Pine-Richland grad Dan Petcash shares secret to his success at Binghamton

Baking soda, salt, magnesium and water.

Those are the ingredients for what Dan Petcash calls his “secret stuff.”

The name is a nod to the movie Space Jam and it’s also a formula Petcash, a Pine-Richland grad, credits for his breakout year at Binghamton.

“It sounds kind of funny, but it really has made a huge difference for me,” Petcash said.

The numbers back it up.

The first time Petcash made the drink part of his pregame routine Jan. 11 at NJIT, he hit for 21 points. Since then, he’s finished in double figures in seven of 11 games, including a 24-point game against Bryant and had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds against Albany. He’s raised his points-per-game average nearly three points to 10.1 per game and solidified himself as a starter for the Bearcats.

Each ingredient has its own purpose, but the key is magnesium.

How did Petcash discover magnesium could be beneficial?

That started with his studies. Petcash is on a pre-dental track at Binghamton and some of the prerequisites included biochemistry and organic chemistry.

Those studies got him interested in athletic performance and he expanded on it by taking to social media.

“There’s some people I follow on Twitter that are health guys and biohackers, and I saw someone posted a thread about magnesium and how it can help athletic performance, so I figured I’d give it a shot,” he said. “I ordered a bottle of magnesium off Amazon.”

The next challenge was deciding whether or not he should share his discovery. After all, it is called his “secret stuff.”

But, he decided to post about it on social media.

“At first I debated whether I should keep it a secret or not, but I decided to post some Tik-Toks about it to try and help other people,” Petcash said. “It caught a lot of traction and I’ve gained a decent following from it, so it’s been pretty cool.”

Petcash said he’s had some naysayers in the comments of his social media posts.

At first, he didn’t even know if it would work, but he said he realized a major difference in himself early on the first time he tried it.

“I didn’t expect anything or that it might be a placebo effect, but that first game at the media timeout I just remember thinking, ‘Holy crap, I don’t feel tired at all,’” Petcash said. “I didn’t get that first tired wind at all and I think I had eight points by the first media timeout. Ever since then, I’ve made my secret stuff. Honestly, I think it’s a huge part of my success.”

The phenomenon has caught traction inside the Binghamton locker room. Petcash said he’s shared his magnesium with his teammates.

Binghamton was in a three-way tie for third place in the America East Conference with Bryant and New Hampshire at 8-6 heading into a pivotal game Feb. 25 with Maine. If the Bearcats can finish in the top four, they’ll receive a home game in the first round of the America East Conference Tournament for the first time since 2009.

“We feel like we’re putting it together,” Petcash said. “We struggled a bit to get results in nonconference play, but once conference started and especially lately, we’ve been clicking on all cylinders. We’re feeling good and like we’re peaking at the right time.”