These Days, Barrett Is Just Another Fan in the Stands : Basketball: Ex-Mater Dei assistant still close to Monarchs’ program. But he says he doesn’t recruit for McKnight.

Twelve years ago, Pat Barrett used to sit beside Mater Dei boys’ basketball Coach Gary McKnight as an assistant on the Monarchs’ bench . . . now he says he’s just another high school basketball fan.

But Barrett knows there are whispers when he appears at the Bren Center to catch Mater Dei and freshman Schea Cotton, who plays on his traveling team.

“I’m a Mater Dei fan, heck, I coached there for three years,” Barrett said. “But in no way am I aligned with or connected with Mater Dei or any other school. I don’t work for anybody.

“If a kid asks me what high schools have good basketball programs and what colleges are good, I’ll tell him. But I’m just one guy giving his opinion; I don’t tell anyone what to do.”

Ten years ago, when Tom Lewis was the most sought after high school player in Southern California, many thought Barrett was telling Lewis what to do.

Lewis enrolled at Mater Dei the same year Barrett arrived on the coaching staff. They met while Barrett was the sophomore coach at Capistrano Valley, and Lewis, who came from a broken family, moved in with Barrett and his parents.

Lewis developed into one of the best players in county history and was recruited by high-profile schools, including UCLA, USC, Nevada Las Vegas and Syracuse.

When Lewis chose USC, many pointed the finger at Barrett.

“People never got the whole story on Tom’s recruitment and I was made out to be the bad guy,” Barrett said. “That was fine with me. I was trying to protect a 17- (or) 18-year-old kid.”

Ten years later, Lewis is an assistant coach at Mater Dei and Cotton’s arrival has brought Barrett’s name to the forefront again.

“Now, all of a sudden, Schea Cotton shows up and it’s like, well, (Barrett) had to be the reason,” McKnight said. “If that was the case, Pat coached the O’Bannon brothers. Shoot I really got messed up there. I missed them.”

Ed and Charles O’Bannon, now at UCLA, helped Artesia win three State championships. Barrett said he never coached the O’Bannons on a team, but helped tutor their individual skills.

Barrett’s current age-17 level all-stars include sophomores Olujimi Mann of Santa Ana Valley, Danny Walker of Westchester, juniors Jelani McCoy of San Diego Augustine, Paul Pierce of Inglewood, and Cotton, all rated among the best in the country in their class by basketball scouts.

“If I’m recruiting for Gary, then I’m really doing a lousy job,” Barrett said. “Look at all the great kids that play for my teams who don’t go to Mater Dei.”

During their three seasons in the grade six, seven and eight levels, Cotton and Mann helped Barrett’s Performance Training Institute team (now known as Values for a Better America) go 220-3.

There are those who say traveling teams don’t serve players’ best interests.

“The problem is these kids get involved with traveling teams at a very young age,” El Modena Coach Steve Middleton said. “That can be very good, but it leads the Pat Barretts of the world to charge exorbitant amounts of money and promise them they will be stars.”

Barrett has heard worse and shrugs it off.

“If I’m such a bad guy, how come all the kids want to play here?” Barrett said. “We work hard to develop the kids’ talents so they’re ready for high school.”

Barrett said he charges $300 per player, and with the help of private corporate sponsorship, the year-round teams play in 20-plus weekend tournaments and 80 games annually.

With the help of two assistants, Barrett coaches sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade teams year-round, and age-15 and 17 level all-star teams. His practice regimen also includes monthly guest speakers, who address, among other issues, the ills of drugs and gangs.

Barrett says he is simply a basketball coach who drives a 1988 Ford van and runs Barrett Trophies and Awards, “a mom-and-pop organization” out of the garage in his home in Costa Mesa.

But since he also is a close friend and coach to some of the top prep players in the area, Barrett wields considerable power in the basketball community.

“People take shots at us and that comes with the territory,” Barrett said. “But I know I haven’t done anything wrong . . . I sleep well every night.”

Times staff writer Chris Foster contributed to this story.