Carle Place’s Ryan Leary was a shaking eighth-grader when called up to varsity for a playoff game with high expectations five years ago.
“I was very nervous. My first-ever shot was an air ball,” the Frogs’ 12th-grade point guard told The Post.
It was an ironic start to Leary’s historic tenure as the 17-year-old is now the school’s all-time leading scorer — with 1,469 points and counting — shattering a record set by former St. Thomas Aquinas College athletic director Gerry Oswald in 1970.
“I knew eventually I’d get it, just not this early into my senior year,” said Leary, who’s been averaging 33 points per game — and is looking to either play basketball or kick for a football team in college.
Leary was 26 points away heading into an evening game at Locust Valley on Dec. 10 and was avidly listening to his coaches’ advice “to let the game come to you” and be patient.
Like in eighth grade, the star shooter was still uneasy, just for a different reason.
“I didn’t get my pregame nap in, which I was kind of worried about,” said Leary, who wears bright pink sneakers with his deep green uniform.
He rose above the tremendous adversity and sank bucket after bucket in the Frogs’ 52-40 victory, with the record-breaking shot — a corner 3 — coming with about a minute and a half to go.
“Honestly, I was more focused on getting the win,” said Leary, whose teammates were so in the zone they didn’t really recognize the moment.
“They were kind of confused, and didn’t know what happened … afterward it sank in with them. They were so happy for me making history in Carle Place.”
Full circle
Leary set another milestone last winter as the first athlete ever featured on noti.group’s LI sports page.
He joined his three Carle Place alum sisters — and college basketball-playing mom Karin — as the family’s newest 1,000-point scorer at the time.
“Being part of the Leary legacy, it’s a great feeling for me,” said Ryan, who now holds ultimate bragging rights over his three older siblings, each of whom went on to have their own college careers.
Leary’s oldest sister, Erin, who just graduated from Iona College as a forward, was in the stands to root on her baby bro at his big game last week.
“She’s still just so proud of me, and just that’s the type of person she is, just like my whole family is,” said Leary, whose other two sisters, Amanda and Caitlin, livestreamed the game from their campuses.
“We’re just proud of each other, and we’re proud of everyone’s accomplishments.”
Leaping on
Now that the “pressure” is off, the team-first talent has his sights set on ending his high school career on the ultimate high note.
Leary strives to have his Frogs repeat as Nassau County champions and jump back to the state tournament, which the team reached for the first time in 20 years last season.
“I feel like that’s just the perfect storybook ending,” Leary said, adding that reaching 2,000 points would be a nice personal superlative.
“That’s the main goal,” said the 6-foot-3 Leary, who spent the offseason buffing up to 200 pounds from about 185.
He’s also creating a succession plan to ensure that big seasons don’t just come every two decades or so.
The local legend has taken an eighth-grade apprentice in guard Caden Saccone, who Leary said is “basically the future of the Carle Place basketball team.”
“He has the ball on a string,” Leary said of the enthusiastic youngster. “He’s always texting me, ‘Wanna get some shots up? Wanna practice today?’ ”
Leary remembers all too well what it’s like to endure the hard days of being a middle schooler on varsity.
After all, he mulled hanging up the sneakers once after a brutal practice at the time.
“I came home, talked to my parents, and they said just stick with it,” Leary recalled.
“I couldn’t have quit. It felt weird not having a basketball in my hand.”
Now, nothing would thrill him more than seeing Saccone navigate the same challenges and soon stand out as the school’s next big thing.
“There’s nothing like playing for your hometown and playing in front of 200 people in this small gym in this small town,” he said.
“I just want to help in any way I can.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
