Liam Knobl, 5, of Levittown, Pa., is the newest member of Rider's basketball team.
LAWRENCE -- The Rider University men's basketball team welcomed their newest - and shortest - player Thursday when 5-year-old Liam Knobl of Bucks County, Pa. "signed" with the Division I team.
"Liam's excited, a little nervous," his mother Kaite Knobl said before the big signing. "He loves the guys. They all came out to his soccer game yesterday. He thought that was really cool. I can already tell he's bonding with the team."
Knobl, of Levittown, became a Bronc with an assist from the nonprofit Team IMPACT - which pairs children battling chronic illnesses with college and university sports teams.
Also sitting with Liam and his mom was his dad Kevin Knobl.
Katie Knobl said Liam has high-functioning autism, asthma and common variable immune deficiency, or CVID, which makes him prone to sickness.
She said Liam spent the first two years of his life in and out of the hospital with various illnesses from ear infections to pneumonia.
Rider's Director of Player Development Shannon Hodge said Liam's signing makes him officially part of the team so he can attend all the outings and practices he wants. And the basketball players will be involved in what he loves too - playing soccer.
"We'll get more into his life," Hodge said. "The guys go to his soccer games. We want to give him a sense of normalcy. Obviously he has a tougher life than most kids his age...most adults."
Katie Knobl said Liam has to get weekly transfusions of antibiotics into his blood.
"Liam gets a needle every week," Rider's Men's Basketball Coach Kevin Bagget said. "Half my guys would pass out if they got one needle. We're here to tell him we're there for him. He's part of our family. We're here to root him on."
Senior forward/guard Shawn Valentine said the whole team is excited for Liam to become a Bronc.
"It's a great experience for him and the team as well," Valentine said. "I can't wait to see his growth and his smile honestly."
Katie Knobl said she and her husband reached out to Team IMPACT when Liam was 4 years old but was told he had to be at least 5 to join the program.
She said just days before his fifth birthday, on Jan. 13, the Knobl family received a call informing them Liam would be matched with the Broncs.
"So it was a great birthday present for him," Katie Knobl said.
On Thursday, Liam signed his formal letter of intent and was presented with his own team sportswear, with the number 5, cupcakes and an Easter basket filled with his favorite things such as Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers toys.
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.