Time-out:
Separating the Real “Contenders” from the “Pretenders”
by Dinos Trigonis
(February 14, 2011)
** “Time-out” is a new feature of the Fullcourt Press website that discusses current and future issues related to grassroots basketball.
After having a chance to fully digest Jeff de Laveaga’s recent ArizonaPreps.com diatribe on who the “contenders” and “pretenders” are in Arizona club basketball, it is amazing that somebody that has never coached a 17& under team or a player that has signed a NCAA Division I letter of intent could be such an expert on high school grassroots basketball. Reflecting on my own nearly 20 year grassroots basketball experience as a coach, basketball event operator and recruiting scout, I find it amusing to see how often these types of guys arrive out of the blue on the HS club scene and claim they are the Oracle of Delphi when it comes to basketball recruiting.
First off, I find it a little disheartening that a person who seems to be a good coach as well as (from all accounts) an excellent former small college player would need to embellish his own past basketball resume. De Laveaga claims that as a player at NCAA Division III Cal Lutheran in the early 1990’s that he was National Player of the Year (1991), the leading scorer in the nation his lasttwo years at Cal Lu, that he led the nation in 3-pointers made in 1990 and 1991, that he was invited to try-out for the San Antonio Spurs and that he was MVP and leading scorer in the Australian National Pro League.
While it is true that Jeff played for an excellent college coach (Mike Dunlap) and was inducted into the Cal Lutheran Hall of Fame (2003), Cal Lutheran records obtained from the school’s own website indicate that while Jeff had a successful NCAA Division III playing career, he is slightly exaggerating his own personal accomplishments. While he was the NCAA D-III leading scorer in just one year - 1992 (29.5 ppg), there is no evidence that de Laveaga was ever named NCAA National Player of the Year in any NCAA Division. According to NCAA records, Jeff de Laveaga led NCAA D-III in 3-pointers in only one year (1992) – not the two that he claimed. While he was the conference (SCIAC) player of the year for the 1991-92 season (his final season), Jeff was selected as a second team NABC All-American – not first team as he claims. Furthermore, in Jeff’s three college seasons at Cal Lutheran, his team’s won-loss record was 5-21 (89-90), 14-12 (90-91) and 16-12 (91-92) - a combined 35-45 mark during his playing days there. Either Jeff has a very hazy memory or he likes to play very fast and loose with his college basketball facts.
There is also very sketchy info that makes confirming Jeff’s claimed Australian Pro accomplishments difficult but in a 1992 Los Angeles Times article by Wendy Witherspoon noting the Cal Lutheran careers of Jeff and his older brother Steve, Witherspoon stated that Jeff “will soon begin play in the Southeast Australian Basketball League, joining his older brother in that country's second-level professional league.” According to Wikepedia, the Southeast Australian Basketball League is one of five leagues that are part of the ABA (Australia Basketball Association). The ABA “is the second-tiered semi-professional men’s and women’s basketball minor league in Australia which sits under the professional National Basketball League (NBL)” – the top pro league in Australia. Jeff has claimed he was the MVP of and the all-time single game scoring leader (84 points) of the Australian National League. Checking the NBL website – the all-time single game scoring champ was Al Green (71 points) in 1984. Not only was there no mention of anybody named Jeff de LaVeaga in their scoring records, there was no mention of anybody with that same name that ever played in the top Australian league. On the other hand it was his brother Steve that had the stellar Aussie semi-pro career – scoring the total points in SEABL history (9,628).
The reason I point all this out is that when somebody represents himself as an authority in his particular field (in this case grassroots basketball) and utilizes a purported distinguished resume to legitimize his credibility, he gives others reason to believe that he is not as knowledgeable or qualified in that field as he claims if it is discovered (as is the case here) that he has misled or deceived people with respect to his own credentials or background.
In his February 1starticle published online by Anthony Ray’s Arizona Preps website, Jeff tries to distinguish the Arizona Magic/Gymrats program that he serves as the “Director of Basketball Operations” from other Arizona club teams by making several outrageous and completely ridiculous claims about his club program and its history. The most bizarre one is claiming that the Arizona Magic has produced over 250 college scholarship players over the past 10 years. Does this guy think we just fell off the turn-up truck last night? The whole state of Arizona hasn’t produced that many NCAA Division I or II scholarship basketball athletes during that entire period of time much less one single program. Furthermore, Jeff himself has never coached any athlete that I am aware of on a 17 & under team that has signed with a NCAA Division I program. Another too much to handle assertion is that Jeff lays claim to 9 national championships, 24 AAU state championships and 400 “competitive” club tourney titles that were captured by his Arizona Gymrats youth program since 2003. These outlandish claims are so outside the margin of common sense, they deserve no response. Racking up “big” wins at so-called “competitive” tourneys like the Great Harvest Shootout (Mesa AZ), Palm Springs Bonanza and Beat the Heat (Flagstaff AZ) doesn’t exactly turn heads on Selection Sunday! Simple math also eliminates the probability that his teams captured 50 “competitive” tourney titles every year (there are roughly 52 weekends in a year). If Jeff keeps this up, he might force the NCAA to implement mandatory drug testing for all youth coaches.
Since Jeff has been in the mood lately to separate “pretenders” from “contenders”, let’s take a closer look at the program he directs which he claims has no peers in the Copper State.
