MAKING IT ON VARSITY : Coaches Take Care When Dealing With Talented Freshmen

They’re big and talented and have a couple of summers of experience on all-star traveling teams. But not all coaches believe in promoting talented players to the varsity level in their first year. After all, outside factors can make life difficult for a freshman.

Just for a moment, imagine you’re a 14-year-old boy approaching your first year of high school. There’s the anticipation of carrying a full load of classes, including Algebra and perhaps a foreign language.

You’re also wondering if you’ll be socially accepted by all the new students you’re about to meet. Will your clothes be “in?” Will any girl bother to talk to you at lunch time?

Somehow, you manage to adjust to high school life. Those classes are tough, but you’re getting B’s and C’s. And you’ve even made a few new friends.

Now comes the big challenge. Basketball practice is about to begin and you think you’ve got a good chance of making the team. You’ve been a standout since fifth grade and played on traveling all-star teams since seventh grade.

Coaches say you’ve got a good future in the program, but you’re startled when, on the first day of practice, you’re working out with the junior varsity and varsity players.

The season begins and the head coach announces you’re on the varsity team.

A freshman on the varsity? No way.

They’re too small, too young and inexperienced to handle the rigors of varsity basketball, aren’t they? Not always. Nine freshmen are listed on varsity programs throughout Orange County this season.

A quick check of the rosters in the Irvine Tournament program last month showed that four schools listed freshmen. Three schools in the prestigious Tournament of Champions had freshmen.

Trendy, but is it healthy? Is it right to expect a 14-year-old to compete against players two, three or even four years older on the basketball court? Is it right to expect him to deal with the complexities of high school life and to perform on the varsity level?

“It’s almost asking too much of a freshman to play varsity basketball,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said. But McKnight had guard Chris Patton on the varsity last year and has forward Kevin Rembert on the varsity this season.

“I’d just as soon see all freshmen playing freshmen basketball and almost wished we had the old college, freshman eligibility rule,” Ocean View Coach Jim Harris said, who had center Ricky Butler on the varsity last year. Butler eventually became a starter.

“Any coach who brings a freshman up to the varsity is more concerned with basketball than the total picture of a ninth-grader in high school,” Santa Ana freshman Coach Greg Katz said.

There are several potential problems for freshman playing varsity ball. Will the older players accept him? How does an older player react when his position is taken by the freshman?

Marina Coach Steve Popovich recently dealt with this dilemma. Popovich opened the first day of practice with only eight players, while two of his players were competing in the football playoffs and two others were injured. He decided to elevate 6-5 freshman forward Steve Guild to the varsity on a day-by-day basis.

Guild, in Popovich’s words, is a polished player with a nice jump shot who rebounds well and plays hard. He filled in for injured senior John Draheim and eventually won a starting position. Guild’s story became a question of needs.

“I decided to teach Steve our system, rather than bring him up in mid-December and hope he was ready for league play,” Popovich said. “My main concern was whether he would be accepted by the other players.

“This is my first shot at having a freshman on the varsity. But I think Steve’s ability has gained the others’ respect. Most big freshmen are gangly types who start out on the district freshman team. The only other freshman I can ever remember playing varsity at Marina was Bob Losner in the early 70s.”

Popovich’s other concern was the possibility of Guild losing his confidence against difficult competition.

“The trend today is to place a kid a step ahead of his class,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of good players lose their confidence by playing at a level that was too high for them. Steve has gotten better and better each day, and you can see he’s more comfortable on the court.”

One player, however, became uncomfortable with Guild’s presence: Draheim quit last week.

While Guild starts at Marina, Rembert sits the bench at Mater Dei. The 6-4 forward transferred from Long Beach, where he would have been playing on a junior high team this season. Long Beach high schools have only sophomore, junior and senior classes.

Last season, Patton also sat on the bench throughout the Monarchs’ difficult nonleague schedule, but averaged 11 minutes per game in the mediocre Angelus League. McKnight has made one significant change this year.

“When I look back, it was a great experience for Chris to play with Matt Beeuwsaert and Chris Jackson and the other seniors last year,” McKnight said. “But what he really needed was game experience.

“This year, Rembert is practicing and playing with the varsity, but he’s also played in eight freshman games. He’s a very talented player who has some rough edges, and we can work on his rough spots in practice with the better varsity players.” McKnight credits the emergence of traveling all-star youth teams 10 years ago for the rise of freshmen playing on the varsity level. McKnight coached the South Coast team in the Basketball Congress International tournaments, which featured players such as Burt Call and Wayne Carlander. Both played on varsity teams as freshmen.

“Schools are popping up with great freshmen because of these traveling teams,” he said. “The high schools are benefitting from traveling teams because boys are competing in organized games against top competition starting at 12 years old.

