Orange County Prep Player of the Week : Herring Becomes a Star in His New Neighborhood

As an eighth-grader, Mike Herring didn’t star in many basketball games played on the neighborhood driveways in Mission Viejo.

It wasn’t that he lacked talent. Herring had plenty, including some trick shots and a soft shooting touch. It wasn’t that he lacked prestige. His father was a high school basketball coach, after all. Nor did he lack desire.

The problem was the neighborhood roster. Herring could hold his own, but he was playing with an entire court of hoop kings.

There was Jeff Herdman, now the leading scorer at Laguna Beach High School; Bret Johnson, quarterback and point guard for El Toro; Chris Patton and Mike Hopkins, guards at Mater Dei, and Scott Herdman and Todd Mathews, who play at Mission Viejo.

La Paz Intermediate School reaped the most benefit from the neighborhood talent. Though Scott Herdman went to a neighboring school and Johnson was a grade younger, Herring and the others were the basis of an unstoppable team, the Banditos.

“We killed everyone we played,” Herring said.

Between seasons at La Paz, they played on the South Coast traveling team, coached by Gary McKnight, coach at Mater Dei. The schedule included tournaments at Santa Barbara and Las Vegas.

When McKnight and the Mater Dei team went to Brigham Young University for a national high school tournament, Herring and Patton were brought along as ball boys. Herring has since accepted a scholarship with the Cougars.

“It’s kind of ironic, I guess,” McKnight said of Herring’s college choice. “They were so impressed with Marriott Center (at BYU) and watching the best high school players in the country. They were only 12 years old, but it must have made a great impression on Mike even then.”

After eighth grade, the neighborhood team split up. Some players moved, joined McKnight at Mater Dei, or were affected by new high school district boundaries. Herring’s choice was simple. If you can’t play with your friends, you play for your dad. Al Herring is the basketball coach at Irvine High School. So he obtained a school district waiver that allowed Herring to attend a school outside his attendance boundaries.

“As a freshman, I wanted to go to Mission,” Herring said. “But they were switching around boundaries. I would have had to go to El Toro. But I wanted to play for my dad anyway. I really like it.”

Herring, The Times’ Player of the Week, set a school record Friday with 33 points in a 77-49 victory over San Clemente. He had 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks Wednesday in a 52-49 victory over Capistrano Valley.

This season, Herring leads Irvine in scoring (18 points per game) and rebounds (6.7). He is shooting 46% from the field and 73% from the free-throw line.

Though he rarely gets together with his old teammates, Herring has found a new partner for some friendly hoops.

“My dad and I go out and shoot or play horse in the gym sometimes,” Herring said. “(Though) he hasn’t beaten me since our one-on-one game when I was a sophomore.”

So Mike finally reigns as the Hoop King--at least in the Herring household.