Steadfast Pursuit of Excellence

None. Ever.

 

Once Nick Leonardelli, as a high school senior, set his sights on becoming a basketball coach, he began with intentionality, alacrity, and joy his steadfast pursuit of knowledge, experience, and, of course, excellence.

 

With Leonardelli, Collegiate’s new boys varsity basketball coach and program leader, it’s always been about excellence.

 

Excellence measured by victories, of course, and as a college assistant for 14 years and head coach at Henrico High School since 2021, his teams have secured plenty of them.

 

Excellence measured less precisely but just as importantly by the positive culture he’s created both on the court and in his history classroom.

 

Excellence manifested by his athletes and students developing a strong work ethic and performing their best when their best is required and by his (and their) impact not just in the athletic community but in the greater school community as well.

 

“We’re super excited that Nick is joining us,” said Andrew Stanley, Collegiate’s Director of Athletics. “We’re so impressed by his positive spirit and respectful demeanor. He’s committed to creating the best possible atmosphere in his [Upper School] history classroom just as he will in the basketball program.  Nick’s record speaks for itself. You sit in the room with him, and you know this is going to be a home run. He’s here for the right reasons.”

 

Leonardelli credits Jim Baglin, his basketball coach and mentor at West Morris Mendham High in New Jersey, for lighting the spark that led to his life’s work.

 

“We both love the game,” Leonardelli said. “We talked it. He shared a number of books with me. He had a tremendous impact on my life in so many positive ways that I wanted to do the same. Once I graduated high school, I knew coaching was the path I wanted to follow.”

 

A second-team all-county small forward as a senior, Leonardelli played four years (and served as captain as a senior) at Dickinson College, a Division III signatory in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he earned a B.A. in history, in 2007.

 

His plan was to seek a high school coaching/teaching position, but Baglin encouraged him to go the college route while he was young, single, and unencumbered by responsibilities, explaining that by so doing he would gain a wealth of diverse experiences that would prepare him to assume leadership of his own program.

 

“That’s what I did,” Leonardelli said. “I really enjoyed it.”

 

So began a journey that took him first from Rutgers-Newark (where he earned an M.A. in liberal studies) to St. Lawrence University, then St. Michael’s College, then Bucknell University, and then University of Massachusetts Lowell. Along the way, he served in a variety of roles that gave him a taste of every aspect of the profession, the challenges, the highs and lows, and the time and energy commitment that success required.

 

“During my journey in college basketball,” he said, “I had the opportunity to coach at all three (Division I, II, and III) levels. I had an opportunity to travel quite a bit and observe a number of different high schools. That was helpful because I got to experience so many different places and know that Collegiate is truly special.”

 

As is Henrico, where he achieved his long-held dream of serving as a head high school coach and where his teams earned a 46-25 mark in three seasons (including 18-5 in 2024), acquitted itself well in the competitive VHSL Region 4B, and reached the state quarterfinals in 2022.

 

“Henrico has been really good to me,” he said. “They gave me a chance, and I’m very, very proud of what we’ve accomplished and the trajectory of the program. I’m grateful for the young men I got the opportunity to coach.”

 

The opportunity to succeed Del Harris, who recently stepped down after giving heart and soul to Collegiate basketball for eight years, was too inviting to pass up and will enable him to join his wife Sarah, a 2001 Collegiate graduate and 4th grade teacher, and their daughters Kate, a 1st grader, and Hannah, who will enter JK in the fall.

 

“I’ve experienced Collegiate through them,” he said. “Then, during my interview, I gained an incredible appreciation for the School and realized that it was just an amazing place. There’s such a sense of community and strength of relationships. Students are very cared for. There’re so many different things for them to engage in. I’m just excited to be part of that. I’m grateful to the people I met with [during the interview process] for making me feel welcome.”

 

What will Collegiate boys basketball look like going forward?

 

“We’ll be a very competitive team that plays with great pace,” Leonardelli said. “Offensively, we’ll push the ball up the court. We’re going to sprint to everything we do. Defensively, we’ll be very competitive. I’m primarily man-to-man. This past year, we played all man-to-man outside of some zone presses. I’ll have varying packages but primarily man-to-man with key principles that the players will know and understand and be able to recite. We’ll put a premium on communication, toughness, and physicality.”

 

Then there’re the intangibles.

 

“I just enjoy interacting with kids, teaching them the game, and sharing life,” Leonardelli said. “For me, being part of a team is a privilege because it allows you to share a journey together. Every year, that journey is unique and special. Basketball in so many ways is a microcosm of life. The lessons you learn can translate to life. They did for me, and I try to use those lessons to empower young men.”

~Weldon Bradshaw