100% Cotton : Ex-Mater Dei Standout Finds Comfort Zone at St. John Bosco

Lodged between fact and fiction is Schea Cotton, an exceptionally talented 16-year-old basketball player who has had difficulty handling many of the trappings that come with success.

“Sometimes, I wonder if I’m just a regular person,” Cotton said.

One of the nation’s most sought-after prep players, Cotton has caused much speculation because of his return to Bellflower St. John Bosco High after spending nearly two full seasons playing for Mater Dei.

He led the Monarchs to a state title and a 36-1 record as a sophomore last season, but shortly after that, the 6-foot-5 Parade magazine All-American left for St. John Bosco.

Last season, some of his teammates grumbled that Cotton was receiving special treatment at Mater Dei. The school’s principal, Patrick Murphy, said the charges are unsubstantiated.

The defining moment in the decision for Cotton to return to St. John Bosco came midway through the second semester last spring. Cotton fell behind in his schoolwork after missing several weeks because of illnesses and back and hamstring injuries, which he might have aggravated while playing spring ball.

Another charge, that Cotton was allowed to miss classes without making up work while at Mater Dei, is also unsubstantiated, Murphy said.

“All his absences were documented,” the principal said.

In fact, it became difficult for Cotton to make up classwork, particularly in his math and science courses. His parents consulted with school officials and the decision was made to withdraw.

“I could see it coming,” McKnight said. “You could see the stress in his face.”

So far this season at St. John Bosco, things are going well for the Braves and Cotton. He averaged more than 20 points in four games at last week’s Holiday Prep Classic in Las Vegas, where the Braves finished 2-2. Cotton was named to the all-tournament team.

These days, Cotton rarely goes anywhere without a chaperon. Interviews have to be cleared through his parents, and a coach or school representative from St. John Bosco attends most interviews.

“We want to keep his lifestyle as normal as possible,” St. John Bosco Coach Brian Breslin said. “He’s a special athlete and it’s our job to see that he’s taken care of.”

Cotton spoke about his sojourns during a break in the action in Las Vegas. He admitted, perhaps for the first time on the record, that his move to Mater Dei was made more for basketball reasons than academic ones.

Cotton left St. John Bosco three weeks and four games into his freshman basketball season, he said, because he wanted to play with teammates from his summer traveling team, many of whom attended Mater Dei.

“I looked at the school and saw the coaching style and it was similar to what I was used to,” he said.

But soon after classes began at Mater Dei, Cotton said, he felt somewhat out of place.

“I was an alien myself. I was foreign to Orange County,” he said.

Cotton was unprepared, he said, for the media attention he received in the county. He also was the subject of a piece in Sports Illustrated, touting him as one of the nation’s finest prep basketball players.

Cotton said the fact that St. John Bosco, which is 8-2 this season, receives so little press coverage is one of the main reasons he returned.

Cotton grew tired of being recognized wherever he went, Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight explained.

“He would go to Los Caballeros to shoot around and he literally would have to sign autographs for 15 minutes before he could get inside,” McKnight said. “Anywhere he went that happened.”

At the Bren Center during a tournament several weeks ago, two young women could be heard gushing about the fact that they had had dinner with Cotton. And while Cotton ate up that kind of attention at first, it eventually put additional pressure on him to perform.

“He felt that every night he had to be perfect,” McKnight said. “College and professional players can’t do that.”

James Cotton Sr., who reportedly said initially that Schea Cotton returned to St. John Bosco so the family could move closer to the father’s construction business, doesn’t see anything wrong with his son hop-scotching between two counties. In fact, Schea’s moves are in keeping with the family’s pattern. When their older son, James, was old enough to attend high school, the family moved from San Pedro so he could go to Lakewood Artesia High, although James, now at Long Beach State, switched to St. John Bosco in his sophomore season.

“As a father, you love your kids, so you are going to do what is best for your kids,” James Cotton Sr. said. “If you don’t do what’s best for your kids, you are letting them down.”

Schea Cotton says he has found some inner peace since returning to St. John Bosco.

“I always felt like St. John Bosco was family to me,” he said. “This is home, coming back to the city, Los Angeles County, where I know a lot of guys.”

A report in a Las Vegas newspaper last week speculated that Cotton has considered entering the NBA draft at the end of his senior year. But some, including college scouts, believe his defense and ballhandling skills will need to improve dramatically for him to be able to make that move.

There’s also speculation that Shea will attend Long Beach State, so he can play alongside James, for a season, then turn pro.

Said Schea Cotton: “That’s always a possibility. There is that influence in the house [to play with James]. Right now, I just want to enjoy high school. I know the NBA is definitely in my future. I just want to see how things go.”