Cicciari Has Best Seat in the House

Lou Cicciari has the resume of a coach perfectly qualified to lead the Granada Hills High boys’ basketball team back to prominence.

Cicciari, 36, has more than 20 years of basketball experience and plays for one of the best amateur teams in the nation.

He was an assistant at Granada Hills for 10 seasons and was coach of the sophomore team at Hoover for two years.

Cicciari graduated from Granada Hills in 1977 and has brought the enthusiasm and love of his alma mater to practices and games since replacing longtime Coach Bob Johnson in 1993.

Only one thing differentiates Cicciari from other coaches: he coaches from a wheelchair.

Cicciari’s legs were amputated in second grade after he contracted purpura thrombosis, a disease that destroys blood vessels in the legs. Because purpura thrombosis can be fatal if it spreads to other organs, his legs were removed.

But that didn’t stop Cicciari from falling in love with sports, basketball in particular.

Granada Hills won only three games in each of the two seasons before Cicciari took over.

His first season, the earthquake-shortened 1993-94 campaign, the Highlanders won six games.

Last season, they reached the City Section 3-A quarterfinals.

And this season, Granada Hills (10-12, 6-4), despite an 0-6 start and a less-than- intimidating lineup, is a title contender.

Ernest Quinley, a 6-3 forward, is the only Granada Hills player who started for the Highlanders last season. Paul Chan, the starting point guard, was cut from the junior varsity before last season.

On Friday, Granada Hills lost to Birmingham, 72-59, leaving the Highlanders tied for first place in the North Valley League. The playoffs begin next Friday.

“I sat the team down just before the conference season started and told them that anyone can win the league. We weren’t out of it at all,” Cicciari said. “Every team was struggling; we weren’t alone. Our preseason record didn’t matter.”

After slow starts, Quinley has boosted his scoring average to 12.6 points, and Chan has become the catalyst of the offense, averaging 5.5 assists.

Most of the players credit Cicciari, who maintains a busy schedule beyond his teaching and coaching duties.

Twice a week, Cicciari bolts from practice to Pomona, where he plays with the Casa Colina Condors, one of the National Wheelchair Basketball Assn.’s top teams. The Condors’ season runs concurrently with the high school season.

Cicciari spends several weekends playing guard in regional tournaments from San Jose to Las Vegas, preparing for a regional tournament next month that leads to the national championships.

“It can be hell,” Cicciari said. “It can get really tough. I’m gone some days from 6:45 in the morning to 11:30 at night.”

Cicciari’s hectic schedule is prompting him to strongly consider retiring as a player after this season. But even if that happens he won’t be any less competitive.

He has been dabbling in wheelchair tennis and is close to earning a black belt in jujitsu, competing against able-bodied people. He met his wife, Lynda, at a wheelchair tennis tournament in Ventura.

“Tennis started off as a fun thing but now I find myself getting more and more competitive,” Cicciari said. “If I give up basketball, I’ll need something to fill that void.”

But coaching gives him the most satisfaction and steered him into a career. Cicciari was taking classes at Pierce College, planning to be an accountant for his family’s business when Johnson asked for his assistance.

Cicciari coached the Granada Hills junior varsity and was an assistant for the Highlander varsity which won the 3-A title in 1987. He was the student manager when Granada Hills won the 3-A championship in 1976.

Before Johnson asked, Cicciari never considered a coaching career.

“I couldn’t imagine coaching, something I love, full-time and getting paid enough for it,” he said.

Cicciari earned his teaching credential from Cal State Northridge in 1991 and found a job teaching health at Hoover, where he coached the sophomore team for the next two years.

When Johnson decided to retire after the 1993 season, he called Cicciari, advising him to apply.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Cicciari needed a teaching job to get the coaching position. When a Granada Hills health teacher retired, he fit right in.

Last year, Cicciari coached four Granada Hills teams--the varsity, junior varsity, B and C teams--in the fall.

“It got to be a little bit too much,” Cicciari said. “I loved every minute of it and I wanted to spend more time with the varsity.”

His wheelchair rarely limits him.

“He would joke about having no legs,” said Chan, who played on the C team two years ago. “If we lost, he would say he got so mad he would go home and kick the dog out of bed.”

Cicciari bonded with his players through summer league before his first varsity season, helping eliminate any potential surprises.

“I don’t think any of us knew him, but we knew who he was,” said Quinley, a senior and the only Highlander who has played for Cicciari all three years. “We knew he knows the game and how to coach. I don’t think anybody felt uncomfortable at all.”

Last year, the Highlanders learned a little about being confined to a wheelchair. They played Cicciari’s wheelchair team in a charity game.

Cicciari credits sports and coaching with teaching him to deal with people and learn about teamwork. He tries not to think about how his life might have been different had purpura thrombosis not taken his legs.

“The only time I feel frustrated is when I see guys about 6 feet 8 who are not using their full ability,” he said.

“Because they don’t really realize what they have.”