Coach Alvin Gentry, who was with Coach Mike Dantoni's staff for all four big winning years in Phoenix, was then an assistant coach on a team that was melting down before our eyes under new Coach Terry Porter. Three months later he has a new job leading the franchise himself. The new Suns Head Coach addressed the teams before the first game and kids from all levels, boys and girls came in to soak it up.  Gentry had much wisdom to impart to the young men and women and coaches in the Al McCoy Media Center. After starting out as a graduate assistant at the University of Colorado early on and spending the last 20 years as a coach in the NBA he immediately connected with the kids.

 

"I was not a great basketball player but I was good enough to get a scholarship.....The most important things I learned in high school were the little things I didn't really think much about then like all the fundamentals I picked up from years of hard work....I grew up in North Carolina and went to Appalachian State....We are known more for our football team than basketball because we beat Michigan in their house....I knew if I wanted to stay in the game I had to coach....The most important thing I have to tell you is to never let yourself become a victim....Don't ever say to yourself you could have succeeded at something if it wasn't for somebody else or that it is somebody elses fault....You can do anything!"

Suns GM Steve Kerr was scheduled to speak but had to cancel due to a family commitment he couldn't get out of.  But Gentry was the perfect man to carry the message to the players because they knew so very little about him. How did he land the Suns top job?  In part, it was because he has been very passionate about all the little things that lead to success in life because he has lived them for a long time. "If you want to play in college or in the NBA you have to hit the books....You need a fallback plan with a degree if you don't make it....You will face great players who work very hard at every higher level you reach along the way....You have to ask yourself how hard is your competition working every day....You have to go all out every time you step on the court, you have to learn how to be a great teammate, and you have to work very hard on your game after practice and in the off-season."

 

He then took it to the NBA All Pro level.  "Steve Nash spends more time by himself in this building working on his shot than anyone else and that's why he's one of the best shooters in the NBA....Lebron James made a great shot last night to beat Orlando and he may retire as the greatest player ever one day but Lebron is also a great teammate and always seeks to make them better....I can look you in the eye and tell you that Lebron and Kobe work as hard in the off season as anybody in this game....Shaquille O'Neil sacrificed as much as anybody for the Suns this year but when Nash was out we asked him to score more and he had 45 points....Lou Amundsen may not have as much talent as any of the other guys on the Suns but he plays harder than all of them and that's why I have to play him....Michael Jordan was not a great shooter when he came into the NBA.  He had to develop that over time with hard work.....So you can achieve anything in this world you really want to if you work hard enough and stay the course."

Gentry got a rousing ovation from the kids after he was done. He then impressively stood outside the media center and greeted every player as they came out to go to the game. The small school boys from all over the state may not have believed they would ever be playing on the Suns court with new Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry sitting in the first row watching their every move, but it happened. The Suns house is the place where "Amazing" happens and the ABCA helped a lot of kids and coaches be a part of it last night.

 

Gentry asked about Bo Barnes. "Who is the big kid from the small Christian school?" he asked. Coach Bob Fredericks from SCA walked up and said "He just pulled them back into it with 7 points and 3 assists in five minutes after they fell behind 11-0." Gentry said "Oh, that was him then? OK!" A few more coaches greeted Gentry before he had to leave. But before he got away he was asked if he would support high school kids in Arizona through the ABCA. He replied "Yes, I will."

Barnes, who is still working feverishly to land his own D1 scholarship after committing to Liberty only to see the coach there leave the school, went on to score 30 points. Barnes had his second straight weekend of incredible shooting after making the all tournament team at the state's top elite showcase last weekend at Camelback HS after beating the Compton Magic. He won this game too, and also won the small school shooting championship. He nailed four three pointers in the game from the NBA arc and made a sizzling nine of his last eleven in the contest. How fast would Santa Clara University pick up Barnes if Steve Nash, an alum, made one phone call after talking to Gentry? Few things could be better for the future of these All Star games than for a player to land a D1 scholarship as an outcome. 

The 1A-3A South team's Brenin Angle and Big Jon Orr from Thatcher each had 18 to team up with Barnes and Jordan Kerpan had 14 (Valley Christian).  Legendary Thatcher Coach Kenny Smith coached won his last high school game after 27 years and 10 state championship games. Smith is moving on to Eastern Arizona CC.  The Gila Monsters won't be hurting for new talent next year.  Cody York with 21 (Payson), Stacey Berg with 21 (Winslow), Trevor Little with 17 (Chino Valley) and Payton Flake with 11 (Snowflake) all had big games for the North smallball squad.

