McKnight Ready for Next Step

Gary McKnight gathered around his family--nuclear, extended and high-topped--and posed at half court for the annual portrait. Most of us wait for Christmas and go to a shopping mall. McKnight does it in March, in the Los Angeles Sports Arena, substituting sweats for coats and ties--and the Southern Section Division I-A championship trophy for the cheesy tinselled evergreen with the sagging branches.

“I can see how my kids grow over the years,” McKnight says of the collection.

There are now eight of these portraits. The first was taken in 1983.

Then came 1985.

And 1986.

And 1987.

And 1988.

And 1990.

And 1992.

And, now, after a ho-hum 63-41 drubbing of Huntington Beach High Saturday night, 1993.

Eight Mater Dei basketball championships in 11 seasons. Nine Mater Dei championship appearances in 11 seasons. The Sports Arena has ceased to serve as a neutral site for the Division I-A final. The Monarchs have more of a home-court advantage here than the Clippers.

McKnight is 8-1 in these games. He watches them and smiles, but he also watches them and wonders.

What is left to achieve at this level?

More to the point, what does McKnight have to do to leave this level to move up to the next, where the ability to recruit a point-guard is treated as an attribute, not an ugly under-the-breath rumor?

Someone asked McKnight the by-rote question--does he ever get his fill of winning these things?--and this time, McKnight veered away from his by-rote answer.

“No,” he began.

“Well . . . I’ve got an interview with Utah State this week. I don’t know what that means, but I do have an interview.”

Utah State needs a basketball coach. So did UC Irvine in 1991. So did Cal State Fullerton in 1992. McKnight received cursory thanks-but-no-thanks sit-downs with the Irvine and Fullerton athletic directors then, so he knows enough not to get his hopes up now.

One difference this time, however.

This time, Utah State is coming to McKnight.

“They’re going to be out here for the Big West Tournament,” McKnight said, “so they called and asked to meet some time late in the week.

“It’s nice that they’ve taken an interest. I’ve had a tough time getting a serious local interview. It’s nice that they think enough to talk to a (high school) from the L.A.-Orange County area.”

Gary McKnight in Logan? It makes sense, provided McKnight can stand the snow and the boredom.

Tough to recruit in Logan, McKnight has been informed. “All the top players in the state of Utah go to BYU,” McKnight says. “And Rick Majerus is such a big-time recruiter, Utah gets most of the top West Coast kids.”

This is where McKnight would come in. Recruiting the best is his reputation, deserved or not, fair or not. McKnight joked about that reputation Saturday.

“Kamran Sufi is a man, “ McKnight said, referring to Mater Dei’s senior point, who had eight assists and 11 points. “Here’s a kid who’s been on varsity four years, played in two state championships--and he’s 5-8, 130 pounds.

“If they say I’m a recruiter, I don’t know. I didn’t recruit a big kid there.”

Yet, McKnight hears the one-liners.

Mater Dei is a Catholic school that accepts students of all faiths and religions--Protestant, Lutheran, Muslim--provided they can go to their left.

Mater Dei picks on someone its own size next week in the SoCal regional final when it meets, in all likelihood, Crenshaw. Crenshaw’s roster includes seven transfers.

In the Big West, McKnight wouldn’t hear so much laughing.

“Utah State could use someone,” McKnight notes, “who can bring in kids from the California and Orange County area.”

Leaving Mater Dei wouldn’t be easy, McKnight concedes. After a decade or so, the greatest dynasty in Orange County history develops some perks. Mater Dei, for instance, has a glossy-covered 118-page basketball media guide. UC Irvine’s has 56 pages.

Mater Dei outdraws UC Irvine at the Bren Center.

Mater Dei could probably beat UC Irvine at the Bren Center. Or the Sports Arena. Or anywhere else McKnight could line up a game.

Leaving Mater Dei now would be especially tough, McKnight says, because “I’ve got a son (Clay) who’s a sophomore on the team. The next two years, I’d love to be with him.”

Clay got in some playing time Saturday. Six minutes’ worth, which is tough to come by at Mater Depth, which can either outclass you or outnumber, name your poison.

Four Monarchs have already signed with Division I-A school. It matters not how much they. Sufi is headed for St. Mary’s and forward Marmet Williams, who had 11 points and nine rebounds against Huntington Beach, is bound for San Jose State. But guard David Drakeford, who scored two points, got a scholarship to Oregon State, and DeVaughn Wright, who played but two minutes, has already signed with Cal State Fullerton.

That’s what the Mater Dei label can do for a player.

And for the coach?

McKnight tries not to ask. “The only thing I’m going to worry about,” he claims, “is our next game.”

But the family photo shoot could use some new surroundings.

It could be time to move to a new locale.

It could be time to start a new album.