1992-93 / The Times’ All-Valley Boys’ Basketball Team : COACH OF THE YEAR : Graber Sets Trap, Lands League Title

It started with a friendly conversation between two coaches at a summer league tournament.

“You know what I think, Paul?,” Royal High Coach Ira Sollod said. “I think you could utilize the talents of your team best by installing a half-court trap defense.”

Monroe Coach Paul Graber listened intently to what his childhood friend had to say, and responded.

“You really think so, Ira? Perhaps you have a point,” Graber said. “How about I come over to your house and we draw up some X’s and O’s and see just how this defense might work out for us?

And just like that, Monroe was on the road to its most successful basketball season in school history.

Graber, in only his second season as a varsity basketball coach, turned a 7-11 team into a 23-4 City Section 3-A Division finalist a year later.

And defense--primarily the swarming half-court trap--was the key to the Vikings’ success, Graber said. Had Graber’s longtime friend not made the observation and suggestion, it is anybody’s guess how far a straight man-to-man defense would have carried the Vikings.

“He’s been a big influence on my coaching success,” Graber said of Sollod.

The fleet-footed Vikings responded favorably to the defensive change, and before long, their trapping, thieving defense was fueling their transition-game offense.

“I was blessed with real good ballplayers this year,” Graber said. “I guess you could say I utilized the talent well.”

Graber was indeed blessed with abundant newfound talent. Only two starters, Marco Rich and Tweedy Stiner, returned from Graber’s rookie season. Kenyatta Niles, Jeff Nadeau, Dante Cain and Kashan Griffin made the Vikings contenders.

After claiming championships in the L.A. Invitational and Birmingham tournaments, Monroe went on to win the Mid-Valley League title, the school’s first in nearly two decades.

Only a one-point loss to Banning in the 3-A final at the Sports Arena kept Graber and the Vikings from taking it all.

Graber’s climb to success has been brief, to say the least. He graduated from San Diego State in 1981 and began his high school coaching career only three seasons ago as a junior varsity coach at Monroe. A year later, Graber became Monroe’s third coach in as many years.

Apparently, three’s a charm.