Staff file photo / Preston Byers. New Girard head boys basketball coach Nick Canterino watches on during Campbell’s home win vs. McDonald on Feb. 11. Canterino left Campbell to return to Girard, his alma mater, earlier this year.

In 2016, following a 1-22 season, Nick Canterino, then a Campbell assistant, became the Red Devils’ head boys basketball coach. Eight years later, he orchestrated a 21-5 season, one that included a district championship and the program’s first Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference (MVAC) title.

The historic season would be Canterino’s last at Campbell, as, after more than a decade on staff, the 2004 Girard graduate decided this past spring to go home and succeed Craig Hannon as the Indians’ head coach.

“It definitely wasn’t an easy decision,” Canterino said. “Definitely liked the administrators and everyone out here. That’s what made it kind of tough. The kids were great, we had a lot of success here the last few years. So definitely wasn’t easy, but just something, I think, that was good timing. Just the right time to do it.”

Canterino expressed excitement about coaching where he lives and being around many players and parents he knows. But getting to know many of his new players well has proven particularly challenging, on account of the Indians’ long football playoff run.

Due to Girard’s football team making it to the regional championship game, Canterino said that it had been a while since he had the chance to get a big part of his team on the court together.

“With the success football had – they just played until the other day here – so we’re really just starting to get this week,” Canterino said. “We’re going to get a hold of everybody together, so we’ll have a better idea this week. But we had a few weeks there in the summer after I got hired, so we got a little baseline of stuff we want to do and some terminology and stuff like that. That’s new for these kids. I got to see some skill sets of some kids that I coached against, but that was about it. Didn’t really see too much more besides that.”

The football-related absences – Canterino said there are 14 who play both sports, including freshmen – are a good thing, the new head coach said. He explained that not only is it a positive development for the community and school, but it also allowed those who did not spend their summer and fall on the gridiron a unique chance to develop on the hardwood.

“I think this offseason, the fall, especially for the guys who didn’t play football, was a huge opportunity. A lot of freshmen, sophomores getting a lot of playing time in scrimmages against varsity teams that they might not have had that opportunity if all the football guys were here. So we had a couple kids who really took advantage of it and stepped up and made the most of it.”

Among those who he expects to contribute this season, Canterino named seniors Allen Hess-Cardona, Cam Herrick and Kaiden Clare, the latter of whom is returning after an ACL injury that forced him to miss all of last season. Additionally, Canterino believes Braxton Sloan, Mason Odvar and AJ Pearson will be key players for the Indians.

While Canterino said it is “tough” at the moment to know what to expect of his team’s fortunes this season, he expects the style for which his Campbell teams became known to translate to Girard.

“Really haven’t seen everybody together, so that’s going to be a big adjustment here – just getting everyone together, getting them to buy in, getting them familiar with everything,” Canterino said. “But all we can do right now is take it one day at a time. Definitely excited about this group.

“We think it’s going to be pretty similar [to Campbell], trying to play in-your-face, defense, full court, get up and down. We got a lot of football guys, track guys, some of these guys who can get up and down, and we’re trying to use that to our advantage.”