Current Release: September 11th, 2007 | Vol. XXIV Iss. 10

photos courtesy tyler fantin

Memorable Senior Day for Fantin

by lindsey williams

ljwilliams@vwc.edu

Everyone who knows Virginia Wesleyan men’s basketball knows Tyler Fantin. A leading scorer in the majority of the Marlin’s outings; major contributor to the National Championship and runner up teams the last two years; member of the 1,000 point club since Jan. 26. But, what may still be unknown to those Fantin fans is news about his recent engagement.

“We’ve been dating for a little over four years,” he said. “I technically asked her out on Valentine’s Day 2004.”

Fantin’s fiancé, Vanessa Havice, is from the Virginia Beach area residing just off Baker Rd. A graduate of TCC, Havice, 23, plans to attend graduate school at Old Dominion University to get her teacher’s certification.

While Havice attends ODU, Fantin talks of playing overseas after graduation which would mean being away from her potentially for a full year.

“I actually got a letter from VCU,” said Fantin. “All the seniors did for a showcase. I’m going to go to that and see how it turns out.”

The showcase could open doors for Fantin to get offers to play overseas and he is interested in pursuing that opportunity. He does concede that there has been some discussion, and will be further discussion, with his bride-to-be in order to get her thoughts on the distance because she’s already expressed some dread about being so far away from him for so long.

“I’d like to play overseas like Brandon (Adair ‘07),” Fantin said. “I’ve talked to him every once in a while and he said he’s doing well and it’s been a good experience for him, so I’d like to try it.”

Before plans were made for an engagement and overseas competition, the two had to get introduced.

“We actually met through my step-sister,” Fantin said. “They were good friends and she had told me about her. We had met a couple times and just kind of hit it off.”

That connection turned into more for these two, and Havice’s love for Fantin shows by her attendance at his games.

“She normally makes all the home games,” he said. “This year she’s made pretty much all the road games with my family when she didn’t have to work because it’s my senior year. She’s definitely a big supporter.”

Fantin is grateful.

“It means everything,” he said with a smile. “She and my family give me something else to play for.”

Fantin’s family has not only been a huge supporter of his life as a Marlin, but also his life with Havice.

“Both our parents are thrilled,” he said. “They had believed it was inevitable because of how long we dated, but they are all as happy and excited as we are.”

Though everyone is excited for the engagement, no plans for a final wedding date have been set. According to Fantin, that will be much further down the road since he still has one more semester at

Wesleyan and would like to play overseas as well as secure a job before they tie the knot. Though the engagement is going to be longer, the planning Fantin put into the proposal also took time.

“I had thought about doing it on senior night for a while,” he said. “But actually had it set in stone probably for a couple months.”

He decided that proposing after the game was better than doing it on the court because it’d be more personal with all their closest friends and family in the room to experience it.

“I think she loved [that] the most,” he said.