LJ b BB: Saints preview

By Ed Piper

Mike Haupt, 16-year coach of number-two St. Augustine, had his work done for the evening and he was in the mood to tell some stories.

"I was the youngest of four boys," related the 6'5" Saints mentor whose team moves into La Jolla Jan. 24 to face the Vikings at the end of the first round of Western League play. "So I grew up with that.

"We were in the ER so much, the staff made a kit for our mom. They said, 'If you can't fix it with what's in here, come to us.'"

The subject was the rough-and-tumble among street-wise kids, some of whom this reporter taught during a 20-year career in the juvenile court schools.

For Haupt, the physicality and jostling honed his athletic skills, enabling him to excel at hoops enough to pass a lot of it on to his son, Luke, similarly 6'5" but left-handed.

As he does every time we get together, the amiable coach told his favorite story about Kamal Assaf, the former Viking coach who now coaches middle school at Bishop's, where he is a history teacher. "At the end of a game against us, he got so upset, he felt bad," said Haupt.

"So we talked after the game, and Kamal said he had to get away and take a break from basketball. 'So what are you going to do?' Haupt asked his colleague. 'Go to the SDSU basketball game.'" In other words, Assaf, who led La Jolla to three straight Division 3 title games in 2008-2010, winning two of those titles, lived and breathed the sport. He couldn't get enough of it.

Well, even though the conversation took place on opening night of the 2019-2020 basketball season, just before Bronny James and Sierra Canyon's game at Montgomery High, the St. Augustine coach already knew he had the horses that will take them far in the upcoming season.

"We beat Helix (in the earlier game), but we didn't play well," said Haupt that night, carving out a tiny spot on the front row bleacher in the Montgomery gym for himself and the reporter. The two-story arena had been jammed for a while, what with the high school debut of LeBron James' son, as well as the appearance of his senior teammate, Zaire Wade, the 6'2" son of Dwyane Wade. Everybody was hoping one or both of the dads would show up. Dwyane Wade did show up, and was mobbed.


This all happened after our conversation, Meanwhile, I was developing sore-butt on the unpadded, tiny bleacher postage stamp I occupied with my 6'5", 270-pound frame. Bronny Wade, Zaire Wade, and their teammates were warming up a short distance away, at the eastern basket.

"The nice thing is all six of our guys are going to play in college," Haupt declared, returning to the subject of his present team, which is loaded. One of those will play for Cal in football.

The next night, the Saints were scheduled to play Sierra Canyon, possibly the top team in the nation. (Bronny, a ninth-grader, is a substitute; Zaire is a starter.) They got beat, 75-54. It probably wasn't that close. The problem is that while St. Augustine has six talented players, Sierra Canyon has three platoons of top players. They come in waves. They just keep coming.

"Luke does a little of everything," Dad said, proudly but accurately. "Chibuzo (Agbo) and Luke play well together." Agbo, a 6'6" All-CIF'er, averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds a game as a junior last year. Luke averaged 16 and 8, respectively. Haupt, a tall guard, also dishes well. Chibuzo plays in the front court, but developed his three-point range a year ago, and is a terror from there, though with a little bit of a knuckleball non-rotation on the ball.

"Chibuzo shot 43 percent from three-point range," his coach reported.

"I like our team," the senior Haupt understated. "We have six seniors. We used to be very young. We had one senior last year, none two years ago. So all these guys started as sophomores."

Misa Rosado, last year's one senior and the play-making guard, graduated and is playing college ball in Puerto Rico, the equivalent of Division 2 level.

Besides Chibuzo Agbo and Luke Haupt, the other members of the rotation this year and their coach's comments:

Tyson McWilliams, 6'3" senior guard: "He signed with Cal in football. He's a defensive back. He'll be back from football (after the time of our conversation). We'll give him a week off in between."

Isaiah Brickner, 6'3" junior guard: "He started at point (in the opener). Luke was out. He hurt his foot in practice last night. With about 20 minutes left in practice, Luke hurt his foot... Isaiah is talented. He's 6'3". We have good size."

Prince Adjei, 6'8" sophomore wing: "He's from Ghana. It's pronounced 'Ad-jay'. He has a 7-foot wingspan. He hasn't figured it out yet, but when he does, he'll be good."

Declan Bretz, 5'10" senior wing: "He's in the mix. When you talk about what you want from a kid--when you talk about how smart he is, how hard he works--he's all about team. I love the guy."

Nakial Cross, 6'7" senior: "I'm asking him...I ask a lot of my guys. I'm asking him to guard a man on the perimeter. It takes a lot of energy. I understand that. He's used to be a post. He's a high academic guy. Princeton showed interest. Whitman (in Washington)."

At the time of the Sierra Canyon games, the Saints had narrowly gotten by Helix by six points. They were scheduled to play in the Regional Rumble tournament at Madison High after that, then Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. "So we have to get a lot better fast," the coach said. At this writing (Dec. 13), they are 6-1, ranked only behind Poway in San Diego on MaxPreps.

History with Sierra Canyon is this: "We knocked Sierra Canyon out of the state playoffs two years ago," related Haupt. We beat thenm 88-81 at their place. They had Marvin Bagley and Cody Riley. We shot 15 for 30 from three. We finished Marvin Bagley's high school career."

How do you coach your players to deal with the hullabaloo playing celebrity teams like Sierra Canyon? "I think the big thing is don't over-react," advised the veteran coach. "They'll follow what you do."

Meanwhile, the circus went on, with the packed house oohing-and-aahing at Bronny James and Zaire Wade and teammates. Then Dwyane Wade walked in, and the sound was deafening. ESPN3 miked up the former NBA star, who just retired last summer. He provided comments on his son and the others, the broadcast being one of 15 Sierra Canyon games ESPN will transmit this season.

Besides the behemoth Saints, La Jolla will also face Cathedral Catholic, the preseason number one, during Western League play in January and February. Coach Paul Baranowski's team's first match-up with Coach Will Cunningham's tall and talented squad is scheduled for Jan. 10 in the Big Gym.