. But it was to Nortz’s surprise when his wish was granted on the court of the Carrier Dome.

Nortz’s love for basketball and sports made it particularly hard for him and his family once symptoms of his chronic kidney disease started to appear last spring. Nortz remembers noticing major differences in his energy levels, which made it very hard to keep up with all of the sports he was playing.

He was in and out of the hospital for about a month after his kidney transplant last May. According to Nortz’s doctors, his recovery was nothing out of the ordinary. However, as his father explained, the process was still very emotionally challenging for the whole family.

Even members of the SU Sport Management Club were hoping Nortz’s wish would be granted.

Brooke Del Guercio, the student co-chair of the auction, said she and other members of the club had been preparing for the auction since January of 2014. Del Guercio, a senior sport management major, said Make-A-Wish was a phenomenal organization to work with because of its involvement and dedication to its cause.

“The kids put a face to the cause. It really put everything into perspective and made us work that much harder,” Del Guercio said.

The experience was also amazing for Brian Nortz, his father, who has been a major role model for his son during the struggles and throughout his life. Brian Nortz, who coaches at his son’s high school, said his son caught the basketball bug when he was little and has had it ever since.

“There’s always going to be challenges, like every day and night when he takes all the medicine that he has to. We’re never going to forget what happened, but we were certainly very fortunate with the whole process,” Brian Nortz said.

Published on April 5, 2015 at 9:32 pm

Contact Liz: [email protected]