Crenshaw High’s Toughest Competition This Year: Itself

High above the hardwood at Crenshaw High, 16 boys’ basketball championship banners adorn the ceiling, reminders of the proud tradition of arguably the most successful program in the state.

Now, football Coach Robert Garrett hopes to establish a new tradition at Crenshaw.

A renowned power on the court, Crenshaw’s basketball program has historically outdrawn football and produced alumni such as current and former National Basketball Assn. players Marques Johnson, John Williams and Darwin Cook. Football, it seemed, was the perennial bridesmaid.

“Basketball is the universal sport at Crenshaw,” Garrett said. “The football team has a tradition, but it’s less than basketball. It’s obvious.”

But Crenshaw’s reputation as a one-sport school began to turn around last year when the football Cougars, under Garrett, won the City Section 3-A Championship with a 10-4 record. It was Crenshaw’s first football title since the school began fielding a varsity team in 1969.

Since he became varsity coach in 1988, Garrett and Co-Coach Terrel Ray turned a disorganized, undermanned team into a contender.

“The physical ability has always been there,” Garrett said. “It’s the attitude and the work ethic that needed to be changed. We had to really hustle to get people to play. We had to change the negative image that the student body and the community had toward the football program.”

Garrett stresses teamwork, de-emphasizes the role of star players and enforces classroom attendance. He requires his players to volunteer for community service. On game days he makes players wear dress slacks, a white shirt and a tie. Attendance at a team breakfast is mandatory.

Garrett, however, needed to do more than set a few new ground rules. He had to attract the school’s top athletes and persuade them to forgo preseason basketball. He had a tough pitch to make--basketball tryouts coincide with the start of football.

Senior starting quarterback Eric Scott, who said he hated playing football before he attended Crenshaw, tried out because he thought he had a better chance to make the football team.

“There are too many players trying out for basketball. The team gets filled up (with players) before football practice lets out.”

The basketball team, however, hasn’t won a championship since 1989. Last season, two starting basketball players--Demetrues Henderson and Gerald Lacey--played football and earned scholarships to the University of Hawaii. Ronnie Canyon, another basketball player, will also play strong safety for the football Cougars.