Starting a Culture
Oswego Guard Brian Sortino laced up his shoes for his final SUNYACC tournament in Max Ziel gymnasium in front of a packed crowd. As warm-ups ended, he positioned himself for what would be a career night. Starting off slow in the first half and shooting only 30%, Sortino went to halftime knowing he had to improve. The senior did exactly that, scoring 48 points. A career high and only one point shy of the Oswego record.
Head Coach Jason Leone said after the game “I never had a doubt that he wouldn’t bounce back” he chuckled. “Just because the guy didn’t go off for 28 in the first half doesn’t mean he wasn’t making a difference”. That trust, showed through in the second half as his guard took complete control of the game, giving the Lakers an overtime win in the semifinals. A trust that began just four years ago, when Leone heard of a point guard from Fairport, New York.
In September of 2011, Leone began his career with the Lakers, and lead them to their first SUNYAC Championship since 1965, and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year. He improved the team and gave the program best their best record. Winning coach of the year awards, Leone looked forward to the recruiting process. Wasting no time at all, Sortino was one of the first athletes on his list. Leone had connections to the Fairport area and visited the high school student. “Usually when you find a guy like Brian from a talent prospective, it’s a dog fight, but with him, he was very even keeled during the process, kind of knew where he wanted to go. I think we hit it off really well, we needed a point guard and he fit our system” he said.
After his first season the young freshman found himself sidelined with a knee injury that would leave him out the whole year. That wasn’t enough for the head coach to give up on his prospect. “I was not in a good place after the injury, there were times where I questioned what was going on, he was there along with the other coaches he put in place, to push me in the right way” said Sortino. Pushing him in the right way was exactly what the Lakers coach did. After playing less than half of the season, Sortino came out his sophomore year playing in all 29 games, putting up impressive numbers. “Our relationship has been tested, there has been times where I’ve been pissed, but I knew deep down, he knew what he was doing and it would be better for me and the team in the long run” said the two time All-American.
Being a good player on the court was not all Leone pushed Sortino to be. He’s a great leader. “When he talks in the locker room they listen to what he says. He not only plays with leadership on the court, but he’s so quick to give his guys the credit they deserve”.
In the last minutes of the Buffalo State game he could’ve taken the shot triple teamed and could have went for the record, but instead he made a smart play and found an open man to score the game winning basket. It’s just a credit to his character” Leone went on to say. When Brian was asked about the play he responded, “If they were going to play me man to man, I was just going to try to go to the rim. They were triple teaming me and I saw Jamir jumping up and down. I trust him with the ball and I knew he would make a good play”.
Chemistry has been a huge part of Oswego basketball and a good portion of that could be bestowed to the legendary Laker. He’s looking to start a culture for Laker basketball. “Brian’s role in bringing the new players and getting them acclimated has increased. He’s doing great with the new guys that we have coming in and has built some good relationships” just showing even more the confidence Leone sees in his recruit.
The trust that began with a player had spread like wildfire throughout the team and because of this trust, they were able to accomplish great success. When asked how comfortable he felt with the ball in Sortino’s hand with only a view ticks on the clock, Leone simply laughed and replied, “Yeah you could say I’m pretty comfortable with the ball in his hands in that type of situation”.
