Orange County All-Star Football Game : Lacy Prepares for a Final Fling on Field

The rosters for high school all-star games generally are filled with players who have won enough individual and team honors to fill a trophy case.

Many have been awarded athletic scholarships to four-year colleges. Others will matriculate at local community colleges and eventually will realize their goals of earning a scholarship.

Roshawn Lacy of Santa Ana Valley High School, who is preparing for the 23rd Orange County All-Star football game, has not won the accolades or earned a four-year scholarship.

Lacy’s team won only three games in the two seasons he started as a wide receiver and defensive back for Santa Ana Valley. He earned more notoriety on the basketball court, where he led the Falcons to a third-place finish in the Century League and a Southern Section 3-A division playoff berth.

But Lacy adjusted easily to his role as starting left cornerback for the South team in the opening week of practice at El Toro High--simply because he has played with all-star players most of his life.

When he was a 9-year-old in the Mighty Mites division of Santa Ana Pop Warner, Lacy’s teammates included George Tuioti, Robert Lee, Scootie Lynwood and Oscar Wilson, who later earned their share of headlines at Santa Ana High.

He played football and basketball at McFadden Junior High with Gylan and Malru Dottin, basketball stars at Saddleback High.

He teamed with Adam Keefe, Chris Tower, Steve Guild and Bobby Joyce in the Slam ‘n Jam League in Compton and traveled with the team to San Francisco for a national Amateur Athletic Union tournament in May.

Lacy, 18, is an all-star, but this game, which will be played next Friday at Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium, figures to be his last opportunity to excel on the football field. He will depart next month for Rock Springs, Wyo., to attend Western Wyoming Junior College.

Dennis Thomas, basketball coach at Western Wyoming, signed Lacy on May 22 to junior college’s version of the four-year college’s national letter of intent. Under the agreement, Lacy will receive payments for lodging, tuition and books for two years.

Western Wyoming has an enrollment of only 750 students, but Thomas recruits nationally, and players from his program often earn Division I scholarships. Western Wyoming was 26-8 two years ago and had four players sign with Division I schools.

“This will probably be my last football game,” Lacy said. “If I had one wish, it would be to return an interception for 100 yards and a touchdown.”

Lacy nearly reached the century mark twice during the 1987 season. He returned an interception 98 yards for a touchdown in a 21-10 win over Kennedy and returned another interception 99 yards for a touchdown against El Modena.

But Lacy’s first love has always been basketball. He made the varsity team at Los Amigos High as a freshman, and he played for two seasons before transferring to Santa Ana Valley. He averaged 18.2 points per game last season as an off guard.

“I love the aggressiveness of football, but basketball has always been my main sport,” Lacy said. “The pace of basketball suits me better.”

Santa Ana Valley played a fast-breaking style of basketball that was tailor-made for Lacy’s athletic skills. But Lacy’s questionable outside shooting skills turned off most colleges. He received some interest from Loyola Marymount and Oregon, but said, “The phone stopped ringing on signing day.”

Lacy decided to play in the Slam ‘n Jam League after the 1987-88 season and then gained the attention of the Western Wyoming coaches while playing in San Francisco.

“He’s a very good defensive player who we think will be a Division I player if he improves on his outside shooting,” Thomas said.

“I came down to visit him six weeks ago and watched him work out in the gym. I think he’ll be a fine player if he can make the necessary adjustments.”

Lacy probably can improve his basketball skills, but making the adjustment to a small town in Wyoming could be another problem. And Lacy never visited Western Wyoming.

“The big test is seeing whether Roshawn can live for two years in seclusion in Wyoming,” said Jeff Bishop, Santa Ana Valley coach. “He’s going to have to make a big attitude adjustment to survive.

“He’ll be void of a social life, which might be good for him. It’s going to be a life of books and basketball. If he doesn’t pan out, he’ll become just another Santa Ana kid who didn’t make it.

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed. He needs to get many miles away from Santa Ana. Roshawn has the potential to become a fine player, but it’s all up to him.”

All-Star Notes

The North has scheduled a full contact scrimmage beginning at 9 a.m. today on the practice field adjacent to Titan Gym at Cal State Fullerton. . . . North linebacker Kevin Capps of La Habra suffered a slight concussion on Wednesday attempting to tackle running back Joaquin Garcia of Anaheim and sat out Thursday’s practice. . . . Carl Sweet, North coach, announced that center Steve Shin of Sunny Hills has been selected to replace Fred Jenkins of Valencia, and tackle Gary Espinosa of Whittier Christian has replaced Craig Parr of El Dorado. . . . Wide receiver John Dysart of Sunny Hills, another late replacement in the North camp, caught only 29 passes last season but scored 10 touchdowns. Dysart plans to walk on at Oregon State.

South quarterback Bret Johnson of El Toro missed practice sessions on Thursday and Friday to attend the Golden Plate Banquet in Nashville. Johnson was among 250 high school student leaders invited to the four-day convention that featured some of the country’s top civic, executive, sports and government figures. . . . The most impressive receiver in the South camp has been Brian Fleming of Laguna Hills. Fleming plans to attend UC Santa Barbara in the fall, prompting Saddleback College assistant Bill Cunerty to say, “If he went to a community college, I guarantee he would be a Pac-10 receiver after two seasons.”