Taking charge
Marcello Nanni does not shy away from contact. Instead, he welcomes it.
On numerous occasions throughout the 2018-19 basketball season, the 5-foot-9 guard has absorbed collisions for his Homewood High School basketball team.
That Nanni will draw at least one charge per game has become an expectation rather than an exception.
“I can make a shot, but I’m not like going to be the leading scorer every night, and I’m not like a freak athlete,” he said. “So it’s just something that I can do to help the team.”
Nanni’s willingness to sacrifice his body could be overlooked amid the Patriots’ stellar season. But it has stood out to Homewood head coach Tim Shepler.
He values charges as highly as any statistic that appears in a scorebook.
“That’s kind of a staple of our program, is taking charges. We think it’s a very unselfish play and a very tough play — and it’s a winning play,” Shepler said. “For him to make it and make it on a routine basis and really invite it, that’s just huge for our team and a great example of leadership.”
In Shepler’s opinion, and in the opinion of most basketball coaches, charges are important because of their ability to transfer momentum instantly from one team to another.
Their impact is amplified when a smaller player, like Nanni, steps courageously in front of a much larger opponent.
“If you look out and you’re just a little bit tough, you can just do it,” Nanni said. “It’s not a hard thing, you’ve just got to buy into doing it.”
Nanni bought into the Patriots long before the season started. Throughout the summer and in the months prior to tipoff, he worked hard to improve his shot.
What used to look like a line drive now resembles a parabola. He was shooting close to 40 percent from 3-point range as area play loomed.
“There are some people that say shooters are born and not made, but he’s really shown that you can make a shooter, too,” Shepler said. “It’s not like he was horrible before, but now when he releases that thing and he’s got his feet set, you feel pretty good about it going in.”
Shepler also feels pretty good when Nanni brings the ball up the floor. He makes the right decision more often than not and maintains composure under duress.
That wasn’t always the case last winter, when Nanni was a first-year varsity player. At times he panicked while pressured.
“He uses that experience to help him now,” Shepler said. “He makes a mistake now and then, but it’s not like he’s going to shy away from going and taking the ball.”
It was only a matter of time before Nanni developed into one of the Patriots’ leaders. His father, Chris, walked on the basketball team at Notre Dame, so the game runs in Nanni’s DNA.
Homewood will need its intrepid guard to keep contributing down the stretch. In tough games against teams like Huffman and Shades Valley, the difference between winning and losing could be a single charge.
Nanni, as he’s shown all season, isn’t one to back down.
“I think we have a lot of potential,” he said. “I think we can do some big things.”