Claim #1 – Arizona Magic is fully-sponsored by adidas and Double Pump
Contender: A real fully sponsored team by a major shoe company actually signs a legal contract with the company’s grassroots executives and receives substantial money (at least $25k) and product (at least $15k worth of gear) directly from the company’s main office – not a third party. The only adidas fully-sponsored teams in the West this year are Compton Magic (CA), Dream Vision (CA), Double Pump (CA) and Las Vegas Prospects. These teams get invited to the most prestigious team events like Real Deal in the Rock (AR) and Bob Gibbons Tourney of Champions (NC) and their best players get invited to elite camps/events like the LeBron James Skills Academy (Nike), adidas Nations, Pangos All-American Camp and NBPA Camp. But then again not all “contenders” are fully-sponsored teams. My own independent Belmont Shore squad (led by Milwaukee Buck PG Brandon Jennings) won the 2007 Rbk Summer Championships in Las Vegas without being sponsored by a major shoe company. Last July, another non-sponsored team (New York Panthers) captured the 2010 title at the Desert Duel in Gilbert AZ.
Pretender: Are those desperate teams that suck up to a real fully sponsored squad like Double Pump and get those fully sponsored teams to give the “pretenders” the old gear that their own teams no longer want or need. They receive NO money directly from the shoe companies and fully-sponsored teams but rather receive a few free or discounted team or individual entries into their events. These teams (like the current Arizona Magic) do not get invited to the elite events listed above or if they pay the entry fees to get in, they are not placed in the super pools where most of the college coaches and media congregate. They also try to hoodwink their parents into believing that they pulled strings to get their players “invited” to an ordinary camp like the Double Pump All-Star Camp when it really is the parent’s $500 check that got their kids into the camp and not the influence of the “pretender”. Additionally, it is blatant misrepresentation to assert that all three 17&u AZ Magic teams are fully sponsored by adidas when not even one is!
Jeff: produce your signed contract with adidas or stop lying about your official affiliation with that company. There is nothing shameful about not being sponsored by a shoe company if you have other resources at your disposal and have the players to compete on a national level. But there is something shady about representing yourself as something you are not.
Claim #2 – The team roster released by Arizona Magic online on Arizona Preps website reflects their true make-up of their team.
Contender: A real elite team has or feels no need to publicly announce their team in order to mislead others on which players are truly committed to their program. Nor do they require their players to sign contracts to make players feel obligated to participate with that team but rather rely on strong relationships with that player and his parents that are based upon mutual trust and respect. Any signed contract with an amateur HS player is not legally enforceable and carries no weight other than to attempt to shame a player into playing with a team he wants nothing to do with.
Pretender: The roster that Jeff released on the Arizona Preps website is another con job devised to disguise the major defections that are going in his program. Several of his top players have either made the decision to switch to other teams or are in the process of doing so. Apparently they are smart enough to realize that what Jeff is pitching is really a hollow pipe dream.
* Claim #3 – Arizona Magic plays a competitive event schedule
Contender: A truly elite team plays in major national events and has the resources to travel coast-to-coast. Top national team events include Real Deal in the Rock (AR), Bob Gibbons Tourney of Champions (NC), Pitt Jam Fest (PA), Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (various sites through-out the country), Jayhawk Invitational (KS) and Nike Peach Jam (Augusta SC). Additionally, most of the top events on the West Coast are run by Fullcourt Press and Pangos. These events like the Pangos Dream Classic, Pangos All-American Camp, Fullcourt Press All-West Camp, Fullcourt Press Cream of the Crop Challenge, Las Vegas Fab 48 and Fullcourt Press All-Frosh/Soph Camp attract most of the top elite talent from not just the West Coast but the entire nation. Household names like LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Paul Pierce, Tyson Chandler, Baron Davis, Brandon Jennings, DeMar DeRozan, John Wall, Derrick Williams, Harrison Barnes and Jordan Hamilton made a name for themselves at Fullcourt Press/Pangos events before they became college and NBA stars. Additionally, Arizona native Jerryd Bayless (now in the NBA) was discovered by national scouts for the first time at the FCP All-Frosh/Soph Camp when he was a freshman. The fact that Jeff doesn’t know all this shows how inexperienced he really is at the high school level.
Pretender: Looking at the published Arizona Magic 2011 schedule, it has the look of a regional club NOT a national elite team that attends local and nearby (within a short drive) events that keep costs down. The reason for this type of schedule is normally a reflection of a lack of resources as well as lack of quality players that would attract invitations from national elite event operators as well as being competitive with the nation’s top teams. There is nothing wrong with playing a regional schedule, but when a guy like Jeff criticizes others for being disorganized, sub-par and second-tier, it has the smell of hypocrisy!
Jeff has attacked other Arizona basketball club and event operators – claiming that if they “are not successful in their “real-life” jobs, chances are they will never be successful in coaching or running a club a team.” That statement seems a little bizarre to me, especially when it is coming from a “marketing director” of Discount Cab (not exactly a Fortune 500 company). Are we to conclude that because Jeff might be good at slapping Discount Cab ads on bus benches that he is a terrific basketball coach compared to a guy working hard as a minimum-wage waiter at Denny’s? Additionally, Jeff was involved in a failed basketball facility project (Home Courts in Tempe AZ) in 2006 that closed down before it even opened. Does Jeff think it is fair to conclude that because Home Courts was a huge flop, that it reflects negatively on his ability to coach and organize a club team?
Jeff: let me tell you what a real contender is. Real “contenders” create and have their own team identity – they don’t “piggy-back” on other brand name teams like the Compton Magic – which (along with current Oregon State assistant coach David Grace and Anthony Ray) created the Arizona Magic back in 2003. If your Arizona Gymrats were so special, why didn’t you maintain that name when you arrived on the high school scene?
What Jeff needs to learn in a hurry is if he wants respect from college coaches, media/scouts, parents and others in the basketball community, he needs to stop talking about how great he is at the high school level and start showing it. Based upon his very limited record at the high school grassroots level, he has a lot of work do!