Before the 4A-5A game All Pac 10 ASU center Jeff Pendergraph walked in to catch the action. He was announced as a "future NBA star" by ABCA Executive Director Art Hall right after Coach Smith got a standing ovation for his retirement announcement. Pendergraph smiled and waived to the crowd and said quietly "Oh I could get used to this!". Before he left he talked about all the ASU players he played with who graduated and are doing well like Serge Angounou and Antwi Atuahene. On his way out he joked with a kid who asked if he would run for President some day. The newly minted ASU graduate laughed and said "I might do that. I just might one day!" For now he is focusing on the upcoming NBA draft and impressing guys like Alvin Gentry. When told Gentry had just left Pendergraph's jaw dropped. "He was here? Oh I wanted to catch him!" The big man was told what Gentry just said he looks for in very potential draft pick they work out...."How hard do they play? Are they a good teammate?" He smiled and said "I know how to do that!" and then he left.

 

Big School Senior Boys

Late in the small school game on a fast break the ball flew out of bounds and off the court into the tunnel. Referee Marc Beasley chased it but not before Gentry jumped up and ran into the tunnel ahead of him. Beasley stopped at the edge of the hardwood and as Gentry tossed the ball back to him as he emerged from the tunnel Beasley said something like "Thanks Coach. It's nice to have you helping out" and Gentry smiled and said "They won't do that for you in the Pac 10 will they?" He had just been told that Beasley had been voted as the best ref in Arizona by the HS coaches in the ABCA poll and had just completed his first year in the Pac 10. He was asked to put the three man crews together to work all the ABCA games.

The closest game of the evening was the 4A-5A Senior contest. The North team was led by Nick Markovich with 19 (Basha), Booker T Washington with 14 (Chavez), Eric Hunt with 11 (MVT), and Marques Edwards with 11 (Chavez). Hunt and Edwards led the team on defense and shut down the middle on the South. Aaron Anderson led the South with 16 (Marana Mt. View), Danny Maman had 14 (Desert Mtn.), Tyler Miller with 13 (Basha), Marcus Ayala with 11 (Maryvale), and Jon Hawkins with 9 and a fistful of assists (Greenway). Brandon Duliakis (Ironwood Ridge) was a force in the middle on both ends on the glass and defense.  It was a seesaw battle near the end but the North pulled it out 90-89. The story of the game was Washington who had a tremendous slam that brought the crowd up, excelled in all facets of the game, and won the overall state shooting championship. CJ Crockom (Wilow Canyon), also an alternate, shined as well with 11. Not bad for a couple of so-called alternates....

The toughest defender in the game for the South may have been the unsung Derek Lane from Buena who made it to the state Semi-finals.. A blue collar worker on the court, Lane was an unpleasant surprise for the opposing team who was blanketed by him on D and hammered if they tried to take it to the hole. South Coach Glasgow had to be pleased. At the All Star voting meeting Glasgow made the three plus hour trip from Sierra Vista to get Lane on the team and to his own surprise he succeeded. It was Glasgow, a veteran of many Arizona All Star games who also gave Art Hall the heads up on Coach Kenny Smith's retirement and urged him to do an announcement. It is hard working blue collar coaches like Dave Glasgow who are giving it up for the team and making Arizona basketball and the ABCA what it is becoming today.

Other Senior game coaches who went above and beyond for the games this year were Ricky Greer from Winslow, the big North 1A-3A Coach and the first competitor in the building, Joe Bustos (North), who had to rush back from his nephews graduation in Albuquerque to make the game, Mike Ellsworth (Chandler), who would never miss the chance to coach Wolves fireball Jason Edwards just one more time, and girls coach Larry Smith (Coolidge), who watched and studied the boys games to get ready for his girls smallball game next week. It is men like these who keep the sport of basketball alive and well in our state and as Coach Gentry said earlier in the day "It is the greatest game in the world today".

 

The Underclassmen Boys - All Schools

To cap the day off the ABCA was able to get extra court time from the Phoenix Mercury with an assist by hard working Account Executive Danita Johnson. Once the original attempt to get a North versus St. Marys "Battle of Champions" game fell through, CEO Ray Arvizu Sr of Arvizu Advertising, and Principal Keith Greer (Coolidge), the newest members of the ABCA Advisory Board suggested an underclassmen game with sophomores and juniors. Although it was a very tough week to get many players due to club ball tournaments during the three day weekend the rosters rounded out nicely with some of the best underclassmen Arizona has to offer.

