Central's Leslie couldn't say
no to coaching
By Matt Thompson
News-Sun Sports Writer
All Josh Leslie wanted was a little
rest.
He had just graduated from Wittenberg
with a degree in biology, wasn't
entirely sure what to do with it and was pondering a return to graduate
school.
But mainly, in the summer of 1994, he
just wanted to relax a bit.
``I was kinda burned out academically,''
Leslie said. ``I was planning
to go back to grad school, maybe in sports medicine. But I was really
just
wanting to take a year off.''
However, an old college buddy of his
kept calling, hassling him ...
something about becoming an assistant coach.
It seems Jeff Hobbs _ who as an assistant
at Wittenberg had spent most
of Leslie's senior year planted right next to him on the bench _ had
gotten
the head coaching job at Kenton Ridge and was thinking Leslie would
be a good
addition to his staff.
Leslie, though, had other plans.
``I've always loved the game, and I
got a lot out of it,'' he said,
``but when I was done with college, I was perfectly happy with walking
away.''
He didn't count on the persistence of
Hobbs, however. So, after he was
asked several more times, Leslie gave in and, by basketball season,
was
coaching the freshman team and helping out the varsity.
His reaction was as surprising to himself
as it was intense.
``I loved it,'' he said. ``Once I got
in, I loved it.''
His results, also intense, came nearly
as quickly.
The freshman team he took over went
19-1 his first season.
And the best was yet to come.
Off to Columbus
Today, Leslie, his staff and his players
are holed up in a hotel in
Columbus, Ohio, preparing for Friday's 1 p.m. Division IV state semifinal
game
against Zanesville Rosecrans.
He's spent most of the past week accommodating
interviewers, shaking
hands with fans, squeezing in a practice here and there and trying
to keep the
players' heads from floating away from their bodies like bubbles in
a bottle
of shampoo.
``It's just been really hectic,'' Leslie
said. ``Everybody's calling,
wanting interviews, tapes, whatever. If you don't have good organizational
skills, it could kind of bury you.''
Not that Leslie shies away from situations
that could bury him. At 25,
he's taken over a program that _ as surely you've heard by now _ graduated
all
five starters, including Ohio Mr. Basketball Jason Collier, from a
team that
won the state title.
Tony Ricciuto, his record and reputation
swollen after three years of
coaching some of the best players in Central's storied history, fled
for a
bigger program _ and ostensibly greener pastures _ at Xenia.
That left the job open for whoever wanted
to take over a program
seemingly poised on the verge of a dramatic post-celebratory letdown.
The job,
of course, was still coveted enough that Leslie needed strong recommendations
from former Wittenberg coach (and current Akron coach) Dan Hipsher
to convince
the school to take a chance on him.
Once in, however, he found an odd twist:
With expectations so low, the
pressure was largely off.
``There was really no pressure,'' he
said. ``The expectation level
wasn't there. Maybe if I had a Jason Collier or a Jason Ronai, but
they were
gone. Fans were always coming up, saying, `Gonna be a tough one this
year.' ''
And for a long time, it was.
Early struggles
It took the Irish seven games until
Leslie got his first win as
Central's head coach, and the team's 1-8 start has become as big a
rallying
cry as it was a source of derision at the time.
And while Leslie can smile about the
team's slow start, at the time it
was no laughing matter.
``You'd see him in the hallways when
he was 1-8, (and) he was ready to
hang himself,'' said Hobbs, whose team dealt Leslie his third loss,
57-50, on
the Irish home court. ``But he's a winner. Every place he's been, he's
been a
winner. Does (the state run) surprise me? Maybe, but not really. I
know Josh
Leslie is in control of the program, so I know he's going to be a winner.''
Still it was tough for Leslie to take,
especially since he was part of
teams at Greeneview that went 20-0 when he was a 10th-grader and a
team at
Wittenberg that made it to the NCAA Division III final four his senior
year.
His main goal when things were down
was to make sure his players didn't
get down on themselves.
``If they see I'm down _ if I quit _
what are they gonna do?'' he said.
They certainly aren't going to pull
off a rally of incredible
proportions and put together a gloriously improbable run at the state
title.
Somehow, that's what this team has done.
What clicked
``He's just always had a drive to win,''
said Greeneview Coach Bill
Green, who coached Leslie in high school. ``That's the thing I noticed
about
him, and that's pretty much what he instills in his kids. You've got
to work
hard to achieve.
``Anytime you're 1-8, you have to keep
going out and driving at it ...
eventually it paid off.''
It also doesn't hurt that, only seven
years out of high school himself
and just three years out of uniform, Leslie can talk to his players
as a
player himself.
``He can really relate,'' said Central
point guard Robbie Moore. ``He
still has that feeling (one gets as a player).
``And the way he got the team to believe
in ourselves, that was
unbelievable in itself.''
Hobbs agrees.
``If you ask his players, they'll call
him a player's coach,'' he said.
``And that because he's not very far removed from where they are. Not
long
ago, he was in their shoes, and he understands the good, the bad, the
ugly,
the X's and O's, what goes on every day in class and practice, the
challenge
of being a student-athlete.''
That helps if you're trying to convince
a group of players on a losing
team that the new system they're being taught really will work.
``Three years ago, I was in the same
situation they are,'' Leslie said.
``Me and my assistants, we've all played, and the players know that.
``When they know that, they can accept
it when you get on them, they'll
listen to you.''
Everyone's listening now.
What's next
Leslie knows that, as coach of a team
of relative unknowns playing a
strict defensive system, his reputation can take off in this situation.
He doesn't necessarily like to dwell
on it.
``I'm not the kind of guy who wants
that,'' Leslie said. ``I'm just the
one giving directions. The kids are the ones doing it. If they want
to quit,
no matter what I say or do, they're going to quit.
``We've got great guys who will do anything
to win. There's not a
selfish bone in their bodies, and that's a rare quality in teams today.''
That said, this coaching thing is in
his blood now, and he won't rule
out the possibility of maybe moving on someday, perhaps to the college
ranks.
``A lot of good things would have to
happen before that,'' he said. ``I
mean, I'm considered young for a high school coach.''
His current goals involve staying put,
however, and convincing his
assistants, David Bradds, Aaron Perry and Dan Shay, to do the same.
``For now, I'm just trying to build
this program ... not that it was in
any sort of trouble whatsoever ... but just keep this tradition going,''
he
said.
``Right now, I can't see myself anywhere
but here.''
The best may indeed be yet to come.
Published: 03/20/97