“Look at every successful high-school program and I’ll guarantee you they have a great feeder program. My South Coast teams benefitted Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo, Dana Hills and now Mater Dei. Corona del Mar has the Eastbluff Boys Club. Katella has South Junior High. Brea has Gene Lloyd teaching at its junior high.”

Santa Ana Coach Greg Coombs doesn’t worry about a freshman’s ability as much as what happens to a 14-year-old off the court. Last year, he kept 6-foot-2 Jeff Stewart on the freshmen team.

“It was important for Jeff to play freshman basketball last year and adjust to high school,” he said. “We’re more proud of his grades than anything he’s accomplished on the basketball court.

“When Jeff got to Santa Ana, he wasn’t a good student. But he’s learned to budget his time, improve his study habits and generally adjust to high school life. If he maintains his present level, he’ll be able to attend a four-year college with his grades.

“The 2.0 rule in our district would make things pretty tough on a freshman playing varsity. I also wonder about the peer pressure a freshman faces playing varsity. Suddenly, his friends are older, he’s expected to act older, be older.

“He has to prove himself to his new peers. By the time that freshman is a senior, he is competing against former friends that have reached his level, and perhaps he’s alienated a few.”

Coombs said another freshman, Bobby Joyce, has the talent to play for the Saints’ varsity this season. But Coombs has decided to keep Joyce on the freshman team. Coombs, despite a 5-5 record, has no regrets.

“Bobby will be better off in the end playing freshman basketball,” he said. “Greg Katz has taken the time to show he cares about him as a person and a player. When you have a great freshman coach who can teach a kid your system, beginning with the basics, why move him up?”

Brea-Olinda Coach Gene Lloyd says he has conflicting philosophies when it comes to placing players in his program. He maintains that he always tries to place a player on the highest level he can possibly play, but adds that the slower he can bring a player along, the better he will ultimately become.

“I’ve had a lot of freshmen play junior varsity and then enjoy success the following year on the varsity,” Lloyd said. Paul Thomas was an All-CIF player as a sophomore. Kevin Walker made the Orange County Sportswriters Assn. all-county team last year as a sophomore.

“I think it’s ludicrous for a player to play up and sit,” Lloyd said. “You look around and a lot of freshmen on varsity teams are sitting. There’s no way to replace game experience. If you don’t have to elevate a player, why do so?

“I’ve had one player (Chris Johnston) play on the varsity as a freshman. By his junior year, he had some problems here and eventually transferred to Corona del Mar. He’s now playing professional baseball, but I wonder, did his trouble here stem from the fact he played varsity as a freshman? I don’t know.

“But if I had to do it over again, I’d probably have handled it differently. Kevin Walker could have played varsity as a freshman, but he would have been intimidated out of his mind on the varsity level.”

Two players who never appeared to be intimidated on the varsity level as freshmen were Burt and Nathan Call of Capistrano Valley. Burt was an outstanding point guard for three seasons after playing a reserve role his freshman year. Nathan, now a junior, has followed his older brother.

“Both had probably played 60 organized games before they reached high school and both were very mature as freshmen,” Cougar Coach Mark Thornton said. “I haven’t seen any others who could handle playing on varsity as freshmen.

“This year, every one of my freshmen are playing on the freshman team and I think 90% of all incoming freshmen should play on the freshman team.”

Thornton will be the only coach Nathan will have played for in high school when he graduates next year.

“He’ll have heard every locker room speech before he’s through,” Thornton said. “It’s probably better if a player has more than one coach for another point of view.”

Ocean View’s Jim Harris said he noticed a change in Ricky Butler at the beginning of the season following his successful freshman year.

“I intentionally handled Ricky with kid gloves last year and was cautious of everything I did and said to him,” Harris said. “One of the reasons I didn’t initially start Ricky was because I knew there was enough pressure for him just coming off the bench. It would have been that much harder starting.

“I worried about a change in his attitude this year. Last year, conditioning was an adventure to him. This year, he was kind of coasting during conditioning. Instead of ‘senioritis,’ he had ‘sophomoritis.’

“We sat down and had a long talk. I’ve changed the way I handle him, and he’s responded by playing harder than ever. Establishing goals helped. But sometimes I wonder what he’s got to look forward to.

“I used to push three to five kids a step up from freshman to junior varsity every year so there was a carryover to varsity. But I’ve changed my thinking. I’ve found moving a kid up quickly can throw his culture out of whack. There are so many new choices on the horizon.”

THE DEBATE: Should freshmen play varsity? The Pros Competes with older, better and more experienced players. Gains experience of playing in front of larger crowds. Gains more recognition. The Cons May not get enough playing time. May not be accepted by older players. May lose confidence if not successful.