Lee Haven, Millennium Hall of Fame

As a 6-foot-4 center, the basketball court was a jungle for Newport

Harbor High’s Lee Haven, who played like a lion and ruled the Sunset

League in the Woodstock era.

Haven, who switched to guard as a collegiate player and became an

All-Big 8 Conference performer for the University of Colorado, was a

force in the middle at a time when Newport Harbor played (and defeated)

the biggest and baddest teams around.

“I was always pretty intense, and believed that was the way you won

basketball games,” said Haven, who was drafted by the NBA’s Portland

Trail Blazers and ABA’s San Diego Conquistadors out of college, but opted

to play professionally in Europe for one year and in the Philippines for

two more, before settling down with his high school sweetheart, the

former Martha Gregory.

Haven, a shining hoops star from Harbor’s Class of 1970, carried the

Sailors to the championship of the then-prestigious Huntington Beach

Tournament his senior year, earning tournament MVP accolades as Coach

Dave Waxman’s squad went through heavily favored Warren, host Huntington

Beach, and, in the final, a Marina team coached by Lute Olson (now at the

University of Arizona).

Haven, a three-year varsity player, averaged about 18 points and 13.5

rebounds per game in 1969-70 as the Sailors finished 17-8. Waxman and Al

Hackney, who coached Harbor in Haven’s sophomore year (1967-68), both

made a tremendous impact on his life.

“My father passed away when I was in junior high, so I was one of

those kids who really kind of needed the support athletics brought and it

became a big part of my life, and those guys (Waxman and Hackney) were so

instrumental,” said Haven, whose supporting cast on the court included

standouts John Kazmer and Taras Young.

Haven, who also high jumped 6-5 during track and field in the spring,

was a rebounding machine who wasn’t tall, but more than made up for it

with physical maturity and good jumping ability.

“I was pretty physical,” Haven said, “and if there was a free ball, I

was going to get it.

“Coach Hackney instilled in us a lot of hard play, and we learned how

to practice hard with Dave Waxman. I never thought about (playing

physical) much. We just pretty much had a big desire to win basketball

games, and the way to control the basketball game is to get rebounds, and

I tried to do that.”

Newport Harbor went 16-8 under Hackney in 1968 and ended 12-12 in

1969, when the Tars finished the season by losing to Westminster in o7

fivef7 overtime periods, 97-95, losing to Anaheim in o7 threef7

overtimes, 58-57, then losing to powerhouse Huntington Beach.

Haven, a two-time first-team All-Sunset League player, made first-team

All-Orange Coast area as a senior and second-team all-area his junior

year. Haven also merited third-team All-Orange County as a senior and was

selected to play in the Orange County All-Star basketball game, in which

he dropped in 22 points.

“We (the South All-Stars) lost that game, but I remember it was a lot

of fun,” said Haven, who signed with Colorado after the basketball

season.

Haven, who added about 25 pounds by his junior year in college (1973),

started all three years for Colorado (freshmen at the time were not

eligible for varsity competition, according to NCAA policy).

In Haven’s junior year, the Buffaloes enjoyed an outstanding season,

taking second place in the Big 8 and once knocking off rival Missouri,

which was ranked No. 8 in the nation at the time, as Haven poured in 28

points.

In those days, however, runner-up conference finishes got you nowhere

in the NCAA Tournament, which invited only 16 schools.

Haven was voted All-Big 8 in 1973 and was named on a couple of

All-American teams, including one published by Converse, but he injured

his knee at the end of his junior year and that slowed him down his

senior year.

Haven was a 92% free-throw shooter his junior year at Colorado, and

was third in the Big 8 in scoring and field-goal percentage. But he

simply didn’t have the same steps the follow year after tearing his right

anterior cruciate ligament.

“I really didn’t shoot a lot, I just stayed within myself,” Haven

said. “I did things pretty well fundamentally, and that was because of a

lot of coaching from Dave Waxman. He played for John Wooden at UCLA and a

lot of that influence carried over into his coaching.

“It felt like we were being coached by John Wooden. (Waxman) was a

super basketball coach, and so when I went to college, I was technically

advanced.”

Haven later played in Belgium for one season under player/coach John

Vallely, the Corona del Mar and Orange Coast College hoops legend, then

competed in the Philippines.

The summer before his senior year in high school (1969), Haven

attended the Snow Valley Basketball Camp, operated by Herb Livsey, and

his career was never the same. Livsey, who continued to help Haven in the

summers, is now a scout for the Trail Blazers.

Haven, who turns 47 on Nov. 3, has lived in Palm Desert for the last

17 years, working for Granite Construction, a nationwide contracting

firm. Haven has also been a volunteer assistant basketball coach at Palm

Desert High the last 12 years.

Haven, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

celebrating the millennium, and his wife have three children: Matt, 22,

Andy, 20, and Becky, 17.

Matt is one-handed former OCC basketball player who was once featured

in this newspaper and now has a history degree from Westmont College.

Andy, also a basketball player, is a junior at Northern Arizona

University. Becky is a high school senior who is involved in cheerleading

and reportedly got her jumping ability from her father.