Boys’ basketball: First impressions at Nike Extravaganza

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The last time I was in Mater Dei’s gym must have been March 2001 to interview Ricky Porter for a story on the scrappy guard during the Monarchs’ run to a state title.

Boy, how things have changed.

The old Mater Dei gym was so small that the Monarchs rarely played there. Now they play in the state-of-the-art Meruelo Athletic Center, which would put a lot of college teams’ facilities--cough, Loyola Marymount and Cal State Northridge, cough--to shame.

The 3,400-seat facility, which opened in 2006, is plush with a capital P. There are giant video boards on each end of the court and digital monitors that list each player’s points and fouls. Plus more title banners hanging from the rafters than any single high school has a right to win.

This is the third Nike Extravaganza to be played here. The event used to be held at the Long Beach Pyramid, among other places. Glad those days are over.

The gym is only about a quarter filled for the morning session at this point but among the contingent is a handful of college assistant coaches, including Stanford’s Rodney Tention and USC director of basketball operations Dwayne Polee. Polee’s son, Dwayne Jr., is playing for Westchester at 4 p.m. against Seattle Rainier Beach.

Looks like there’s plenty of good seats left if you have nothing better to do on a rainy day.

--Ben Bolch