Podcast: BABC’s Leo Papile on state of grassroots basketball, motivation to keep going at 70

BABC founder Leo Papile joined the HoopWise podcast.

When talking about local amateur basketball in Boston, it shouldn’t take long for Leo Papile’s name to come up in the discussion.

Papile is a living legend in the region. He founded the Boston Amateur Basketball Club (BABC) in 1977, and over the years it has evolved into one of the top grassroots programs in the country. At last count, it has produced 25 NBA players, including the likes of Patrick Ewing, Chris Herren and Bruce Brown, and many more Division 1 players.

Papile’s basketball career has also included coaching stops at Boston University and Cleveland State, and he spent more than 14 years as an executive with the Celtics, where he held various roles and worked under former president of basketball operations Danny Ainge. But he has not stopped leading BABC.

At 70 years old, Papile is still going strong. He recently wrapped up his 47th season in charge of BABC, which was the program’s second on the Adidas 3SSB circuit. Both his 17U and 16U squads had strong springs again, with both their seasons ending last month at the Adidas national championships.

Papile — along with his dog, Cotton — joined the New England Basketball Journal as the HoopWise podcast’s first guest. It was a wide-ranging discussion, which included a recap of the BABC season, the current state of grassroots basketball and what keeps Papile going as he approaches his 50th season in a few years.

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Highlights

How common are NIL (name, image and likeness) deals in high school basketball, and are you worried that it’s a space where these companies want to target next?

Papile: “The horses have left the barn. It’s common. There were teams that had multiple guys that had deals. Amateurism rules have been altered so that the NCAA allows these kids to have agents. Any case like that, the parents ask me, I’d say go get a phone book, look up agents, if you want any names, here’s some, call them. They will guide you through that process. Elite guys are going to get those calls. From our perspective at BABC, it’s none of our business and good luck son. Get yourself a good accountant, get a good money manager, but we’ll see you at practice tomorrow. We’ll see you in the game and you’re going to be required to do the same things. But you’re right on the money, that is here to stay. I was told there was a team in our league that had accumulated $800,000 between grades nine and 11 in NILs already. It’s not illegal. … The team doesn’t pay them, but there are people around who see them as prospects, and it’s legal.”

You’re approaching 50 years at BABC. How exciting will that be for you?

Papile: “Well, we gotta get through 48, 49 and 50. … 50 would be 2027. I’m taking it one at a time, but that’s the plan. I don’t really feel any reason, just because I’m old, not to coach. I think there are a lot of people, especially locally, that kind of every year wonder if we’re going to come back. But my daughter’s been executive director since 2010, so if I didn’t make it, we wouldn’t lose a step. You can have my funeral, have a couple pops and BABC’s ready to go again. She’s got the blueprint.”

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The HoopWise podcast can be streamed here and on major platforms, such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.