From Tiger to Bolt: Legacy’s Connor Clay, Colin McGillin make their return to Holy Family

When Legacy head boys basketball coach Connor Clay looks back to his time student-teaching for Pete Villecco at Aspen Creek PreK-8 School, he cant help but laugh.

He didnt realize how much skill it took to stack plastic cups in physical education classes.

It was his first real feet to the fire moment as a P.E.

teacher, which would one day inspire his coaching philosophy with the Lightning.

He learned it from his old high school coach, no less.

Villecco first began coaching the Tigers when Clay was a junior, and took them to the Class 3A final four a year later.

Theres the coordination, the speed and a lot of motor development skills, that go into it, Clay recalled.

Its hard, especially when you dont know what youre doing.

You have third graders kicking your butt.

The whole process of how to teach it was funny.

I dont really know how to put it in words, but it was a good time.

On Tuesday night, Clay and his junior varsity coach, Colin McGillin, returned to their old stomping grounds for the first time as coaches, and marveled at how much the school had changed in the 13 years since.

The school added an entire new wing of the building, a secondary gym and a college-level weight room in 2019.

The new Granite Peaks League put Holy Family and Legacy in the same conference for the first time in their tenure with the Lightning.

Villeccos Tigers defeated the Lightning with a 58-48 final by using their stellar shot selection.

Clay said his teams shots, while smart, just wouldnt fall when it needed them to.

He first took over as head coach in 2017.

Villecco served as a resource for Clay as he was learning the ropes of coaching.

It would be the one and only time I will ever and have ever hoped Holy Family lost a game, Clay said.

Ive always cheered for them in the background.

Even in our league, I cheer for them in every game.

It was exciting to be on the other end of the bench, you know, hoping that we could beat them and just different.

McGillin played JV as a freshman and sophomore under Gunnar Johnson and marveled at the schools expansion.

Hes enjoyed coaching alongside his longtime friend, especially from the analytical side of the game.

Now, he and Clay coach Johnsons son, Lightning senior shooting guard Trey Johnson, who was just a toddler running around at their practices when they played for HFHS.

The fact that theres a whole new gym and you could get lost in a school you went to for four years is just wild and cool to see, McGillin said.

Its been just exciting.

I always excelled at kind of the thinking things out, approaching it almost like a puzzle, and you get a different puzzle each year.

As a coach, thats kind of a joy along with some of the frustrations, but its awesome when it comes together.

You get a different group of people every time.

Gunnar Johnson said hes taken pride watching his former proteges transform into the successful coaching staff that earned Legacy boys hoops first-ever playoff victory in 2022.

The Lightning played into the Great 8 that year, and have been perennial Sweet 16 candidates ever since.

Something I still always tease Connor about to this day is that if that guy could have gotten in shape, he would have played varsity for me as a sophomore, Johnson said.

He got tired running up and down the court three times back then.

Connor was a super good athlete, super good player.

And you could tell that he was really heady, knew the game.

I can remember we were getting ready to play Peak to Peak, and they had a kid that was just a dynamite shooter.

Whenever he got it, he shot it.

So for a scout team, I said, Connor, youre this guy.

Colin, he is a role player, but the thing about Colin is he knew what his role was.

Hes got to go out there, defend, play defense.

And he bought into it and was such a great teammate.

If you cant get kids to know what their role is, its really hard to be successful.

I see that now at Legacy too.

He knows what his role is on the staff.

He does a great job of coaching the JV there, knowing what his role as JV coach is to get those kids ready for the next level to play varsity, getting them all minutes.

The Lightning have one final, regular-season road game at Boulder on Saturday before learning where theyll land in the 6A state tournament.

Clay said that no matter what happens, win or lose, he hopes his team will just play its best.

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