The underclassmen coaches were East Coach Scott Lovely (Arcadia) and his staff of Stephen Danford, Jesus Flores, and Alvin Vesey, and West Coach Ben Hurley and Marty Roth (Amphi) and Mike Serwa (Peoria).

Before the game the BabyGirlz performed to several hundred fans while the players stood in the tunnel and watched. DJ Tyger from Power 98.3 FM spun records on his turntables and the last contest kicked off.  It was the high percentage shooting from the East squad that made the difference both early and late. Colin Woods led all with 18 (Horizon), Zeke Chapman lit it up from three with 16 (Chaparral), Jake Pitcher 16 (Skyline), Christian Bower had 14 (Mesquite), and Shawn King had 10 (Gilbert), Andy Jones 9 (Marcos), and Judd Welfringer with 8 (Basha).  Brendan Pineda (Tolleson) got the sportsmanship award for sprinting across the court to help his teammate up off the court after a nasty collision, a kid he had probably never played with before. 

The West struggled from the longer pro arc most of the game but came out after halftime on fire behind Wooridge, Burnett, and a Sims trey, and closed to within 7 points late in the game. It would prove to be too little too late and the longer court combined with the longer game of 20 minute halves may have worn them down in the end. They were led by Michael Perez with 15 (Tucson Pueblo), Royce Woolridge with 11 (Sunnyslope), Brandon Burnett with 11 (Tucson Cienega), Jordan Sims 9 (Liberty), Jake Howe 8 (Bradshaw Mtn).

 

Lester Medford (Amphi) with 7 and several nice assists and the best head fakes in any of the games. Medford had a tremendous spin move for two on a break at high speed that had Art Hall shaking his head in amazement. Hall asked a coach if he taught him how to do that and he replied jokingly "That was my best move too!". Dwight Tabaha (Window Rock) represented the Rez schools well with hustle play all over the court, and Donovan Christensen (Westwind) nailed an NBA trey.

It was the Kansas-bound Woolridge who thrilled the fans, players, and coaches alike with the most exciting play of the day. He took the ball coast to coast down the middle and rose up high above everyone switched hands and turned sidweays in mid air as he threw the rock down from his hip with savage ferocity. Woolridge had struggled from the NBA arc but not for lack of range. He had simply had enough at that point and decided to remind everyone who he was with the crowd pleaser.

The dunk contest at halftime featured a lineup of unbelievable slam artists. Six players total from all the teams had 30 seconds to complete two dunks before the two finalists were selected. Three judges scored each dunk from 1 to 10 and the scores were added together for a total. The dunkers were Royce Woolridge, Michael Perez, Brandon Burnett, Andy Jones, Booker Washington, Jordan Sims, and Judd Wellfringer. All of them can really get up but Woolrdige was narrowly edged by Perez and Burnett to get into the finals. Royce and the two finalists can dunk with anyone in Arizona including college players and the pros.

Perez scored two perfect 30's in the last round including pounding the ball with two hands high on the block before cocking it back and throwing it down with the highest authority. Burnett matched him with an incredible perfect 30 but then couldn't pull off an attempt of bouncing it off the shot clock and then catching it in mid air before cranking it but his time then ran out. Perez and Burnett showed the Phoenix area kids that, although they don't get as much press, the boys from down South are as exciting as anyone in the Southwest. Arizona Coach Sean Miller will see these guys play very soon.

Wrap Up

Arizona Coach Sean Miller recently committed to speak at the ABCA Coaches Clinic in October along with Russ Pennell and a few other name coaches. But once the girls games are completed next Saturday, the next major event for the coaches will be in July when the ABCA/Grand Canyon State Games holds their first annual Summer State Championships. The HS Summer Leagues across the state will serve as the qualifiers for this event.

The working staff behind all these events, other than the annually elected officers like President Gary Ernst (MVT) and Treasurer Greg Sessions (Red Mtn), are Art Hall, Dustin and Brock Cooper, and Mike Wirth (all of Mesa Skyline), and Stephan Neal (Goodyear Millenium). A harder working group of volunteers cannot be found serving all of the coaches in Arizona high school basketball. Both of Art's kids helped a lot as workers and JC Hall is soon headed to Madagascar for a mission after completing his first year at ASU.  Announcers Dave Nardi (Skyline) for the Senior games, and Zach Rosenthal (Sun Devil Radio) for the Underclassmen, also had tremendous efforts behind the microphone.  ArizonaVarsity.com helped promote the games on it's web site.  A special thanks as well for Suns Coach Alvin Gentry and GM Steve Kerr.  See you at the girls games on Saturday! 

 By Don Davignon, ArizonaVarsity.com