When Butler County Community College men’s basketball coach Joe Lewandowski recruited a player with the last name of Spadafora, he had no doubt about the type of person he was getting.
The family of 2023 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart graduate Rocco Spadafora — a Sheraden native and nephew of former International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight champion Paul Spadafora — has been setting that precedent for quite some time.
“Nobody is tougher than him,” Lewandowski said. “Not even close. They say there are guys that are going to run through a brick wall, I mean, he’s running through a brick wall, he’s running through a concrete wall. He’s running through whatever.
“Whatever you ask him to do, he just does it,” he added. “For me, that’s just huge. You just don’t find guys like that.”
Now in the middle of his freshman season at Butler County Community College, Spadafora is proving there aren’t many players like him across Division III of the National Junior College Athletic Association.
This 6-foot-2 guard is second in the division with 47 3-pointers made. He is averaging 21 points per game, which is good for 15th in NJCAA, while shooting 43.4% from the field and 37.6% from 3-point range.
“That was always my goal,” said Spadafora of his success through his first 12 games at the junior-college level. “I just feel like Coach Joe just gives me so much confidence. He has faith in me, so I just have the confidence to keep shooting.”
Spadafora came to Butler County Community College after averaging 16 points per game as a senior and helping to lead OLSH on a run, which included two PIAA championships and a state-record, 74-game winning streak.
“Great kid,” Lewandowski said of Spadafora, who won three WPIAL titles at OLSH. “He’s one of those guys where he is always on Level 10 in terms of how hard he plays, how ready he is to be in the gym. You walk in the door, he’s always there. I love guys like that because he’s so thirsty to get better.”
Lewandowski said Spadafora’s seemingly natural transition to a higher level of play after high school was not completely unexpected.
A natural scorer from his time at OLSH, Lewandowski said he has seen Spadafora work to continue to develop into a player who can make baskets at all three levels, while also easing into a mindset where he can create opportunities for his teammates to contribute offensively as well.
Make no mistake, however, Spadafora now is catching the eye of NCAA Division II schools because of his ability to shoot from long range.
“That’s just a skill set that is so hard to teach,” Lewandowski said. “For him, he’s shooting so many of them where he can make them off the bounce or off the catch, which makes him so unique. I do think what happens, though, when you get to the next level — the D-II level — I think that so many times your 2-guard has to handle the ball and be a decision-maker because they’ll take away the one at times.
“It just makes him more valuable. I think you’re trying to make sure he’s in a position where he’s going to be successful.”
For Spadafora, the transition to junior college has been exciting.
“It’s really competitive because everybody is trying to get out of the juco,” he said. “That’s the whole point. Everybody is running their ass off. It’s really competitive. It’s been fun to play with.”
Spadafora said he also has enjoyed the work behind the scenes. He said his work to refine his shooting capabilities has paid dividends.
“Preseason, I would get on the shooting machine and get 500 shots up,” he said. “During the season, I’m getting like 300 shots up a day. I’ll take Sunday off of shooting and then I usually just do fundamental stuff, like ballhandling every day, make sure I stick with it. During the season, I just maintain everything and still get a little bit better.”
The work has been paying off.
Lewandowski said Spadafora has received significant recruiting interest from Division II teams such as Gannon and West Liberty, where his brother Dante, another former OLSH standout, currently is playing a significant role.
A redshirt sophomore, Dante Spadafora is averaging 10.5 points per game at West Liberty this season after shooting 35% from the floor and 3-point range during his team’s run to the Division II national championship appearance a season ago.
“I had a lot of D-III offers, so that’s why I chose BC3 to take another chance to play D-II,” Spadafora said. “I’ve got a couple D-II looks right now.
“I would love to play with my brother at West Lib.”
Lewandowski said he expects Spadafora to continue to receive interest from Division II schools as the season continues. He added most players receive offers once the NJCAA season concludes.
“Here’s the thing with him, at the scholarship D-II level, I think he’s proven he can play at that level there with what he’s doing right now,” Lewandowski said.
But that might not be the end of the story for Spadafora.
“For him to make that jump to the Division I level, a lot of it is going to be the eye of the beholder for whoever is offering at that point because he can really flat-out shoot it,” Lewandowski said. “When you get into some of these college games depending on the level, sometimes they put so many athletes on the floor that teams just begin to clog the paint up and they need guys that can make shots.
“He’s a guy that if someone sees him and they need that skill set, he can definitely serve that role.”
Lewandowski said Spadafora is beginning to develop a similar skill set to another player of his, which he has significant experience working with as coach of the United States men’s 3-on-3 basketball team.
Jimmer Fredette rose to prominence when he was named the NCAA Division I Player of the Year in his senior season at BYU in 2011 before being selected with the 10th overall pick in the NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. He played under Lewandowski this summer when the United States won a Pan American Games 3×3 title in October in Santiago, Chile, while the two are slated to be reunited at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“I joke with him a little bit and I said, ‘You know what, Jimmer Fredette can score so many different ways. It’s ridiculous how many different ways he can score.’” Lewandowski said. “Well, man, Rocco can really score in a lot of ways. That’s a huge compliment because Jimmer is phenomenal.”
In the meantime, Spadafora said he is also focused on helping Butler County Community College compete this season.
The Pioneers roster includes nine freshmen and several WPIAL products.
Springdale graduate Demitri Fritch, a 6-foot-5 guard/forward, is averaging 14.9 points and 13.6 rebounds per game, while OLSH graduate Bryson Kirschner is averaging 11.6 points per game.
Isaiah Sharp (Beaver Falls), Cris De La Rosa (Butler) and Cole Rodgers (Knoch) are the other former WPIAL players on the Pioneers roster.
“We’re just going to have to keep working hard every day,” Spadafora said.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.