Vikings guard Reed Farley
slams against Del Norte
in 59-48 win Dec. 22.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
If you strike up a conversation with Reed Farley, you might end up talking about Thomas Jefferson and the American Revolution.
"I wrote a history project this year on Jefferson," says the 6'4" point guard of the La Jolla High basketball team. "What impresses me is that he took the ideals of so many people and incorporated them into a document" that so eloquently speaks of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the Declaration of Independence.
"I'm a big history fan," he allows, propped comfortably at the top of the stands, watching a preliminary game in the Grossmont Invitational during the winter vacation. "What interests me in the Revolution is that 13 small colonies in a giant empire could unite."
That is a theme for the sophomore standout, who sports a size-12 or larger shoe size to provide the base for a still-growing frame. He measured an inch or more less in height last season, during his freshman year at the La Jolla school.
Coming together for a shared ideal, in the best interests of the team. This appeals to Farley. He will draw the parallel to basketball. "You see that in sports: people coming together. It can be the best for the people. Uniting for a common goal," he says.
With his repeated mention of giving up individual rights for the welfare of the whole, one gains a different impression of the sandy-haired La Jollan than what one might have from merely watching him play basketball during his initial year in high school.
As a green freshman, he spent a lot of extra-curricular time talking with referees. And as he repeatedly fouled out in games as the Western League schedule progressed last winter, he regressed in his manner of dealing with adversity--the jersey pulled over his head as he left the game and moved toward the bench, drawing attention to himself and away from the team ethic Coach Paul Baranowski so highly espouses. In short, he was a hothead.
Reed still admits to being "almost like a caged animal" in his intensity on the basketball court. "It's like a role change in basketball" from the rest of his life, he maintains. He brought self-assurance, even a swagger, with him when he first stepped on the high school parquet. This has come with plenty of minutes in roundball prior to coming to LJHS, and considerable athletic skills that include a near-30-inch vertical leap that enables him to slam dunk against an opponent on a not-infrequent basis.
The point guard sets up the
offense in first quarter versus
the Nighthawks.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
Earlier in the Grossmont tournament, Farley took an alley oop pass from a teammate to slam the ball down while swooping in from the right side of the hoop. He was well above the rim when he caught up to the ball. It didn't matter that a Patrick Henry defender contested it. The feat drew oohs-and-aahs from the assembled crowd from various schools that lasted for several minutes. This, from a point guard who normally sets up the offense at the top of the key.
Spectacular individual exploits can draw attention away from the corporate good. But Farley's teammate, senior Zach Duffy, says Reed's dunks "fire the team up" and ignite his teammates. And Duffy says Farley has gotten a handle on "a lot" of the emoting that spilled over during games in his freshman year.
Through the first month of the 2014-15 season, the growth has been evident. The sophomore doesn't spend much time at all conversing with referees. He has toned down his former emotionality. The main drama observed by one reporter was his grimacing at real pain from physical contact in a tournament triumph over Del Norte Dec. 22, resulting in his asking Baranowski to remove him with 25 seconds left and the win secure.
"I could score a lot, but I want to do what the team needs," Farley says. "I'm willing to be a team player and do what it takes, if that means a victory."
Reed credits his coach, Baranowski, with melding disparate parts into this year's unit, though the team's consistency is still a work in progress in the early going. "We have so many people with so many talents, shooting, defense, passing. Coach does a good job of putting us all together, putting the best five players on the court."
Another theme: being a student throughout all areas of his life, whether it's the seriousness of academics in the classroom with a 4.3 GPA, or observing and analyzing the demands of his leadership position at point guard.
He also wants to be consistent across the roles in his life. "I think I want to be the same person when I'm a point guard, when I'm a brother, a son, a teammate," he asserts. "When I'm all those different things, the way I act, it correlates to all the other things."
"I'm a typical high school guy. I hang out with my friends. We watch sports and throw a football. We go to the beach. I spend time with my family. What could be more important than being with family?"
Michael Quin was a cousin of the Farley children--Reed has two older siblings, Ryan and Clare, who starred in volleyball at La Jolla and play in college, respectively, at Williams and MIT--who Farley admired greatly. "He was from the East Coast, but he was based as a Marine at Camp Pendleton," he says. "He died in a training accident in Arizona about three years ago. He was fun to be around. He was super energetic. He's someone I use and my family uses as a motivating factor.
"He was a helicopter pilot. He knew that the job was dangerous," Reed relates. "He was a dedicated person. He came down and we went to Padres games together. He was like an older brother and a mentor to me. He is the kind of person I aspire to be."
Not all is seriousness and intensity with the young man, who still has two more full years in high school. The 16-year-old admits to inhaling cartons of chocolate ice cream after practice while watching SportsCenter. "Ask anyone in my family," he says with a grin.
Copyright 2014 Ed Piper
