High Schools: Sea Kings’ Le chooses football
At every Corona del Mar High football game, boys’ basketball coach Ryan Schachter is always looking out for the players who will play for him when the football season ends.
He watches. He cheers. He gets nervous.
There is one two-sport standout Schachter most likely won’t have to worry about next season.
Schachter is losing a key starter in Taeveon Le, who has informed Schachter that he is not playing basketball as a junior. Le, a 6-foot-4, 225-pounder, said he is sticking to one sport: football.
“At this moment, I’m going to say no,” Le said when asked whether he planned to continue with basketball. “I have a big junior year ahead of me and I have to focus on that.”
Le has attracted a lot of attention from college football programs this summer as a receiver with the Sea Kings. He said Yale has already assured him there’s a spot for him there [Ivy League schools don’t offer scholarships], and the University of Washington, UCLA and San Jose State are interested in him as well.
During the Battle at the Beach seven-on-seven passing tournament at Edison High on July 9, Le was nearly unstoppable. Powerhouse teams like Mater Dei, ranked No. 6 in the country by MaxPreps.com and Harbor City Narbonne, the defending CIF State Division I-A champion, tried defending Le in single, double and triple coverage, and Le still made catches, multiple of those resulting in touchdowns.
There was a stretch last year, in Le’s debut varsity season, when all he did in the first three games was catch touchdowns. Schachter remembers how Le’s first three receptions went for touchdowns. Le and Cal-bound quarterback Chase Garbers hooked for 79-, 59- and 21-yard scores, but it’s highly unlikely they will be able to connect on passes on the basketball court.
Even though Garbers also plays basketball, Schachter said convincing Le, a second-team All-Pacific Coast League performer in basketball last season, to return to the court would be hard for anyone to pull off.
“We talked at length in late March or early April, and that’s when he was thinking about quitting,” said Schachter, whose team was coming off a disappointing exit in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3A playoffs, a year after CdM reached the section final. “I told him that I’m not going to let him make the decision right now. We talked again in June, right before school got out, and he said he definitely was going to quit. I understand. There’s no ill will. He’s a great kid. He has great grades. He’s an amazing student. I’m disappointed, but I’m not upset at him.”
While Schachter might lose one 6-4 player, he’s getting another in freshman John Humphreys.
Schachter said another talented Humphreys is coming to CdM. John Humphreys’ sister, Kelsey, stood out with the girls’ volleyball team before going to play for Stanford, and another sister, Ashley, a USC commit, will be a junior on the girls’ volleyball team this fall.
The other Humphreys in the family is Ben, who despite going to CdM Middle School attended Mater Dei and was a star football player. Ben is now entering his sophomore year as Duke’s starting middle linebacker.
“I think Ben was one of our biggest advocates,” Schachter said when asked how Humphreys didn’t follow in his older brother’s footsteps to Mater Dei. “Ben loved to play basketball and football, and I think he had to commit to one sport for whatever reason. John wants to play basketball and football. He sees that Chase Garbers is going to Cal and he’s playing both sports [in high school], and it kind of gave him the platform that he could do both sports at a high level.”
Schachter has quite a few starters on the basketball team who play multiple sports, including DJ Rodman (football and basketball), Kevin Kobrine (volleyball and basketball) and Mitch Haly (volleyball, football and basketball).
Schachter said Kobrine, an incoming 6-5 junior, has committed to the UCLA men’s volleyball program. His older brother is Sam, a recent CdM graduate who is bound for UCLA. The two brothers plan to play together in a couple of years at their father David Kobrine’s alma mater.
“He’s been to a couple of our games this summer and he looks like [New Orleans Pelicans star] Anthony Davis out there,” Schachter said of Kevin Kobrine, adding that Rodman, a future sophomore, has also played well, as Rodman is averaging 20 points per game this summer. “We have a lot of young talent, and we’ll see when the football seasons ends. [Le] could be singing a different tune. I know he loves basketball. I say there’s a five to 10 percent chance that he plays again.”
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A couple of days before losing Brandon Phillips to graduation, Newport Harbor boys’ basketball coach Bob Torribio lost another Phillips.
Torribio said Joshua Phillips, the brother of Brandon Phillips, is transferring to Edison, which has reached the CIF Southern Section finals the last two seasons. The younger Phillips is heading to a Sunset League rival.
“When you lose a 6-8 player, you lose a lot,” said Torribio, adding that Phillips’ mother, Sarah, informed Torribio of the move to Edison via email. “I had heard they were moving, a change of residency.”
Joshua Phillips, an incoming junior, could’ve helped a Newport Harbor team that lost four starters. The lone returner is point guard Collin Pipkin. Last season as a junior, Pipkin led the Sailors to a share of second place in league with Edison at 6-4.
“We beat Edison in the last [league] game and he goes over there,” Torribio joked. “We wish him all the success down there.”
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Last weekend, the Sage Hill boys’ basketball team played in the same tournament its former coach ran.
Jeff Beeler is now coaching at Capistrano Valley Christian, after guiding the Lightning the past nine seasons. Sage Hill walk-on coach Billy Conlon, a former assistant of Beeler, said he and Beeler remain close friends on and off the court, despite Beeler leaving the Lightning.
“I’m very happy for him,” Conlon said of Beeler, who is also the associate athletic director at the school in San Juan Capistrano. “He has been a huge help to me throughout this whole process [of taking over at Sage Hill]. I’ve learned so much from him the last five years.”
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Coach Xavier Castellano brought his Estancia boys’ basketball team to UC Santa Barbara last month to experience college life for four days.
The trip also brought back memories for Castellano, who graduated from UCSB in 2003.
“I remembered what it was like to be naive,” said the 36-year-old Castellano. “But this is where the kids really came together. They slept in the same dorm rooms. They ate together. They drove in the car together. It was just a great bonding experience.”
The Eagles also experienced success on the basketball court. Conner Gray, who will be a senior next season, helped Estancia reach the UCSB team camp small school division final.
“I remembered what it was like to be naive,” said the 36-year-old Castellano. “But this is where the kids really came together. They slept in the same dorm rooms. They ate together. They drove in the car together. It was just a great bonding experience.”
The Eagles also experienced success on the basketball court. Conner Gray, who will be a senior next season, helped Estancia reach the UCSB team camp small school division final.
