Podcast: Nate Petrone joins the Triple Threat Podcast at the Community Podcast Initiative Studio to talk about his basketball career, athletic intersectionality and much more with MJ Jorge, Noah Wilson and Zafir Nagji.
From humble beginnings with the Mount Royal Cougars, Nate Petrone emerged as one of the most dynamic players in Canadian Collegiate basketball history, leading to a successful professional career that has now taken him overseas.
Petrone, a Calgary Native, began his basketball career in 2019-20 at Mount Royal University, the only team to recruit him out of high school.
Despite a promising start to his career, averaging 11 points per game in his sophomore year, Petrone found himself disconnected from the team’s aspirations.
“I did enjoy my time at MRU, but it reached the point where it wasn’t exactly how I envisioned university basketball to be,” Petrone said in an interview with the Calgary Journal.
“ I wanted a bit more push, and one thing I just didn’t like was that early on in my first couple years, we would set team goals to try to be 7-13 and barely make the playoffs.”
Frustrated with what he perceived as a lack of ambition, Petrone and fellow rookies began to question the team’s mindset.
“A couple of us rookies came in and were like, ‘ Why are we shooting for a 7-13 season?’ If we’re suiting up for the season, we should be going into it wanting to win it all,” he said.
Petrone is a clear-cut competitor, and what MRU’s philosophy was at the time was not enough. He yearned for more success.
“I understand that you have to be realistic and not delusional, but if you are already thinking that it’s going to be a losing year, then why even bother?” Petrone wondered.
Determined to pursue a more ambitious path, Petrone ultimately stayed local and made the bold decision to join cross-town rival, the Calgary Dinos.
“It wasn’t like I came in and said this is the place that’s gonna solve all my problems,” Petrone said.
“I feel every basketball program has its problems, and you are never going to be fully satisfied where you go, but going to UofC was one of the best decisions I could have made.”
By his fourth and final year as a college athlete, Petrone was a bona fide superstar. Petrone dominated Canada West, putting together one of the most impressive seasons in Calgary Dinos history, capping it off with the USPORTS National Player of the Year award.
“It was honestly unreal. Coming out of high school, I was a big believer in myself and wanted to prove a lot of people wrong,” Petrone said.
He then continued, “I never thought I would be able to accomplish something like that in my career, but as soon as I won it, I reflected on the journey that got me there. The hard work, the sacrifice, it was a cool one to win.”
Throughout his college career, Petrone gained so many invaluable lessons. The biggest one for him, however, is how critical team culture is to success.
“The thing I learned most this past season with Calgary was how important culture is. You can’t win meaningful basketball games without having that bond together. That’s what brought the success to us, being able to work together and love each other as a team,” said Petrone.
This past July, Petrone took the next step in his basketball journey when he signed his first pro contract overseas with the Artland Dragons in Germany’s Pro A League for the 2025-26 season.
The Dragons are currently 7-4 in the league, with Petrone averaging 9.6 points per game as a guard.
For Petrone, he has left a legendary legacy in Canadian USPORTS basketball, overcoming many obstacles, to discover himself and become the player he is today. Petrone is a player who took a risk to chase a higher standard and, in the end, became the standard of what it means to be a dominant university athlete that many will look up to for years to come.
