Nick Colucci (above) committed the University of Scranton last month. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
By Josh Verlin
Nick Colucci read the pass from the instant it was thrown, took a step across the 3-point arc and picked it off, dribbling down the far sideline at Haverford High School’s Juenger Gymnasium. The Fords’ senior guards got to his own 3-point line, and you could see the gears turning: the shooter’s mindset he’d developed during his younger days told him to pull the trigger.
Then the coaching kicked in: playing with a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of a Central League game against defending champ Garnet Valley, a rushed, off-balanced shot was not the right one. Colucci gathered himself, waited a beat, then found classmate J.R. Newman plunging towards the bucket, Newman’s stretched-out layup finding twine as the ref’s whistle sounded.
“Over time, you learn what’s a smart play,” Colucci said, “and passing the ball to JR […] that’s the right play right there. I’m glad I made it.”