Wes Leonard earns All-State honors

VICKSBURG, Mich. (AP) - Wes Leonard's parents quietly unwrapped the package.

The contents -- a framed All-State certificate bearing their son's name -- provided a brief moment of joy, followed by more pain.

"It was a dream come true," Jocelyn Leonard said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "But it's a mixed feeling."

If Wes was alive to hear the news that he had been voted to The Associated Press Class C All-State team, Gary and Jocelyn Leonard believe he would've deflected credit to his teammates.

"He wasn't about himself," Jocelyn Leonard told the AP last week at Vicksburg High School shortly after Fennville's season-ending loss to Schoolcraft in the regional semifinals. "He was a good kid."

The world found that out earlier this month.

The 16-year-old Leonard made a game-winning shot to lift his beloved Blackhawks to a 20-0 record on March 3, then collapsed seconds later. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Ottawa County medical examiner determined Leonard died of cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart.

The stunning and tragic death drew national attention to Fennville, a West Michigan town of 1,400 not far from Lake Michigan.

Leonard was a football and basketball star in the tiny community and he didn't act like one on or off the court. Fennville Area Fire Chief Lowell Winne said the kid he coached in middle school football matured into a young man who made everyone better the moment he walked into a room. He said his peers wanted to be like him.

"Everybody -- the community, our archrivals, the media – has been unbelievably great to us," Gary Leonard said quietly, staring at the floor in Vicksburg High School after he and his wife visited Fennville's locker room. "But this is just so hard."

The Leonards, who were relieved last week when their 13-year-old son was given a clean bill of health from a cardiologist, hope to create a cause in their late son's name to become a part of his lasting legacy.

Leonard was voted to the all-state team shortly after his death, receiving enough votes from a 10-person panel of Michigan sportswriters.

The 6-foot-2 junior averaged about 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists in his final season.

"He could've scored at least 30 points a game, easily, if we left him in the post," Fennville coach Ryan Klingler said this week. "But we needed him on the outside to run our team this season and he accepted his role like the true leader he was for us."

Klingler shared coach of the year honors with Schoolcraft's Randy Small, whose team eliminated Fennville in the regional finals. His wife has already found a place to proudly display the framed certificate.

"I will get to enjoy it at some point," Klingler said in a voice little louder than a whisper.

Fennville athletic director Tony Petkus said gave Klingler credit for holding the team together to win a district championship, and for gracefully handling his role as the go-to voice for what became a national story.

"He and Wes were very close, so it was a huge challenge for him to fight through his own emotions and still lead the team," Petkus said. "What he did was remarkable."

Like the Leonards, the Blackhawks are just starting to get a chance to grieve.

"ESPN had a crew here in town until late Wednesday night, two days after our last game, and we were busy with other media requests all of last week," Petkus said. "Hopefully soon, we can begin to move toward some sort of normalcy and let the grieving process take place."

Jocelyn Leonard said she's "doing better," but her husband and Klingler have been distraught.

"It's so hard to see my husband and Ryan still struggling to much," she said. "It's tough."

Leonard's All-State certificate is in his parents' bedroom, but soon will have a space on what the family calls its wall of fame.

The hallway that goes between the boys' bedrooms and a garage big enough for an RV and a gymnasium has framed awards on the wall, including honor roll and all-conference certificates alongside snapshots from vacations.

"We have some great memories," Jocelyn Leonard said. "The All-State certificate is another one of them."