Joseph Odugbela was content if he didn’t return to high school coaching. Odugbela, better known to his peers and players as “Ladi,” finished a successful stint as Rocky Hill Country Day School’s head coach in 2023, and he wasn’t necessarily looking or searching for another gig.
But then came the perfect fit.
Mount St. Charles, an academy based in Woonsocket, R.I., made a seismic move last November when the school announced its athletic programs were jumping from Division 3 in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League to the NEPSAC. The 100-year-old college prep Catholic school, among many things, was looking to elevate its profile and increase its exposure in a competitive landscape.
“I am excited to see what the future holds for Mount as a member of NEPSAC,” Mount St. Charles president Alan Tenreiro said upon the move. “Competing in the league will give us more flexibility for scheduling and the opportunity to field more teams. Mount has always been a college prep school, and our participation in a league with other prep schools will mean more opportunities for our Mounties.”
The move meant the boys basketball program is heading to Class AA in the NEPSAC – home to some of the best prep teams in New England – starting this winter. It is, of course, a significant change from the lowest level of the RIIL. And so the school wanted to make sure it did this the right way.
They found Odugbela, a respected coach in the region already based in Rhode Island who already had NEPSAC experience as a player at St. Andrew’s and a wealth of connections in the league. Inside the school, they were aligned. Henry Coleman, the previous boys head coach, stepped aside and became the part-time associate athletic director. Ray Leveille, Mount’s athletic director, had a clear vision for the future.
As Mount entered uncharted waters, it was clear there was a full commitment and everyone was on board. When Odugbela saw that, it became a no-brainer to take the job.
“It was all about putting Mount St. Charles first, and not pride or ego,” Odugbela said. “That’s what made it easy for all this to come together. … There was one goal in mind and that was Mount St. Charles. …
“You don’t get that (often) nowadays. That’s what made everything so smooth because they are buying into Mount St. Charles’ success in the NEPSAC, and I’m lucky enough that they’re choosing me to bring them to that level. If they’re going to move alongside for me, I have to do my part and make this right.”
Odugbela said he wouldn’t have taken this job if Mount St. Charles wasn’t going to the NEPSAC. The opportunities, he said, are limited in interscholastic leagues where it’s harder to sustain a program. In the NEPSAC, he knows there’s an opportunity to build.
He lived it as a key player on St. Andrews’ 2006 NEPSAC Class B championship team under head coach Mike Hart, and he knows what a successful program should look like. Odugbela’s big theme for the vision of the program? Growth. Mount has big plans and ambitions as a member of the NEPSAC, but he knows it will take time.
“The plan is to be NEPSAC AA champions. That’s the goal, that’s the plan, to build the right program, a winning program that is working towards being NEPSAC AA champions,” he said. “That might not happen in Year 1, that might not happen in Year 2, but if we’re working towards it, going about it the right way, developing our young guys and really building a culture and building a program … really building a program and really building a factory of growth, that’s really what it comes down to. Going with the growing pains but knowing when you go through the growing pains, there is promise. As we’re growing with those growing pains, we’re eventually going to grow.”
Odugbela has an exciting young core to work with, but he noted the transition needed to be handled carefully. The players from last season’s roster, when Mount was still in RIIL, weren’t necessarily good enough to stay on for the Class AA team and Odugbela had to bring in a roster of new players. It was a significant turnover, but he said it’s been smooth and manageable. His priority was to find the right student for the school first, and combine that with the right player that fits his program.
Odugbela is grateful for the kids who have transferred to Mount because of the uncertainty that exists in going to a school with no history. Some, he said, had opportunities to go to bigger schools, but they took a leap of faith to join Odugbela, the vision at Mount and an opportunity to play that might not exist at a bigger school where they may have to wait their turn.
Odugbela is excited to grow with them, and he’s hopeful they will set a foundation for the program for years to come.
“It really comes down to developing our players and developing the young guys for the bigger picture of the program’s growth,” he said. “These young ones that are around, they’re going to stick around, they’re going to develop. We’re going to grow with them, we’re going to smile, laugh, cry, get angry, but ultimately they’re going to grow. I know it will be one of those things where we’ll always remember these days of when it first was built. And once we are where we want it to be, you can always look back at these days and knowing this group of kids that came together, knowing that Mount St. Charles hasn’t played a second yet in the NEPSAC.”
Odugbela said the excitement is high as Mount prepares for its first NEPSAC season, with its first game on Nov. 22 against Tilton. He boasts an exciting building block in Kyle Delves, a 2028 point guard who made our list of standouts at last month’s NERR Frosh/Soph showcase, who leads a roster eager to show what they have.
“They all have their own thing to prove, in a great way,” Odugbela said. “We have a group of kids that want to prove something for themselves, and I tell them it’s OK to want to prove something for yourself, as long as it’s coming from the right place. Because if you’re striving for something great for yourself, it’s only going to benefit the team. It means you’re going to do something that much harder. So we have a lot of kids who are striving to do something great for themselves, which will trickle into team success.”
Odugbela knows Year 1 isn’t likely to result in massive success. He recognizes that they’re not at the level of the favorites in Class AA like CATS and Cushing – yet. His goal this winter is for his team to have an open mind for growth and learning while competing, but also wants to make a push for the playoffs. He knows firsthand that anything can happen – St. Andrews was a No. 6 seed when they won the title in 2006 – if you just make the dance.
“The goal is to make some noise, the goal is to get as far as we can go, and grow as tall as we can grow,” he said.
“Everyone’s excited about what this will look like, what this could look like. … Everyone’s excited, because it’s something new, right? They’ve been in scholastic for 100 years. … This is a whole new 100 years we’re trying to start.”
