LJ b BB: Feeder program of local talent

By Ed Piper

Twenty years ago, Kamal Assaf was hired as the new boys basketball coach at La Jolla High two weeks before the Nov. 1 start of practice for winter sports.

At tryouts, a core of freshmen promised talent that Assaf and his assistants only had to invest time in coaching and developing until they were ready for varsity play.

This group became the nucleus of the 2007-08 Viking team that went on to win the Division 3 CIF championship.

"We used talent from the area. The pattern of continuity, development, and multi-sport athletes" became the blueprint for one of the best runs boys basketball teams at La Jolla ever enjoyed.

"Coach (Rick) Eveleth won CIF with Kent Eaton in 1981, then won again in 1983" with another group of student-athletes. But no Viking squad had won back-to-back titles in recent memory.

Assaf, now a middle school coach and classroom teacher at Bishop's, was able to accomplish that with his local feeder program--and he nearly won a third title in a row in 2009-10. (See previous article on that near-miss.)

"Jerrell Agnew was a D1 football player. Matt Jones was a volleyball player. Peter Sefton played water polo and baseball," remembered Assaf about those first tryouts right after he was hired in Fall 2004 in a conversation Sun., Nov. 24. "Spencer" Moyer came in for special comment, since he played a key role on the championship team as well.

"We shared athletes" among coaches at that time, Assaf said. It is much trickier to do that these days, as athletes play for club teams, as well as the school team, in their chosen sport. The multi-sport student-athlete is a rare species.

Jones went on to star in volleyball and is now the head women's coach at UC Santa Barbara. Sefton was named the Union-Tribune Male Athlete of the Year for his three-sport exploits during his senior year.

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Assaf, ever the coach, repeatedly talked about the upcoming Bishop's-La Jolla boys basketball game Dec. 13 at LJHS. He helped develop the players for the Knights. He said it's going to be a good contest.