(This story first published on suseagulls.com)
On December 4th, 2024, Leo Ferry made his collegiate debut draped in Salisbury University's maroon and gold, taking the floor against Washington College in Chestertown, Md. His dream of playing college basketball had, at long last, become a reality.
To those on the outside, Ferry's jump to the next level would come as no surprise. Ferry blossomed into a star in his senior season at Bellmore JFK High School on Long Island, New York, averaging 21 points per game and leading all Long Island high school players with a school record 72 three-pointers to earn All-County and Jojo Wright Player of the Year honors.
Despite an impressive high school resume, Ferry's path to collegiate hoops was fueled by an unrelenting determination and a near-unmatchable love for the game. Facing odds that would've stopped most in childhood, he took every setback in stride to excel in the game he loves.
Ferry was born on August 23rd, 2006 with a rare condition known as a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, causing him to form just five percent of a diaphragm. He was taken from his mother for emergency medical treatment immediately after birth and doctors gave him a 20 percent chance of survival, not expecting him to survive the night.
Leo would begin his life by defying those odds, spending a month in the hospital before being permitted to return home with his family for the first time, albeit under strict conditions. Among these stipulations were the presence of a home health nurse to monitor his condition, the use of a feeding tube, and the restriction from attending preschool due to his health as he grew older.
But none of these compared to the worst restriction of them all – he was told he would never play sports and could not participate in any physical activity.
The Ferry family eats, sleeps, and breathes basketball. Leo's father, Jim Ferry, enters his 19th season as a collegiate head basketball coach and his fourth at Division I UMBC, while each of his siblings spent plenty of time on the court growing up.
"I was a Division I college basketball coach when [Leo] was born, that's been a big part of our family," Jim Ferry said. "Basketball is in the family blood and he was around it all the time."
"My earliest memories are on the sidelines of basketball games," Leo said in a TED talk. "Watching my dad coach his teams or cheering on my brother and sisters at all of their games, just dreaming of making big plays on those same courts."
With that upbringing, Leo was destined to end up on the court eventually. His hours spent on the court grew as he did, and before he knew it, he was following his older brother, James, to suit up for Bellmore JFK.
"Keeping me on the sidelines was impossible," Leo said. "How [could anyone] keep me on the sideline when I was basically born with the ball in my hands?"
It started with shooting the basketball in the driveway with his father, shooting from eight feet away on an eight-foot hoop. After watching his skills and his love for the game develop, Jim Ferry decided it was time to get Leo playing basketball for real.
"I'd sit out there with him, toss him the ball and he would shoot it," Jim Ferry said. "Next thing you know he's making 10 in a row, then he's making 20 in a row, then he's making 50 in a row."
Leo topped out at over 90 consecutive makes on his home hoop. His love for the game also grew off the court, with his knowledge of college and pro players and their stats surprising even his father and siblings on occasion.
Once considered a long shot just to handle a basketball, Leo quickly elevated his game to become one of the Island's best shooters and the top player on his high school team. Driven to surpass the accomplishments of his older brother, Leo followed in his footsteps to the same AAU program (Crown Basketball), Bellmore JFK, and eventually the collegiate level, with James committing to the University of Tampa before Leo chose Salisbury.
Jim Ferry has coached many student-athletes across his 22 years in the business, and he has always been honest with his children about their abilities. Despite all the areas that Leo has improved since beginning to play basketball, Jim said his son's impact as a teammate may be one of his best traits.
"He's always been a great teammate," Jim said. "Nothing was ever easy for him and he was never the star on his team until his senior year of high school, so he learned how to be a fantastic teammate. In my house, we talk about that stuff being really important. All the credit goes to him. He has a great approach to life, he's smart and he has a great opportunity to be a leader… I'm more proud of that than anything he does on the court."
Leo is now, officially, the first student-athlete in the history of the NCAA to compete without a diaphragm. The lesson? Never let the odds define you.
"I never let the condition define me," Leo said. "If I was told I can't do something, I wanted to show everybody else that I can do it and you can do it, too."
"I haven't stopped breathing, and I won't stop dribbling any time soon."
