Gardena’s Kirksey Is Proving That He Has the Right Stuff

Last season, Robin Kirksey wasn’t exactly what you would call a basketball coach’s dream.

“I had a horrible time with him,” Gardena High Coach Rod Tange said. “Robin was very immature. He was lazy and moody. He wouldn’t work hard in practice, and then he’d drift into space in games.”

But as the world turns, so has Kirksey. And Tange, who is in his second season at Gardena, has stopped tossing and turning.

Gardena (7-14)--led by Kirksey, who averages 28 points and 13 rebounds--plays at second-seeded Manual Arts (20-3) in the first round of the L.A. City Section 4-A Division playoffs tonight at 7:30.

“This season has been a 180-degree turnaround for Robin,” Tange said. “Not only has he become a damn good basketball player, he’s been a positive influence in what has been an ugly, depressing season for us. He hasn’t lost his enthusiasm.”

Kirksey, a 6-foot-6, 185-pound senior swingman, is pragmatic about his reasons for the attitude swing.

Last season, when Kirksey averaged 16 points and eight rebounds as Gardena’s off-guard, he was 6-4. Over the summer, however, Kirksey grew two inches and he realized that basketball could be his ticket to ivy halls.

“I wanted to go to college,” Kirksey said. “I knew I had to work harder to be recognized and get a scholarship.”

Kirksey put in extra hours on his conditioning and lowered his time in the two-mile run to 11:47. He also worked on his strength, although Tange says there is still room for about 20 pounds on Kirksey’s frame.

The extra sweat will probably pay dividends. Kirksey has already been on a recruiting visit to UC Irvine, and he is planning another trip to Colorado.

Don Mead, an Orange County-based scout, said Kirksey could develop into a solid contributor in a mid-level Division I college conference, such as the Big West or West Coast Conference.

“He’s an excellent athlete and a real fine prospect,” Mead said. “He’ll be an off-guard in college, so he needs to shoot outside a little more. He probably takes the ball to the hoop so much now because most people can’t stop him one-on-one.”

Kirksey is also an attractive prospect because of his 2.7 grade-point average, and the fact that he has already passed the Scholastic Aptitude Test, which will make him immediately eligible as a college freshman.

Tange describes Kirksey as a wiry, slashing player whose shooting range will increase as he gets older and stronger, similar to Arkansas swingman Todd Day.

“Robin is a tremendous passer, and he sees the floor extremely well,” Tange said. “Sometimes I wish he’d keep the ball more, because he can put the ball on the floor or shoot threes. Plus he’s staying inside and boarding, doing the dirty work for us.”

Kirksey is shooting 52% from the field, including 47% on three-point attempts. He’s also an 81% free-throw shooter.

When he has put it all together at one time, Kirksey has been awesome.

He had 50 points and 15 rebounds against Crenshaw’s man-to-man defense and scored 47 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against Dorsey.

“I was just flowing,” Kirksey said. “I didn’t know I had that many points until afterward, when I looked in the book.”

In another game against Dorsey, a box-and-one defense wasn’t enough to contain Kirksey, who scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds before fouling out at the start of the fourth quarter.

Narbonne also tried a box-and-one defense--where a defender shadows Kirksey’s every move while the other four stay in a zone box--but Kirksey responded with a 30-point, 22-rebound effort.

“It all comes back to Robin’s maturity,” Tange said. “He’s been patient, letting the game come to him. He’s not trying to do it all by himself.”

Sometimes, Tange admits, Kirksey has had to do the lion’s share of the work for Gardena. Forward Demetrius Boykins (16 points), who was an all-conference defensive back for Gardena’s football team, is the Mohicans’ only other consistent offensive player.

“I think with a little more consistent play from our backcourt, Robin would average five to 10 more points a game,” Tange said.