Star Guard Clover Caught Coach’s Eye as Eighth-Grader

Shortly after Cliff Warren got the head coaching job at Rolling Hills High, he strolled into the Titans gym to watch a pickup basketball game.

Not much was going on that afternoon five years ago, but Warren did notice a raw, lanky eighth-grader named Steve Clover who was doing more than holding his own against older competition.

Warren watched, then looked more closely. And, the more he watched, the more he liked what he saw.

“The first time I saw him I knew that he would be our starting guard when he was a sophomore, and there was no doubt in my mind that he would start for us for three years,” Warren recalled recently. “I went home that night and told my wife I’d just seen a kid that, if I continued coaching at Rolling Hills, would be my starting guard all three years. And he hasn’t let me down yet.”

It’s three years later and Warren has guided Rolling Hills into a Southern Section quarterfinal playoff game against Los Alamitos. Clover’s playing with a sprained ankle.

Rolling Hills trails by one point with five seconds left, but Clover steals Los Alamitos’ inbound pass and drives to the basket before getting fouled. The sophomore calmly sinks both free throws and the Titans advance to the semifinal round.

“I saw myself making the team, but making the varsity as a starting sophomore came as a big surprise to me,” Clover said. “By the time CIF came around I had a lot more confidence and had some experience, so I just figured it was my role to make the free throws.

“The thing I remember about that game was that I shot two air balls to start the game and the crowd kind of got on me. So I got a little pay-back at the end, which was nice.”

Great memories are woven of such stuff, but Clover’s real stock is the future. The 6-4, 180-pound senior may be the South Bay’s most sought after basketball player in 1989-90; therefore, this is the most pivotal summer of his 17 years.

He proved Warren correct. He’s proven to himself that he can play at the high school level. Now he must convince college coaches and recruiters that he is, indeed, a blue-chip prospect.

Initial reports indicate that Clover is meeting the challenge. He scored 50 points against Carson in a summer tournament game and came back the next night to score 40 against West Covina.

He’s averaged almost 30 points per game for Rolling Hills in 1989 summer league play and interest is growing.

“He’s the most highly recruited player I’ve ever coached at Rolling Hills,” said Warren, adding that several Division I colleges have expressed interest in Clover. “He’s probably the best shooter in California this year.”

Said Carson Coach Rich Masson, “Needless to say, against us, he just couldn’t miss. But, the bottom line is that technique-wise he has as good form on his jump shot as anybody I’ve seen. I think he’s a big-time player right now.”

Last season, when he averaged 19 points per game, Clover attracted a lot of attention because he was a good 6-4 shooter. Most high school players his size play underneath the basket, but teammate John Hardy filled that role for Rolling Hills; seniors Mark Tesar, Ron Dinnel and Rick Judge provided experience and support.

This season will be different because Clover will get most of the attention, and what he does this summer will interest every one of those college coaches and recruiters.

Clover has decided to forgo the expensive basketball camps offered throughout the country. “We figured $395 for the Superstars camp would be a little hard for my dad to swallow,” he said.

But many of the nation’s top basketball prospects do attend summer camps where they can play against similar competition.

Most camps offer professional advice, but the main attraction is playing against other good players.

Still, they are somewhat controversial.

“Personally, I think a lot of camps are a waste of money,” Masson said. “There are a few good ones, but most are a big waste.”

So Clover’s playing with Rolling Hills in summer league games and, as he’s done for eight years, shooting at the basket in his driveway. And that has paid dividends.

“He’s much improved from the last few years,” Warren said. “He was always a good shooter from the outside and from three-point range, but he’s now putting the ball on the floor and has a much quicker release. I think that will make him more difficult to defend.

“And there’s been tremendous improvement in his all-around game.”

It’s as though Clover has his shooting touch down pat but now must refine his entire game.

“I guess shooting is my main thing,” he said. “But I have to work on every other aspect of my game: defense, rebounding and passing. Mostly defense because it takes a lot of concentration and keeping your head in the game.

“Probably the best thing I can do is try to play as intensely as a I can the whole game. I’d like to get my conditioning up.”

He added: “The summer is a good time for basketball. It’s enjoyable because you get to shoot a lot more.”

Clover’s proven that he can shoot from the outside, but last year the Titans’ bomb squad featured an arsenal of three-point aces.

This season should be a little different because Clover will often draw double- and triple-team coverage.

“He should try to create more opportunities off the dribble because every time he touches the ball someone’s going to be all over him,” Masson said. “I guess the best way to defense him is to put one of your big men on him, but then you leave another of their big men open underneath.

“I think the real question is, can he score with someone draped all over him the whole game?”

If Clover is to run the show this year, he’ll need support from his teammates, and Warren thinks he’s found the right cast with sophomore David Iwasaka, junior Chad Heitzler and Roger Hendrix, who averaged 25 points per game in summer league play.

“Iwasaka and Hendrix are two of the best passing guards I’ve had at Rolling Hills, and that’s going to help Steve,” Warren said. “These guys can get him the ball.”

As a sophomore Clover was just getting his feet wet and learning to play at the varsity level.

But Inglewood Coach Vince Combs said Clover established himself as a junior.

“We played them twice last year and I figured we’d really have to watch those other guys (Hardy and Tesar),” Combs said. “But I do remember Clover as kind of the glue that held them together. He came through with some big shots; he’s a heady player and he appears to have a good future at the collegiate level.”

Clover joined a Rolling Hills club team in the fifth grade, but his basketball career really got on track when his family put up a rim and backboard above the garage.

“Every time I had a chance I’d go out there and shoot at least a half hour a day,”’ he said.

This summer and the 1989-90 season will tell if such diligence pays off for Clover, who with his 3.9 grade-point average will surely have his choice of colleges.

But it won’t be easy, not with two or three guys sticking to Clover for some 25 games.

“Now he’s in the spotlight,” Warren said. “But I’m not worried because he’s met every other challenge and he kind of invites the opportunities where he can take the initiative.”