As the coronavirus pandemic quarantine continues, it is starting to have some impact on people’s mental health. But for one Oceanport boy, a call from his basketball hero was the perfect medicine to get over those blues.

At over 7 feet tall, it is easy to see why Seton Hall’s Romaro Gill is 15-year-old Michael Ciavolino’s favorite basketball player.

“He’s really good at dunking the ball into the hoop and I also like how tall he is because that suits him, how athletic he is,” the teen says.

Michael has autism. This year, he and his father Mike had season tickets and would go to games together. Like a lot of people, Michael has had some rough days while self-isolating.

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“It’s a scary time and we all have a couple of anxious moments and he had his,” says Mike.

So, Mike reached out to Gill on Twitter to see if he could FaceTime with Michael. Gill responded right away and spoke Michael. The teen says that the call made him feel a lot better about the current situation.

“It shows that we are all one big family. It could have been me in that position and I wanted someone to call and cheer me up for the day,” Gill says.

The Ciavolinos say that they were blown away by Gill’s kindness, especially since Seton Hall’s season was cut short by the pandemic.

“Their dreams were dashed – that he still took the time to give my son a call shows you what kind of human being he is,” Mike says.

Gill says that Michael was able to cheer him up as well.

“If that makes him feel better, it makes me feel better too,” Gill says.

Gill says that he is now finishing up school and trying to stay in shape for the time being.