Crossing the country is old hat for Conover

Corona del Mar product has had a well-traveled career as a basketball player and now assistant coach in New York.Cameron Conover might not have been the most heralded boys’ basketball player in the Class of 1998 at Corona del Mar High. But few have taken a more winding path than he has since then.

The former Sea King has crossed the country five times in his journey from basketball player to coach. His latest stop is Plattsburgh State, an NCAA Division III school in upstate New York where he is an assistant coach.

The job is his first full-time position, after serving as a volunteer assistant at Cosumnes River College near Sacramento last season, and Conover said he is relishing every moment of it.

“It’s great,” Conover said. “At first, it was so surreal. I wake up every day happy and smiling. I really enjoy it. I just think I’m in a good situation.”

Conover was the team captain on the Sea Kings’ 1997-98 squad, averaging 12 points, five assists and five steals a game. Upon graduation, he went off to Champlain College, a four-year college that was a junior college men’s basketball power in Burlington, Vt., and played two seasons there -- averaging five points and four assists as a sophomore.

There were a handful of scholarship offers for Conover, but almost all on the East Coast. Instead, he returned to Corona del Mar and coached the Sea Kings’ freshman boys’ basketball team for a season. All the while, he sent game tapes of himself and inquiries to schools across the country before getting a full scholarship from the University of South Carolina-Aiken.

“I knew I’d find somewhere,” Conover said. “There were days where I was wondering where I’d end up.”

Ironically, he played just one season for the Pacers before leaving the team to complete his communications degree. Then it was back to California, where he hooked up with Cosumnes River Coach James Giacomazzi, the son of a family friend.

Conover assisted at Cosumnes in the 2004-05 season and then started sending out resumes again, this time for coaching opportunities. Along the way, he worked summer basketball camps -- including one at Villanova -- and lived with some relatives in New York.

“Yeah, I knew I wanted to get back into coaching,” Conover said. “I was lucky that I always knew I wanted to do. There was no doubt in my mind. I just needed to find a place to get my foot in the door.”

That place turned out to be Plattsburgh State, which turned out to be appropriate for many reasons. Cardinals Coach Tom Curle knew Conover’s coach at Champlain College, having coached nine seasons at a rival junior college. Plus, Plattsburgh was just across Lake Champlain from Conover’s old college.

The Cardinals are 14-9 this season, with a 7-7 record in the State University of New York Athletic Conference, making Conover’s first year coaching a relatively successful one.

Conover said he plans to remain at Plattsburgh while he completes his master’s degree in administration and leadership. Beyond that, everything is possible, including another return to California to be close to his parents.

“I would definitely love to one day go back to California,” Conover said. “If the opportunity presented itself, I’d go in a heartbeat.

“I’m willing to go anywhere, but it’d be great to go back to California.”

At least he already knows plenty about perseverance.