Chapter Six: The Players Who Became the Hearts
The history of the West Leonard Hearts starts with Wes Leonard.
But the history of the BeerCityHoops Hearts starts with a basketball league full of players who were willing to become something new.
When the Hearts were created in 2023, they weren’t an established franchise waiting for players to arrive. BeerCityHoops describes the original squad as being formed through the recruiting efforts of the other teams in the league. In other words, the Hearts were assembled from the existing basketball community and given a new identity—one built around Wes Leonard’s legacy and the idea that the team should make an impact both on and off the court.
That makes the Hearts’ player history different from some of the other BeerCityHoops franchises.
There isn’t one single founding basketball family.
There is a collection of players who, at different points, put on the Hearts jersey and became part of the story.
And over three seasons, that collection has produced a surprisingly substantial statistical history.
Jody Breeze: The Original Heart
If there is one player who represents the early statistical history of the franchise, it is Jody Breeze.
Breeze’s BeerCityHoops profile identifies him as a guard and records him with the Hearts beginning in 2023. His career with the franchise spans the first three documented Hearts seasons, from Year 4 through Year 6.
His numbers tell a story of a player who contributed in virtually every part of the game.
Across his Hearts career, Breeze has appeared in 53 games, scoring 259 points while collecting 179 rebounds, 101 assists and 63 steals. He has also knocked down 36 three-pointers.
Those numbers don’t necessarily describe the loudest player in the gym.
They describe a guy who keeps showing up.
And that becomes particularly important when you look at the Hearts’ history. The team wasn’t built around one superstar. It was built through players taking turns carrying pieces of the identity.
Breeze became one of the constants.
By Year 6, BeerCityHoops reported that he had played in all 15 weeks leading into the final week of the regular season, putting him in a small group of players around the league with that level of availability.
For a team whose identity is based on perseverance and the importance of being prepared when somebody needs you, there is something fitting about that.
Jody Breeze kept being there.
JMills: The Interior Backbone
If Breeze represents the guard’s contribution to the Hearts, JMills represents the other end of the basketball equation.
The BeerCityHoops database lists JMills as a Forward-Guard, and his Hearts career has produced one of the largest statistical footprints in the franchise.
In 48 games, JMills has scored 359 points and grabbed an extraordinary 403 rebounds.
That’s an average of 8.4 rebounds per game over his Hearts career.
He has also accumulated 89 assists and 89 steals.
Those are the numbers of somebody who isn’t simply standing around waiting for the ball.
He is involved.
He is around the basketball.
And he has been one of the players responsible for turning missed shots into additional possessions.
By the end of the Year 6 regular season, JMills was tied for third in the entire league in rebounding with 111 rebounds, a figure that put him alongside ADaKid in the league’s top rebounding group.
For a team that ultimately won a championship, those second chances mattered.
Good Job James: The Long-Range Volume Shooter
Then there is Good Job James.
And if the Hearts had to hand out a statistical award for please stop shooting that thing unless you’re ready to make it, James would have a pretty strong résumé.
BeerCityHoops lists him as a guard.
His Hearts career includes 43 games, 470 points, 141 assists and 37 steals. But the most obvious part of his statistical profile is the three-point volume: 92 made threes on 327 attempts.
That means James has accounted for a huge portion of the franchise’s long-range offense.
His career scoring average with the Hearts is 11.2 points per game, the highest among the players listed on the franchise’s all-time statistics page.
There is a particular role in every basketball team for the guy who isn’t afraid to let one fly.
Sometimes the shot goes in.
Sometimes it hits something that wasn’t supposed to be involved in the possession.
But the defense has to respect the possibility.
And over time, that becomes part of a team’s identity.
Good Job James is part of that identity.
Hamlet: The Big Body in the Middle
Hamlet gives the Hearts something every basketball team needs: size.
BeerCityHoops lists him as a Forward-Center, and his 41 Hearts games have produced 182 points, 242 rebounds and 16 blocked shots.
His 242 rebounds are particularly notable.
He isn’t there to simply run the floor and launch threes.
He’s there to occupy the middle.
Grab the ball.
Contest shots.
Make people think twice about driving.
And absorb the punishment that comes with playing around the basket in adult basketball.
By Year 6, Hamlet had also become one of the Hearts’ most dependable players. BeerCityHoops reported that he had played in all 15 weeks heading into t
