Mannix Takes Positive Approach to His Game

In the world according to Luke Mannix, not only is the glass half empty, it should be plastic. Glass shatters, you know.

“My dad calls me an eternal pessimist,” said Mannix, one of two returning starters on the San Clemente boys’ basketball team. “We were uprooting this tree once, and I kept telling my dad there was no way we could do it. He kept telling me we could. We did it, but it took us 2 1/2 hours. By looking at things that way, I can protect myself. That way, I don’t get let down.”

With a ball in his hand and a black-and-red jersey on his back, the 6-foot-3 senior guard sees things in a more positive light. Although the 1992-93 Tritons mustered only one league victory and four more overall, Mannix was magical.

“I’m not (negative) in basketball, that’s taking it too far,” he said.

Mannix finished as the county’s sixth leading scorer last season, with a 22.3 average, and had a respectable 7.8 rebounding average, up considerably from his average of five points and three rebounds per game as a sophomore.

His second varsity season also featured a school single-game scoring record. Mannix scored 46 points against Atascadero in a 1992 Christmas tournament, eclipsing San Clemente’s record 43 points set by Gary Wade in a 111-83 loss to Capistrano Valley in 1986. In the Atascadero game, Mannix tied the single-game field goal record of 20.

“I think he’ll be in the top five (scoring leaders) in the county,” Mission Viejo Coach Joe Reid said. “He’s a dynamic player. He wants the ball and his teammates look to get it to him. . . . I wouldn’t mind having the guy.”

Mannix wouldn’t mind sharing the load. All the numbers in the world add up to a hill of beans. And with a stronger supporting cast than last season, he expects to help the team in ways that reach beyond scoring.

“I’ll still have to score, but we have some big guys who can score, too,” Mannix said. “I won’t need to as much. That will free me up to pass, which is what I really like to do. Anyone can score and rebound . . . not everyone can make a great pass.”

A long-time Celtics fan, Mannix admired Larry Bird for his passing prowess.

“He was awesome, he could get the ball to anyone,” he said.

First-year Triton Coach Ed Coyle could ask Mannix to post up, screen or jump off the San Clemente Pier and Mannix would probably oblige.

“He’ll do anything we ask,” Coyle said. “If we need him to shoot more, he’ll do it. Luke making an assist is just as important as Luke making a basket. He’s well-rounded. He does a lot of things well.”

Whether he does them well enough to take him beyond high school is open to debate. Mannix is realistic about basketball. With a 3.95 overall grade-point average, which he expects to improve to 4.0 or beyond next semester, Mannix would like to take his talents--specifically his academics ones--to UC Berkeley and eventually become an investment banker.

And if playing basketball somehow works into the equation? Pure icing on the cake.

“As much as I love basketball, I realized a long time ago you’re not as bad as you think you are,” he said. “A lot of people it takes a lot longer to figure that out. I’m just being realistic.”

Coyle doesn’t rule out a Division I basketball future for Mannix, but knows the competition is stiff.

“I don’t know if he can be an impact player at Division I, or II or III, but he can play somewhere,” Coyle said. “He has a lot of natural ability and he’s very intelligent. He’s a heady player.”

Mannix seems to have a good handle on what he can and can’t do with a basketball, and where that puts him in relation to his peers. He’s convinced he should have been a first-team all-league selection last season.

“With my average, I was second-team?” he said. “That (made me mad). Regardless of how our team did, all-league is an individual thing.”

Coaches throughout the league point to San Clemente as the team most likely to surprise people. Mannix knows his role is significant.

“After two years here, it’s my job to recognize the things that need to be done,” he said. “And I’m capable of doing them.”