directors
Jesse Winter: President & CEO
Coach Jesse Winter started his basketball career at South Side High School where he was a 2-year captain and a standout player. He was inducted into the program’s Hall of Fame for his achievements of being All-Long Island and leading the team to the Nassau County Championship Games. After high school, Jesse played at SUNY Cortland where he was a 2-year Captain. For the Red Dragons, he graduated as the All-Time Leading Career Scorer record in the school’s history scoring 1,525 points, was 2nd All-Time in assists and a 2-time All American that helped lead the team to a SUNYAC Championship that advanced to the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament. After College, Jesse played 1 season of professional basketball in Israel in the National League for Ramat Hasharon. Jesse is currently a FIBA Certified basketball trainer. He was the Basketball Director at Camps such as Camp Wayne, Coalman Country and the Junior Knicks Virtual Summer Basketball Camp. In 2021, he coached our 5th Grade Team to an AAU D2 National Championship in Orlando, Florida. In 2024, he coached our 8th Grade Team a Nike – Balling On The Beach National Championship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Jesse was recently named the AAU Boys’ Basketball Advisory Committee Chair nationally and internationally. While continuing in his role with Level Up LI he will lead this advisory committee of key basketball stakeholders who have extensive knowledge of basketball operations to aid in the growth and development of AAU Basketball Programs. AAU President Joe Mirza, who formed the committee, is who Jesse will be reporting to along with Jim Fox who is an AAU Board member and Special Advisor to the to President Mirza. The announcement read as follows:
“Winter has an extensive basketball pedigree having been named to both his high school and college Hall of Fames. While attending SUNY Cortland, he became that college’s All-Time leading scorer, a record that was held for more than 10 years. Eight years ago, Winter founded Level Up Long Island, an AAU program that has grown to sixty (60) boys’ and girls’ teams ranging from 2nd through 12th grades. All skill levels are represented at Level Up Long Island, providing participation opportunities for athletes from beginner to elite abilities.
“There is virtually no one who has more knowledge about what is going on in Boys’ club basketball right now than Jesse Winter,” said Jim Fox, AAU Board member and Special Advisor to the President for AAU Basketball. “We are excited to welcome Jesse Winter to the new advisory committee. Mr. Winter is dedicated to the growth of AAU Basketball and will be a great asset to our organization.”
Trevor Stark: Boys Basketball Director
Coach Trevor Stark started his basketball career at Robert F. Kennedy High School where he was a 2-year Captain. He was the school’s All-Time Leading Scorer and finished 2nd All-Time in assists. He then attended Hilbert College in Buffalo, NY, where he was 1st Team All-Conference in his Junior and Senior years. He capped his Hawk career as a 1,000 point scorer and the 8th highest All-Time scorer in the school’s history. He also helped lead the team to its first regular season conference championship. He finished 1st All-Time in free throw percentage and 2nd All-Time in assists. After college Trevor played 3 seasons professionally in Israel for Hapoel Tzfat and Hapoel Maboaim.
Nikko Callender: Boys Middle & High School Director
Coach Nikko Callender starred at Baldwin HS where he was a 2-time All-County player. From there he played at Concordia College as a 3-year starter. He became one of a select group of student-athletes in school history reaching the 75 plateau in every major stat category — blocks, steals, points, rebounds and assists. After College Nikko began coaching at Mineola HS winning JV Conference Coach of the Year. He then joined the Baldwin HS coaching staff where he twice won JV Conference Coach of the Year and produced a record of 48-9. For 2 years he was the Assistant Coach of D2 NYIT and Queens College. Currently, he is the Head Coach for LuHi’s Regional team and the Athletic Director and Basketball Head for Camp IHC in Pennsylvania.
Ashley Jackson: Girls Middle School Director
Coach Ashley Jackson started her basketball career at Amityville Memorial High School where she was a 4-year starter. From there she went to Nassau Community College where she continued her education and basketball career then transferred to York College of Pennsylvania where she completed her college career. After College she began coaching at Nassau Community College for 2 years as the Assistant Head Coach for the Women’s Basketball Team where she helped build the foundation of a strong program. Ashley was previously the Head Girls’ Varsity Basketball Coach at Amityville Memorial High School. She spent 2 seasons with Five Towns College as the Assistant Coach and is now heading into her first season as the Head Varsity Coach at Lawerence Woodmere Academy. Ashley is also a clinician with the Long Island Nets G-League team.
