There were a lot of questions coming into this season about how good Msgr. Scanlan would be after losing a couple key parts of their success to transfer. The Crusaders though got a big piece coming in as well though in 5'9" guard Jada Leonard '22 who has helped carry the Scanlan offense and keep them in the mix among the best in the CHSAA.

When you lose pieces such as Kateri Poole and Kayla Morris to transfer you have to wonder how you will replace that kind of productivity, but the addition of Leonard who transferred into Scanlan after averaging 20 points per game as a freshman a year ago at Murry Bergtraum in the PSAL has helped make the losses at least a little more tolerable.

It was still a bit of an unknown for Scanlan head coach Tom Catalanotto as to what he was getting in Leonard when the season began. He knew she was someone who could score the ball but what he has in her he says is so much more than just a scorer.

"Jada works as hard as anyone every day in practice, she has a really high basketball IQ, and she has become a leader on the team so she is everything we could've hoped for and more," Catalanotto stated.

Having over 450 points so far this season, Leonard's scoring prowess has not disappointed as she is nearly on track in a difficult CHSAA to match what she was able to accomplish in the PSAL. She was considered more of a slasher early on it Catalanotto says that her stroke has really come along as the season has progressed which has allowed her to be a major scoring threat from all over the floor.

The next evolution of Leonard's game is her ability to play with the ball in her hands which Catalanotto and the rest of the Msgr. Scanlan coaching staff have begun working with her on as he believes once Leonard gets more comfortable being a playmaker for others, to go along with her ability to put the ball in the basket she will become an even higher profile recruit than she already is.

Pretty much everyone who has stepped through the Crusaders gym ends up asking Catalanotto about Leonard he says with all the locals from Manhattan, Stony Brook, St. John's, and Quinnipiac already making the trips in, while one championship program has already let him know what they think of Leonard as well.

"It's crazy but the coach from Mississippi State was sitting in our gym and came up and said to me that kid is going to be a player and they were talking about Jada," Catalanotto said.

That's how high Leonard's ceiling is with Catalanotto fully understanding the upside she presents, he is excited as much as anyone to see how her progression continues, hopeful that the best of Leonard's game is still to come.

"If she keeps working at it the way I know she will then Jada is really going to be some player," Catalanotto admitted.