It is likely to be time to put in writing a folks music in regards to the demise of Metropolis Part basketball utilizing the music of Peter, Paul and Mary and the brand new title, “The place Have All of the Gamers Gone?”
The expertise degree clearly has hit all-time low solely a yr after Alijah Arenas was a McDonald’s All-American at Chatsworth Excessive and Tajh Ariza led Westchester to the Metropolis Part Open Division title. As a result of their mother and father went to Metropolis Part colleges, Arenas and Ariza caught it out. Then Arenas graduated early to affix USC and Ariza left for St. John Bosco, then prep college.
Westchester is the place Ed Azzam gained 15 Metropolis titles in 42 seasons till his retirement in 2021. Crenshaw is the place Willie West gained 16 Metropolis titles and eight state titles. Taft is the place Derrick Taylor gained 4 Metropolis titles and coached future NBA gamers Jordan Farmar, Larry Drew II and AJ Johnson. Fairfax is the place Harvey Kitani coached for 35 years, gained 4 Metropolis titles and two state titles and earned most of his almost 1,000 victories. He was adopted by Steve Baik and Reggie Morris Jr., every of whom gained Metropolis championships earlier than leaving.
Not one of the Metropolis colleges as soon as thought-about among the many greatest in Southern California are even near resembling their glory days, they usually aren’t alone. The Metropolis Part has misplaced most of its expertise, and it was really Corridor of Fame expertise: Marques Johnson and John Williams at Crenshaw; Gail Goodrich at Solar Valley Poly; Willie Naulls at San Pedro; Dwayne Polee at Handbook Arts; Gilbert Arenas at Grant; Trevor Ariza at Westchester; Chris Mills at Fairfax. There have been many years of success.
There’s nobody particular person guilty. You possibly can’t even place the downfall solely on the Los Angeles Unified Faculty District, whose excessive colleges compete within the Metropolis Part.
However LAUSD has accomplished nothing to reverse the development and didn’t assist issues by opening so many new colleges in such fast vogue that longtime legacy colleges misplaced their luster amid declining pupil enrollment. Issues turned much more disruptive by the rise of constitution colleges and personal colleges taking away prime athletes. Including to that, the lack of veteran coaches annoyed by paperwork points and guidelines that power packages to safe permits and pay to make use of their very own gyms within the offseason helped additional the exodus.
Westchester is 2-8 this season and an instance of the place Metropolis Part basketball stands. Two prime gamers from final season — Gary Ferguson and Jordan Ballard — at the moment are at St. Bernard. Westchester doesn’t actually have a roster posted on MaxPreps. King/Drew gained its first Metropolis Open Division title in 2024 beneath coach Lloyd Webster. This season Webster despatched his senior son, Josahn, to Rolling Hills Prep to play for Kitani. King/Drew is 4-10.
Constitution colleges Birmingham, Palisades and Granada Hills have separated themselves in just about all Metropolis Part sports activities together with basketball. They haven’t any enrollment boundaries so long as there’s a seat for a pupil. Palisades misplaced so many college students after the wildfire final yr that transfers have been massive additions for its groups this college yr. On-line programs are being supplied to assist college students enroll and compete in sports activities at constitution colleges.
The outdated powers from the interior metropolis — Crenshaw, Dorsey, Jefferson, Locke and Fremont — skilled massive adjustments in demographics. Many coaches are walk-ons and never academics. The legacy colleges need to compete with constitution colleges View Park Prep, Triumph, Animo Watts, Animo Robinson, WISH Academy and USC-MAE. When younger gamers are found and developed, hardly ever will they keep when one of many non-public colleges or AAU coaches trying to find expertise spots them within the offseason.
So what’s left? Not a lot.
Palisades, Washington Prep and Cleveland appear to be the three prime groups this season. All three added transfers to assist buck the downward development. And but their data are 3-10, 8-8 and 7-6, respectively, towards largely Southern Part groups.
Perhaps this is usually a fluke one-year plunge to the underside and the climb again up can start, aided by coaches who acknowledge their job is to show classes in basketball, life and faculty preparation. Mother and father want a cause to ship their youngsters to a Metropolis Part college. It’s as much as LAUSD and principals to assist change the trajectory by discovering coaches with integrity, ardour and willingness to embrace the underdog position.
There are a lot within the system doing their greatest. It’s time to begin listening to and answering their pleas for assist.
