Thanks to Honikel, Servite Basketball Is Rebuilding

At the beginning of the year, some people considered Servite High School basketball team’s chances of winning the Angelus League title hopeless.

Before school started this fall, seven players left the team, including the starting five. The reasons the players left ranged from philosophical differences with Friar Coach Larry Walker to financial problems to transportation problems.

Although two Friars in the current lineup played in Servite’s summer program last year, Walker was faced with the task of constructing a new team.

Enter Matt Honikel, a 6-foot 5-inch, 185-pound junior varsity transfer with a penchant for building. As a child, Honikel used to build planters and birdhouses and take off doorknobs, just so he could put them back on. His grandfather is a bricklayer in Chicago and his father is a chrome plater, who rebuilds cars. Honikel spent years watching them build something from nothing. The transformations he saw taught him an important lesson in self-reliance, perseverance and hard work, a lesson he’s applied to basketball.

The senior, who plays both center and forward for the Friars, is helping Walker rebuild the team. Honikel, who averages 20.3 points and 9.5 rebounds a game, showed some of his best work last week in games against St. Paul and Bishop Amat and earned Times Player of the Week honors.

In Thursday’s St. Paul game, Honikel was 10 of 14 from the field and 13 of 16 from the line. He scored a game-high 33 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, leading the Friars to a 61-53 victory over the Swordsmen. In Friday’s game against Bishop Amat, Honikel, who was 14 of 21 from the field, had 32 points and 15 rebounds in Servite’s 56-46 win.

With Honikel’s help, the Friars are 2-1 in Angelus League play.

“Matt’s going to be the one to score points in an open-court game,” Walker said. “We don’t tell the players to give him the ball. It just so happens he’s in the right place, at the right time and can do it.”

Honikel, a personable 18-year-old, is full of energy and enthusiasm for sports. It is a passion his family shares. His older brother Dan, 21, played football and basketball at Servite and today works as a parks and recreation leader and coach in Orange County. Younger brother, Chris, 11, plays basketball and baseball. His father coaches Chris in Little League and also has coached Matt and Dan in baseball and soccer.

This summer, Honikel hopes to get jobs in sports and construction. He says he would like to work as a parks and recreation leader and for a construction firm.

“I hate to be inside,” Honikel said. “I could never work behind a desk or in an office. I like to be outdoors, but construction work is hard to get into. But if you can get into it, it’s a good business. I want to learn all I can about it.”

Although Honikel’s defensive game could use a little work, Walker is full of praise for him.

“I really wish he was coming back next year, “ Walker said, watching Honikel at practice. “I know a lot of coaches say that about their players, but I mean it.

“He’s the best forward I’ve coached. His size at 6-5 is part of it --a lot of our forwards are 6-2, 6-3--but he’s also mobile, quick, jumps well and is a very good offensive player. There are not many forwards, legitimate forwards, that have done all that.”