Boys’ basketball: Parents are sending a message to their star sons

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Usually, parents get mad at coaches for not playing their sons. Now, parents are starting to intervene to impose their own punishment when their child doesn’t fulfill an academic expectation.

Two high-profile basketball players found themselves out of uniform and not playing in playoff games this week under orders from their parents.

Sophomore Marcus LoVett Jr. of Burbank Providence was shut down for the rest of the season when his father decided his son needed to focus on academic issues. Providence was eliminated from the Southern Section playoffs on Wednesday without LoVett.

Junior Bryan Alberts of Sun Valley Village Christian, who has a scholarship offer from Stanford, among others, was held out of Wednesday’s playoff opener under orders from his parents after they were unhappy with his academic work for a class.

It’s a reversal of roles, because schools or coaches are the ones usually benching players. If the decisions are strictly about academics, the parents should be applauded for trying to get the message across that school work takes precedent.

-- Eric Sondheimer