Jeff Waldron

Steve Virgen

When the ball is in the air, Jeff Waldron has a strong desire to go

up and get it, or to block out anyone trying to do the same. Usually

when the Costa Mesa High junior is getting ready for a rebound, he’s

concentrating solely on grabbing the ball.

So it makes sense that he had no idea why a referee stopped the

game when the Costa Mesa High boys basketball team was battling

against La Salle in the championship game of the Valley Christian

tournament Dec. 13.

Waldron split his chin after a hard fall, but was not aware of his

injury since he was so in tune with the game.

“I didn’t feel a cut, I just got up and I was ready to play,”

Waldron said. “The fall didn’t really hurt that much. I just got up.

The [referee] stopped the game because I was bleeding all over the

place. I guess the adrenaline was going and I didn’t feel it.”

After Waldron was taped up and after he changed his jersey, he

went back in the game. He scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in

the 44-35 loss. The next day he received eight stitches.

“The stitches were more painful than the fall,” Waldron said.

Perhaps if a ball had been placed in front of Waldron, the pain

would have been obsolete, because, when he is going for a rebound,

there’s not much that can distract him.

“Coach [Bob] Serven said, ‘Your instinct should be to grab the

ball and do whatever it takes and to have the desire to get the ball

for the team,’ ” said Waldron, who applies his skills as a receiver

in football to rebounding in basketball. “I usually just try to find

an open lane and do a swim move to get in position to box someone

out. Sometimes I try to get a body on the closest guy and block him

out.”

Waldron said his swim move, which he used when a defensive back

jammed him at the line, works well because most opposing players

don’t expect it. That’s about the only surprise expected from Waldron

when it comes to basketball. His game is more about hard work, and

dirty work -- the kind that’s usually associated with a lunch pail.

“He starts playing hard and he finishes playing hard,” Serven

said. “When I’m doing the laundry, it’s very easy to know which

jersey is his. His jersey is the one that’s drenched. That’s because

he works so hard.”

Serven said he has not seen a player able to transition from

football to basketball quicker than Waldron. Serven, who has been

coaching for 23 years, has also been impressed with Waldron’s

leadership and his desire to improve.

“Jeff doesn’t miss a beat,” Serven said. “Every opposing coach has

very high praise for Jeff and his effort. He has really developed his

shot, too. He has a really strong, medium-range game, which has come

through his hard work on his jump shot and on his ball handling.”

Waldron has been showing the results of his hard work during the

early part of the season. Through the Mustangs’ first six games, the

Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week has averaged 14 points a game,

including a 23-point effort in a semifinal win over Whitney in the

Valley Christian tournament.

Waldron has also grabbed 83 rebounds (13.8 per game).

“He’s great to coach and he’s a leader,” Serven said. “If you’re

going to start an athletic department at a school, you would want to

start with Jeff Waldron. He’s a great role model and he’s a

tremendous representative of the school on and off the field.”