When I saw last week that Bryce James, one of LeBron James’ sons, was transferring again – his third transfer in the last six months – and that he was going to be returning to Sierra Canyon High in Chatsworth and being instantly eligible to play made me want to throw up.
For a brief timeline – because it was a short time for Bryce – he transferred in May from Sierra Canyon to Campbell Hall in North Hollywood. He played summer league basketball for Campbell Hall, but then transferred in August to Notre Dame-Sherman Oaks.
According to reports, James was only going to be ineligible for half a season at Notre Dame, so he hopped in the limo and headed back to Sierra Canyon, and since he didn’t play a game for Notre Dame, he immediately became eligible for Sierra Canyon. Canyon.
This is making a joke about high school sports. Let me say it again, but let me say it louder: THIS IS A JOKE ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS.
Earlier this school year, I wrote about the disaster that is the Northern California high school football transfer portal. Well guess what, basketball is worse than football.
In the East Bay Athletic League alone, there are more than 18 transfers in basketball. This is not a misprint and has been confirmed by at least four different EBAL coaches.
We’re getting to the point where high school athletics are going to be left behind in favor of club teams. I mean, club teams currently have a strong influence on high school sports, so it makes sense that they would take over.
How did we get here?
I grew up to be an EBAL athlete. You played in clubs until high school, then went to high school with your childhood friends, played several sports and created a unique memory.
Now you eventually play for a variety of clubs, then go to a high school that will benefit you most athletically, until another school can benefit you more, then you transfer.
There is no loyalty – not to your teammates or to your school – just loyalty to yourself and what is perceived to be best for you.
Dealing with the cards you are dealt makes for stronger children and ultimately a better prepared young adult. Changing the game every time you don’t like the cards you’ve been dealt makes you a pampered, spoiled, and woefully unprepared person.
Once they leave college and enter the real world, wait, did you think you were going to become a professional athlete, right?
According to an NCAA report, of the eight million athletes who play high school sports, 480,000 will go on to play in college.
But the percentage of high school athletes who play professionally is only 0.023 percent. I’m not trying to kill dreams here, but I just wanted to make sure we were mixing some reality with this fantasy world where so many people live.
Where has everything gone wrong since the innocent days of high school athletics?
Several factors are involved.
*First of all, I won’t blame the coaches because they have no choice if they want to be able to compete. In many cases, it’s not even the head high school coach, but one of the assistants who brings the athletes to the school who play AAU ball together. I mean, it would be nice to see a coach take the high road but, in this case, the high road equals losing seasons.
*I will blame the governing bodies of high school athletics first. I use the word govern loosely and the word loosely, correctly. It’s embarrassing what’s happening. In California alone, if the California Interscholastic Federation and its sector entities simply enforced the rules as written regarding transfers, this could have been stopped before it started. But they don’t and have shown favoritism towards certain schools or celebrity families and let the situation get out of hand. The genie is out of the bottle and good luck putting it back inside.
*AAU/Club coaches might be the bane of high school sports existence. I see kids at the middle school level starting to stop playing for their school and going to clubs instead. Don’t get me wrong, most of these coaches are very good, but ultimately it’s their business and the better the athletes, the better the team and the better the resume. The better the resume, the more likely it will entice parents to pay whatever it takes to get their child on the team. They will sell their program as the end all be all, and while I believe they want kids to succeed, remember the more successful they are, the more money they will make. Simple mathematics.
*Parents – this is a tough question. Yes, they are the deciding factor for their children, but at the same time, they want the best for their child, and that’s how it should be. I think they are blinded by the odds of success, and it clouds their judgment about what is truly best for their child. I think they should look back at their high school days if they were athletes and see what they remember. I see posts on social media all the time, especially from reunions, and they seem to be dominated by old sporting events. They make you smile. Then ask yourself if your child will have the same chances of building these memories. If your child has what it takes, colleges will find it.
This is the big problem surrounding high school sports and it’s only getting worse. Between this transfer waste and single-sport specialization, high school sports are on life support. Many won’t admit it, but I’ve been playing high school sports for over 40 years, and it stinks to see what it’s become.
It can be restored, but it has to start from the top and I think there is little chance of that happening with the existing structure.
It saddens me to see what is happening.
CIF STATE CROSS-COUNTRY
De La Salle junior cross country star Trey Caldwell finished fourth in the D-II race at the state finals in Fresno.
Caldwell led at the mile mark of the race, but was passed over the final two miles by three runners, including eventual winner Aydon Stefanopoulos of Los Gatos.
Stefanopoulos finished with a time of 14:58.4. Caldwell finished with a 15:09.1.
In the team race, Santa Barbara finished first with 91 points. Granada finished sixth with 181, while De La Salle finished 14th with 368 points.
The best performances of other EBAL runners came from Erik Bromley of Grenada (31st, 15:45.3), George Mikhael also of Grenada (40th, 15:51.9) and Owen Brandeis of Monte Vista (45th , 15:55.6).
In the D-II girls race, Ventura was the team winner with 85 points. San Ramon Valley was 10th with 260 points, Granada was 12th with 318 points and Monte Vista was 16th.
Some of the best individual performances came from Sadie Englehardt of Ventura who won the race with a time of 16:40.7. Top EBAL runners were Alexandra Powell of Monte Vista (15th, 18:11.0); Sade Bumpus of Grenada (29th, 18:33.2); and Alexandra Smith of SRV (30th, 18:34.2).
In the DI boys race, San Clemente won the team title with 48 points. Dublin finished 18th with 457 points and California finished 20th with 524 points.
Individually, the winner was Jason Parra of Miliken with a time of 14:56.8. Local highlights were achieved by Arrin Sagiraju (Dougherty Valley) with a 21st place in 15:25.0, Aidan Stone of Dublin (52nd, 15:46.5) and Eshaan Hussain of California (79th, 16:02, 1).
On the girls’ side, the winner was Rylee Blade of Santiago Corona with a time of 16:48.5. Liana Lee of Dougherty Valley (31st, 18:22.9) and Sabrina Noriega of Dublin (56th, 18:59.5) were the top local finishers.