Brad Weiss: Boys Elementary School Director
Coach Brad Weiss started his basketball career at Plainview JFK High School. He was a 3-year Varsity starter, a captain his senior year and racked up awards such as All Conference and All Long Island. Coach Brad was also a member of LongIslandBasketball.com’s Honor Roll of top LI high school basketball players. He went on to play for D3 St. Joseph’s College in Long Island. He was a 3-year starter at D3 SJC where one season he was 3rd in the Skyline Conference in blocked shots and ranked towards the top in SJC school history in blocked shots. Coach Brad has experience coaching and counseling players of all ages for the NCPAL. He is also involved as a clinician for the Long Island Nets for all age groups. This year was his second season as the JV Basketball Coach at Plainview JFK High School. This year he received Conference Coach of the Year honors.
Chris Coalmon: Director of Player Development
Coach Chris Coalman started his high school career at St. Mary’s for 2 years where he played major minutes and helped them get to the Catholic School Championship and Semifinals on Long Island. He transferred to LuHi as an upperclassmen and was named 1st Team All-Long Island and All-State as a senior. He capped his career scoring 1,500 points. He received a D1 scholarship to play at Robert Morris and after 2 years transferred to Adelphi University where he was a star player for the team. Chris was the Graduate Assistant at Adelphi for 2 years where he also received his Master’s Degree. He is now the Head JV Coach at St. John the Baptist High School.
Kelly Dempsey: Girls Director
Coach Kelly Dempsey started her basketball career at Hicksville High School where she was a 5-year varsity starter and was an integral part of her team winning two Nassau County Championships. From there she played at Mount Saint Mary College and led her team to a Skyline Championship. After college she helped build the NCPAL Headquarters Activity Basketball program and is currently a basketball director for that NCPAL unit. Kelly is the Head Clinician for the Long Island Nets and New York Liberty. Nominated by the Long Island Nets, Kelly was a 2020 Jr. NBA Coach of the Year semifinalist. Also in 2020, Kelly was presented as a Community Hero by the Long Island Nets. She has been coaching at Mineola High School since 2015 where she is the Girls Assistant Varsity Basketball Coach. In addition, Kelly was also a 5-year varsity volleyball player in high school. Starting in 2017, Kelly began her volleyball coaching career. To give back, Kelly assists the NCPAL Special Needs Basketball team and volunteers to work the basketball Special Olympics.
Darren Davy: Director of Team Development
Coach Darren started his basketball career at West Hempstead High School (WHHS) where he was a 3-year varsity starter and 2-year team captain. At WHHS, Darren received two All-Conference awards, one All-County award, and won back-to-back Conference Championships. After graduating from WHHS, he attended Long Island University – CW Post where he red-shirted for a year. He made a quick stop at Misericordia University for his red-shirt freshman season, but later transferred to Fairleigh Dickinson University – Madison Campus (FDU) to finish up his remaining college basketball years. At FDU, Darren became an outstanding performer being the 3rd leading scorer in the conference his junior year and obtaining All-Conference and Team MVP honors during his tenure there. After college, Darren is looking to give back to the game that has given him so much. Outside of Level Up, Darren is the Basketball Director at Tyler Hill Camp in Pennsylvania.
Erin Tully: Girls Elementary School Director
Coach Erin Tully started her basketball career at Sacred Heart Academy. She was a 2-year varsity starter and captain both years while earning the Coaches Award. She then played college basketball at CW Post where her team made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 tournament. It was the most successful season that the school had in decades. Erin is excited to join the Level Up family and have her passion for basketball live on through her players.
Evan Conti: Program Consultant
Coach Evan Conti started his basketball career at Holy Cross High School where he was a standout player and Captain in his senior season. He finished 5th All-time in scoring and earned 1st-Team in the CHSAA, which is one of the best high School leagues in the country. Additionally, he was selected to the Jewish Sports Review All-American Team and 2nd-Team All-City by the New York Post, Daily News and was also a McDonald’s All-American game nominee. Conti was the MVP of the 18th world Maccabiah Games for the 16U age in 2009 leading them to championship victory with a game high in points. Fast forward a few years later to 2013, he won the gold medal in the 19th Maccabiah games in 2013 for the Open team under legendary European coach Brad Greenberg. After high school, Evan played Division 1 Basketball at Quinnipiac University where he played 121 career games and had a successful career. After College he played 3 seasons of professional basketball in israel for Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Hapoel Migdal Haemek and Hapoel Afula. Evan was the Assistant Coach, then Head Coach at D2 NYIT. Now he is the Top Assistant Coach at St. Michaels in Vermont.