The Good, the Bad and the Bose : Teachers, Coaches Say Academics Is Only Hurdle Morningside Athlete Needs to Clear

The wall clock in room V-4 read 4:10 p.m. and nobody had a clue why Stais Boseman hadn’t arrived for study hall yet.

Morningside High boys’ basketball Coach Carl Franklin had been sitting in room V-4 for 40 minutes Monday, or since the study session was supposed to begin. He kept peering at the door. Besides Boseman, six of the 15 Monarch players were absent and only one, center Corey Saffold, had arrived on time.

At 4:30, Franklin sent his team, still without Boseman, to the gym for practice. Starting guard Donminic Ellison was also missing.

Franklin wouldn’t let his players practice until everyone was there. He wondered how they could be so irresponsible the day before the start of the Southern California regional tournament.

At 5:12, Boseman walked into the gym wearing a red Morningside T-shirt, long striped shorts and black high-tops. He started to shoot around with his teammates, careful not to make eye contact with Franklin or his uncle, Rudy Boseman, a probation officer who happened to be at the gym.

“We had a little problem with Donminic’s car,” said Boseman, a 6-foot-4 forward. “The police pulled us over. (Donminic) didn’t have his proof of insurance so they held us up for 35 minutes. He was kind of speeding, but really I guess they just wanted to mess with us. I hope coach understands.”

The next night, Boseman, arriving on time, started and scored 20 points in leading Morningside to an 80-61 Division III victory over Exeter.

Franklin, although upset with his players’ tardiness, decided against disciplining Boseman and Ellison, other than to make them do some extra running in practice.

“More important for the team right now is to be relaxed, rather than me apply a whole lot of pressure,” Franklin said.

Although his responsibility might be suspect, Boseman’s athleticism has never been questioned. He distinguished himself playing quarterback and defensive back on Morningside’s football team, earning all-state honors the past two seasons. In basketball, he led the Monarchs to the Division III state title in 1992. This season, he has averaged 18.6 points and 6.6 rebounds to help Morningside (27-5) reach the regional semifinals at 8 tonight against visiting Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks.

Boseman, who will turn 19 this month, decided that his first love is basketball. He signed a letter of intent to play basketball for USC, choosing the Trojans over hundreds of other schools that recruited him. He said the main reason was Coach George Raveling.

“Every other coach brought tapes of their basketball program and statistics,” Boseman said. “When Raveling came, he brought an academic folder of the majors and everything and strictly talked about the books. I was kind of impressed with that.”

Boseman has taken the Scholastic Aptitude Test twice but has fallen short of the NCAA-required 700 score both times. Boseman said he is meeting with a tutor three days a week in preparation for his third try at the SAT on March 27.

“I’m not really worried about it,” Boseman said.

Robert Lewis is concerned. Lewis, Boseman’s ninth-grade algebra teacher at Morningside, meets with him several times a week. He’s trying to impress upon Boseman the importance of studying.

“Once he understands that his career is on the line, he’ll get motivated,” said Lewis, who has taught for 19 years at Morningside.

Lewis has tried all sorts of tactics.

“When he was in the ninth grade, I went to his territory, the gym,” said the 5-8 Lewis. “We played one-on-one. The rule was you could only make three layups, everything else was outside. I beat him, 13-11. After that he had more respect and was more businesslike. He picked up his studies and was more serious about his books. My logic was to reach him through athletics.”

Still, Lewis estimated that Boseman attends only 80% of his classes but “he makes it to the games every time. He hasn’t missed one yet.”

Boseman is liked by his teammates, who say he’s fun to be around. That’s what makes it so difficult for them to see him struggling with the SAT.

“We encourage him and ask him how he’s doing,” said Saffold, who has signed to play at Oklahoma next season. “He tells us he’s trying, but there’s no way you can force it down his throat.”

On the basketball court, Boseman needs no encouragement. Tuesday night, he opened the first half with a three-point basket and ended it with a thunderous two-handed dunk over a wide-eyed Exeter player at the buzzer.

“Boseman’s all over the place,” said 6-8 Exeter center Brian Warford. “He can jump. He can shoot. He’s a heck of a player.”

How do you stop him?

“Don’t ask us,” Warford said, laughing.

Redondo High Coach Jim Nielsen has an idea.

“Any time he drives, we foul him,” Nielsen said.

South Torrance Coach LaMont Henry watched Friday night as Boseman scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds to lead Morningside to a 65-62 victory over the Spartans in the Southern Section Division III-AA championship game at Cal Poly Pomona.

“Defense doesn’t bother him,” Henry said. “If you play him too tight, he’ll drive by. But leaving him open outside isn’t always a good idea.”

Boseman is one of the few athletes to play four years of varsity basketball at Morningside. Franklin said Boseman had surprising maturity as a freshman athlete. Away from sports, however, Boseman has not been as active.

“On the field or court, he’s a leader,” Franklin said. “In the school climate, he’s not. He doesn’t want to be involved in a whole lot of things. He almost shies away from the limelight. It’s a strange twist. The light comes on when he’s playing.”

Boseman hasn’t decided if he wants to play football at USC. He said former coach Larry Smith agreed to let him play both sports, but Boseman has yet to meet with new Coach John Robinson. There is time to decide. NCAA Division I rules prohibit athletes from playing two sports during their first two years in school.

And Raveling hasn’t given the OK.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we pass it,” Raveling said. “Right now we’re just concerned with Stais academically.”

As for Franklin, he doesn’t need to be concerned about Boseman being on time for tonight’s game. Boseman is never late for games.