‘One of the best kids I've ever coached’: Franklin High hoop star earns top league award

CJ Neely shared some good news with his team on Sunday.

Before the Franklin High boys basketball team scrimmaged Chelmsford at Franklin High, the ninth-year Franklin head coach gathered his players at center court and reported that Justin Allen, Ben Harvey and Sean O’Leary were named Hockomock League All-Stars — while Andrew O’Neill earned an honorable mention.

And as Neely wrapped up his announcement, the Franklin coach disclosed one final nugget of information: O’Leary was also named the league’s Most Valuable Player.

“All my teammates were really happy for me and supporting and they were hyping me up all year saying I’d win MVP,” O’Leary, 17, said. “They all just kind of stormed me and huddled around and started chanting. Just all excited, hitting me on the head. I love my teammates, they’re great.

“We’re all supportive of one another and it was definitely a great feeling.”

A constant reminder on his phone

Following a playoff loss to Catholic Memorial last season, Neely took O’Leary aside for a post-season meeting and told his then sophomore that he expected O’Leary to be one of the best players in the league this winter.

To live up to his coach’s billing, O’Leary jotted down some of his goals heading into the 2022-23 campaign.

“Some of the goals I wrote were to win (league) MVP, a Hock championship, which we got and hopefully a state championship,” said O’Leary, who is now a junior. “I wrote it in pen and paper, wrote the date and took a picture of it. I have a widget on my phone where I can see (the picture) on my home screen.

“It’s a nice reminder.”

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound forward is currently averaging 20.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, and served as a centerpiece for a Franklin team that went 18-1 in the regular season and won a Hockomock League Kelley-Rex title.

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O’Leary is the first Franklin player to be named Hockomock League MVP since 2016, when Tim Prunier earned the recognition.

“(O’Leary is) unguardable,” said Allen, a senior captain. “He’s really smart, he can shoot the ball, he can beat you in pretty much any way and I think the most underrated part of his game is how hard he plays. He’s so versatile. He's a great athlete. He’s big and he doesn’t really have any weakness in his game.”

Franklin eyes state title as No. 3 seed in Division 1 playoffs

Having already checked off two of his biggest goals for the season, O’Leary now turns his attention to the ultimate prize as Franklin, a No. 3 seed in the Division 1 MIAA tournament, will host either No. 30 Weymouth or No. 35 Lexington on Thursday (7 p.m.) in a Round of 32 contest.

“We want a state championship, obviously,” said O’Leary, who sports a 4.0 GPA and is also a member of the Franklin Unified basketball team. “We’re a high seed but that still doesn’t mean anything, we have to go out there and prove it.”

So far this winter, O’Leary proved to be the best player in the Hockomock League. His coach was more than happy to share the news with his standout forward — and team — on Sunday.

“When you have a kid who gives all of himself to you as a coach and trusts you 100 percent and is so good to his teammates — you want those guys to get those awards at the end of the tunnel,” Neely said. “He’s arguably one of the best kids I've ever coached.

“He’s one of the nicest kids and one of my favorites I’ve coached so far.”

Tommy Cassell is a senior multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tcassell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Franklin High basketball star Sean O'Leary named Hockomock League MVP