High Hopes : Villa Park’s Chenowith Wants More Than a League Title

There are several factors that can help make a basketball player successful.

Start with height.

At 7 feet 1/2 inch, Villa Park’s Eric Chenowith has plenty of it.

Add desire.

Since getting shoved and battered by opponents during his freshman year, when the Spartans finished 3-20, Chenowith determined things would be different.

Last season, with Chenowith averaging 14 points and six rebounds, the Spartans improved to 10-14. This season, the Spartans are 14-4, ranked sixth in the county, and were tied for the Century League lead before losing to Santa Ana Valley, 59-43, Friday.

Chenowith is again doing his part, averaging 16.1 points and a county-leading 10.7 rebounds.

Now mix in a sense of urgency.

Chenowith, 16, hasn’t been on a better team at Villa Park, and he won’t be satisfied with only a league title and a token appearance in the playoffs.

“We have to win now,” he said. “This should be our year. We have great chemistry, we play hard, and we’ll lose some valuable seniors [next season], so we need to win now.”

Not many young players will put that kind of pressure on themselves, but Chenowith has had to deal with others’ expectations most of his life.

He loves to tell the story of when he realized how much bigger he was than his classmates. “In kindergarten I would sit at my desk and my knees wouldn’t fit under the table,” Chenowith said.

He is more serious, however, when detailing the taunts and jibes he received from other kids. Because he was as thin as he was tall, nicknames of “stick” and “pole” were common. The abuse would increase whenever anybody saw him surfing, his second favorite sport after basketball.

Chenowith developed a sense of humor as his shield. For example, while getting his picture taken for the school’s homecoming activities, the photographer asked him if he was the center on the basketball team.

“I said, ‘No, I play tight end, and I’ve gotten a scholarship to Notre Dame,’ ” Chenowith said. “I had the guy going for a while.”

But, he added, “I’m comfortable with my height now. Before when people said stupid things, I’d want to start something. Now I just walk away.”

At the beginning of his basketball career at Villa Park, however, Chenowith occasionally wondered if he had chosen the right sport.

Because his growth had come in spurts--during the eighth grade he shot up five inches--his coordination did not always keep pace. Adding weight was also a problem, so getting pushed and shoved around by bigger, stronger players wasn’t fun.

But Chenowith has never shied away from working on his game. Before his sophomore season he spent the summer working with a personal trainer, along with Sonora 7-footer Craig Clark (now at San Jose State), and Woodbridge 6-9 standout Chris Burgess. Even today, Chenowith is often the last player to leave practice.

His perseverance has paid off handsomely.

“He’s developed real well over the past year,” Santa Ana Valley Coach Kevin Stipp said. “I thought before he had some difficulty [playing] with his back to the basket, but that has come around. He can move away from the basket and score, and his passing has improved. You can’t double-team him.

“Defensively, he’s very imposing in the post. You’ve got to challenge him, but he plays defense and tries to be a complete player. Not all county post players do.”

His own coach, Kevin Reynolds, is similarly enthusiastic.

“This is my first year coaching him,” said Reynolds, who replaced Steve Harris this season. “People told me stories about him [of his supposed immaturity], but socially and in basketball, when you are that tall, you get picked on.

“He has become a player. He can pass very well from all spots on the floor, and he has a nice touch from 16 feet in. He’s learning to block shots. He’s learning the fundamentals of rebounding, not just relying on being 7 feet.

“He’s an easy-going kid, down to earth,” Reynolds continued. “With the attention he gets you’d think he’d be real arrogant. There’s none of that.”

Chenowith credits Reynolds for putting basketball into perspective for him. “Coach always tells us to play with a smile, because you only play high school ball once,” he said.

And that’s not a tall tale.