By Owen Lingerfelt 

“I’m a big believer in ‘Control what you can control,” said new Upper School history teacher and varsity boys basketball head coach Nick Leonardelli in a recent interview. Along with being in charge of the boys basketball program, Leonardelli teaches US History for Juniors, along with Contemporary World History, and he is excited to start the year off strong.

Leonardelli moved around when growing up, including five years in Brussels, Belgium. He moved around Ohio but settled in New Jersey and calls that home. Leonardelli worked his way to play basketball at Dickinson College after high school and studied history. He then got his master’s degree at Rutgers University, Newark while beginning his coaching career. After Rutgers, he joined the men’s basketball coaching staff at Bucknell, where the Bison appeared in the NCAA tournament in 2013 and the NIT tournament in 2012. He said that was one of the best coaching experiences, even though Bucknell lost the first round in the NCAA “March Madness” Tournament that year. However, in the 2012 NIT Tournament, they were able to notch one victory over the Arizona Wildcats in the first round. Leonardelli worked as an assistant coach in college basketball for 14 years, ending up at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, before heading into high school teaching and coaching. 

Photo courtesy of Virginia Preps.

His passion and motivation for teaching and coaching high school were there when he graduated college. However, great mentorship from his experienced high school coach told him to give college a try while he had the most amount of free time in his life, before starting a family of his own.

The lessons his own coach taught him motivated Leonardelli to be a great coach and inspire younger generations. Leonardelli also said his coach created a special community through the game of basketball. Another reason he decided to switch to high school coaching was because of his family. As a college basketball coach, he was out of town more than he would have wanted, especially when raising two children, Kate (‘35), and Hannah (’38), both of whom now attend Collegiate. Leonardelli said that high school coaching and teaching seemed like a better fit for him. Once he finished coaching in college, Richmond was a quick decision, as his wife, Middle School teacher Sarah Leonardelli (‘01), grew up in Richmond and graduated from Collegiate. 

Leonardelli was the boys varsity basketball head coach at Henrico High School before taking the role of head coach and program leader at Collegiate. When asked about his experience coaching at Henrico, he said, “I had an incredible experience coaching and teaching at Henrico. I am very grateful for the opportunity that they gave and all the relationships I had both on and off the court.” 

When asked about the upcoming season for varsity boys basketball, he has three goals he brings to the team, which he calls the three C’s. The first “C” is communication, as it is vital and one of the most important parts of the game. Without communication, it will be very hard to find success. Leonardelli said, “A great team won’t be great without communication with one another.” The second “C” is competitiveness. Leonardelli believes that a strong mindset is key to success in basketball; without a will to win and a strong mindset, success is impossible to find. The third and final “C” in Leonardelli’s three C’s is community. Leonardelli talked about how getting to know everyone in the school and the basketball community is really important when entering a new place, especially in a head coaching position. Community means not only basketball, but getting to know everyone in the school, from teachers and staff to the students. 

Leonardelli has other values and goals from the team, but he spoke the most about his three C’s and to control what you can control. He believes that if you focus on the things you can control, the things you can’t will fall in place. However, if you worry and try to control the things you can’t, that’s when you can start to struggle. Outside of his busy life with coaching, teaching, and raising a family of four, Leonardelli loves to exercise and stay active as much as he can. He also loves to grill and make food for his family and friends whenever he can. 

Featured image courtesy of Collegiate School.