City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@jsantoliquito)
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Weather never mattered.

Brothers Nick and John Spinoso’s private wars came in downpours where they barely looked up to see the basket from the pelting rain in their eyes, to their fingers so numb from the cold that they hardly felt the basketball, to toiling like construction workers under a blazing sun.

Nick, Penn’s 6-foot-9, senior three-year starting forward, was always the high bar his younger brother John tried to reach. Their games would devolve sometimes into John stomping off crying after a loss, to snowball fights out of frustration.

It was constant. Regardless of where it was or what it was, the brothers were always doing something basketball related.

It is a relationship that has developed through time where Nick was always helping John, four years younger, improve. Recently, their special bond has become reciprocal.

Penn is looking to rebound from its 11-18 overall finish and 3-11 Ivy League record last year. Nick will be the centerpiece of that turnaround, with a large assist from his brother John, a 6-5 junior guard at Cheshire Academy, a prep school in Cheshire, Connecticut.  

The brothers are inseparable. John played the role of the annoying younger brother, going everywhere big brother Nick went. John, 17, was the water boy for Nick’s AAU teams, sitting at the end of the bench and hoisting shots when he could between summer league breaks.

The roles have since reversed. Nick, who will turn 22 in October, is now one of John’s AAU coaches, and found himself on the bench this summer, watching his younger brother play.

“They share each other’s love of basketball, and they share their extremely high basketball IQ, but where Nick is the typical, first-born big brother, who is very easy going, John has that little brother energy, who is a bit of an instigator,” said someone who should know -- their mother, Kim. “John is a little different, more stoic. Nick put up with a lot of little brother energy when they were younger. John would get frustrated and throw a toy at Nick (laughs). Nick is a very caring big brother, but he is really tough on John. Now that they’re older, they push each other. They work really well together.”

It's taken some time.

Nick and John both played for Crown AAU, run by Chris Diasparra. Everything about Crown, out of Long Island, New York, is about family. When Nick was playing, Diasparra allowed John to travel with the team, young enough where his feet would dangle from the bench. He was there for the long trips to Spooky Nook.

This summer, Diasparra tapped Nick to help coach John’s Crown U17 team. Nick, who will graduate with a degree in communications from Penn’s prestigious Annenberg School in May, led Crown to a 38-2 record in 2019 and five different Hoop Group Jam Fest championships. It’s what helped draw Nick to the attention of Penn coach Steve Donahue.

The Spinosos are very much a “basketball family.” Gerry, Nick and John’s father, played at Long Island University. And though they live in Port Washington (N.Y.), which is on Long Island, the Spinosos have family roots in the Philadelphia area. Kim’s father, Charlie Bechtel, played for Delaware Township High School in South Jersey, which became Cherry Hill High School and eventually split into the current incarnation of Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West. Bechtel went on to play for Furman.

“Yeah, you can say basketball is something we Spinosos can’t escape,” said Nick, laughing. “Growing up, it’s funny to say, I was always the softer one out of the two of us, always trying to set the example for John. He’s always been the tougher guy because his only competition growing up has been me. Basketball has kept us both focused. Having a younger brother, I tried to set an example, and he has helped me keep my edge.

“I never took it easy on him.”

John and Nick Spinoso sit side-by-side on the bench during a Crown Basketball game in July at Spooky Nook Sports in Manheim, Pa. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

And when the two would duel—Nick always won.

That is until …

“Is this going to be published?” Nick asked, laughing.

John finally got his big brother last summer working out one weekend at Port Washington High School, where John played at the time. Nick started by talking some smack, teasing John he could not hit threes. Then something happened: John began nailing treys in a game up to 11, with three-pointers counting as two points. John took an early lead, and Nick caught up to him, tying it at 9-9. John hit a pair of shots, winning it.

Port Washington is located only three minutes from where the Spinosos live — the longest three-minute drive of Nick’s life.

“It’s like a reoccurring nightmare,” Nick said (laughing). “He hit the two most ridiculous shots of his life to beat me. He has not won since. John didn’t talk as much, but there was some joy there. I may have screamed some expletives. If anyone knows me, they know my brother is my best friend, and I’ve always said he is better than me. I got a little lucky and grew to be 6-9. But that day, something I was not about to admit to him, I was proud of him. That was a proud big-brother moment.”   

Last season was difficult on Nick and the Quakers. Penn has not won an Ivy League title nor appeared in an NCAA Tournament game in Nick’s first three years. There was one stretch last season when the Quakers lost 10 of 11 games. Losing leading scorer Clark Slajchert for over a month with an ankle injury was a gut punch. The Quakers were lost and could not rebound.

After sophomore Tyler Perkins (13.8) transferred to Villanova, Nick is back as the Quakers’ leading scorer among returning starters (10.8 ppg), and Penn’s leading rebounder (7.9/game) and shot blocker (30).

Nick, who aspires to play professionally after Penn, will be the face of the 2024-25 Quakers.

“I will be more vocal this year and being a leader is something I got a taste of last year. It was part of my responsibility to turn it around when things went south and it really sucked,” said Nick, the disappointment in the tone of his voice. “It is something I never experienced before. The biggest thing I learned from last year was, even though it may not be indicative of the score, I would say, six or seven Ivy League games were determined by four possessions. If I didn’t throw a turnover, or something else happened, games were determined by a close margin of error.

“Every time I lift, every time I do conditioning, every time I play or shoot, last year is motivation. I don’t slack, but John calls me out if he thinks I’m slacking. He will bring it up, ‘That’s why you guys were 3-11 last year; that’s why you guys sucked.’ Oh, it gets me going. It’s tough love. I think that’s healthy though. He’s been the helping hand. We talk through every game. I know last year he felt my pain, absolutely. My whole family did. We are very close-knit.

“He pushes me; I push John. I would love to see him go to Penn, which has been a great fit for me. But John is getting some Ivy League attention. I want him to go what best fits him. On the court, I like our chances this year. When we turn this around behind the scenes, doing things no one knows about, John will be the unsung hero of me.”

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Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.