Meet Ottawa's 21-year-old rising basketball coaching star

He may only be 21 years old, but Hennessy Roppovalente is already making his mark in the professional basketball world.

"I get to help out a lot with recruiting players and scouting and a little bit of coaching as well," said the Ottawa Blackjacks player personnel and strategy coordinator. "Played basketball growing up a little bit. Never really good at it, but I always loved the side that had to do with, you know, transactions and signing players and negotiating the salary cap, and finding the value of players where other people couldn't.

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Compared to other coaches in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), Roppovalente looks relatively young — but don't let that fool you.

"His wisdom is beyond his years," said Ottawa Blackjacks performance director Sean Stoqua. "He actually reminds me a little bit of Steve Bower, who's my old university coach. He's now the associate head coach for the women's national team who didn't have a super big background in playing himself, but, you know, learned the stats and the analytics side and really made a great career for him."

Hennessy Roppovalente (middle) is the Ottawa Blackjacks player personnel and strategy coordinator. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)

Roppovalente was part of the uOttawa Gee-Gees OUA championship-winning and national bronze medalist team in 2022-2023 as their basketball analytics assistant.

General manager and head coach James Derouin, who is also the uOttawa Gee-Gees head coach, says Roppolvante's moxie and willingness to learn led to his role on the team.

"He understands the game enough that it's not just analytics, it's not just numbers," said Derouin. "He's passionate about learning the coaching side of basketball as well."

While it was a slow start to the season for the Blackjacks, they made it to the playoffs. Roppovalente's contributions played a big part in that.

"The roster that's here now is the group that he helped put together," said Derouin. That includes finding players like Isaih Moore.

The 6-foot-10 centre from South Carolina dominated the boards this season and is one of the league's top rebounders for the 2024 season.

"He gave me this kind of, you know, what it was going to be like as well as, you know, what the team was like, what the CEBL was like overall. [Hennessy is] what got me to Canada," said Moore.

The Ottawa native, who grew up in Orleans hopes to one day make it to the NBA.

"My goal is definitely to reach the highest level, to reach the NBA and to one day contribute to a winning team at that level as well," said Roppovalente. "Probably GM. I mean, I like to aim high, so that's probably my goal. But you know, I always got to get my foot in the door somewhere and I'll always want more experience working in basketball."

Hennessy Roppovalente (top right) on the sidelines with the Ottawa Blackjacks. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)

But he has a few things to knock off his list first, like completing his undergrad degree in finance and business analytics and helping the Blackjacks secure a spot in Montreal for the 2024 CEBL Championship Weekend.

"I really just enjoy the opportunity to help out in my hometown to see how Canadian basketball, even over the time that I've been here, has continued to grow on this league," he said.

The Ottawa Blacksjacks play Friday against reigning champions the Scarborough Shooting Stars in Toronto at 7 p.m. Should they win, they move on to play the Niagara River Lions in St. Catharines in the Eastern Conference Semifinal on Aug. 4.