Sporting Support : For Mike Meyers of Marina, Success on Court Is Relative

A perfect day for Mike Meyers begins at the Huntington Beach cliffs for some early-morning surfing. Next, it’s a round of tennis in the afternoon and then back to the beach for a pickup basketball game.

“What more could you want?” asked Meyers, a graduate of Marina High School who will play for the South team in the 22nd Orange County All-Star basketball game at 7:30 Saturday night in UC Irvine’s Bren Center.

Whether it’s riding the waves or shooting some hoops, Meyers has had a love affair with sports for most of his life. The feeling runs in the family.

His uncle Dave was a consensus All-American basketball player at UCLA and captain of John Wooden’s 10th and final NCAA championship team in 1975. He played five seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks and is a member of the Orange County Hall of Fame.

His aunt Ann was the first woman to sign an NBA contract--with the Indiana Pacers in 1979--after being a four-time All-American at UCLA. She is also a member of the county’s Hall of Fame.

Another aunt, Patti, played on Cal State Fullerton’s women’s national championship basketball team in 1970 and later coached at Pepperdine University.

All three frequently attended Marina games to watch Mike lead the Vikings to the Sunset League title and a 22-6 record. Meyers averaged 11.9 points and 5.5 assists as the team’s point guard.

“Our family has always been close and very supportive of each other,” Mike Meyers said. “Whenever we get together for a family reunion, we have some pretty mean basketball games. It gets intense.”

Meyers was the Vikings’ leading scorer with a 15.8 average as a junior when he played the off-guard position, then moved to point guard this season.

“Mike made a big sacrifice to the team by moving to the point,” said Steve Popovich, Marina’s veteran coach, who also will coach the South team in the all-star game. “He accepted the change in positions very well.

“I think playing the point is the toughest position in basketball. Most of the good high school point guards have been playing the position since the fourth or fifth grade. I thought Mike did a great job considering he had very little experience.”

Meyers said that at first the lack of experience at point guard bothered him. He didn’t feel comfortable until midway through the league season.

“We had a lot of talent on our team with Mark Georgeson, Steve Guild and myself,” Meyers said. “At first, I found it difficult making the decision of whether to shoot or pass. Now, I like having the ball in my hands. I feel like I’m in control.”

Meyers has been through two tours at Marina. He spent one day of school there as a freshman, then transferred to Servite in Anaheim. A year later, he left Servite after leading the Friars’ freshman team to a 24-1 record and re-entered Marina.

“We had an awesome team at Servite, but I hated going to school there,” he said. “The basketball coaches were so negative. After my freshman season, I told them I wasn’t coming back because it was too far to drive from my home (Huntington Harbor) to school in Anaheim every day.”

Meyers, who was the No. 3 singles player on Servite’s varsity tennis team as a freshman, has happier memories from that sport.

“I really enjoyed playing tennis at Servite,” Meyers said. “Their coach (Jon Borowiec) was one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. He taught me so much about the game. I love basketball, but I probably have a better future in tennis.”

Under Southern Section rules, Meyers was unable to play varsity sports at Marina until his junior year because he did not change residency.

Meyers was the No. 3 singles player for Marina’s league championship team this spring that finished 16-4. He still intends to pursue a career in basketball, though he hasn’t received any scholarship offers.

He expects to attend a community college next year.

Popovich thinks that the community college level would be beneficial to Meyers.

“At the beginning of the year, I wrote letters and made phone calls to a lot of colleges on Mike’s behalf,” Popovich said. “I felt bad that he wasn’t recruited. He’s a steady kid, gets good grades and comes from a great family.

“The big problem is Mike is only 6-feet tall, and most colleges want an off-guard who’s 6-3. He doesn’t have much experience playing the point. A couple of years of junior college basketball and he’ll be much better off.”