Cotton Ready to Push Past Aside With Next Step

His final days as a high school phenom are fast approaching, and Schea Cotton couldn’t be happier.

Life as a basketball prodigy has its drawbacks, which Cotton learned the hard way. Sure, a glowing Sports Illustrated spread before your 17th birthday can be heady stuff.

But Cotton has also been under the bright lights for less flattering reasons. Cotton, who starred at Mater Dei but struggled with injuries at Bellflower St. John Bosco, believes he has been poked and prodded unfairly during the last four years, and all the scrutiny and speculation has made him weary.

Cotton’s last act on the prep stage occurs Saturday, when he plays in the Double Pump Classic all-star game at 7 p.m. at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Cotton hopes to go out with a bang, but he won’t leave content.

“My high school career has been a rocky road and I really haven’t enjoyed a lot of it,” Cotton said. “This year has been really hard on me mentally and physically.

“But my mama always tells me that the good Lord doesn’t give you more than you can handle. It’s been a struggle sometimes, but I’m going to keep my faith because only the strong survive. People think they know everything about me--but they don’t.”

Not that Cotton hasn’t provided topics for discussion. The latest news involves his post-prep plans.

A 6-foot-5, 210-pound forward, Cotton was recently released from a letter of intent he signed with Long Beach State, where his brother, James, was an All-Big West Conference guard. Schea decided not to attend Long Beach after James, a redshirt junior, announced in March that he was declaring himself eligible for the NBA draft.

The national letter of intent program also released Schea, meaning he will be eligible to play next season if he receives a qualifying score on the Scholastic Assessment Test. Cotton did not receive a qualifying score on his two previous attempts. He is scheduled to take the test again June 11.

Some college coaches believe Cotton will join the growing parade of high school players who bypass college for the NBA. No way, Cotton’s mother, Gaynell, said.

“He is going to college,” she said. “If the NBA is there down the road, fine. But if that doesn’t happen, he will have his education.”

UCLA and USC are at the top of Cotton’s list. Cotton is expected to announce his choice next week.

Cotton’s high school career was a dizzying mix of success, fame, controversy and rumors. Most adults don’t lead such intriguing lives, let alone a teenager with a mouthful of braces.

But from the start, Cotton was different. In junior high, he was already well known in Southland basketball circles because he was so much bigger and better than his contemporaries.

The legend machine got rolling in earnest when he enrolled at St. John Bosco High as a freshman and transferred to Mater Dei four games into the season. Expectedly, that move sparked questions. It also marked Cotton’s baptism by fire.

“Yeah, all the rumors got to me,” Cotton said. “It just makes you feel that you can’t trust anybody, that you can’t say anything to anybody.”

Nonetheless, Cotton was as good as advertised as a freshman. He averaged 20 points and seven rebounds as Mater Dei (33-1) won a Southern Section championship. That summer, Cotton was featured in Sports Illustrated.

And Cotton was even better as a sophomore, leading Mater Dei (36-1) to the state Division I title. He averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds and was selected the Southern Section’s Division I player of the year. But when he transferred back to St. John Bosco in May 1995, the rumor mill predictably picked up speed.

Did Cotton have problems with Coach Gary McKnight? With his Monarch teammates? With school?

Cotton denied any such problems, explaining he never really felt comfortable at Mater Dei. He wanted to be closer to his family’s home in Long Beach and he had many friends at St. John Bosco.

Even today, Cotton still has not been able to shake the nagging questions about Mater Dei.

“I’m just so tired of it,” Cotton said. “I don’t regret any of my decisions, but people want to make it out to be something bad, something that they can point to. People want to believe that there were all these problems.

“I like Coach McKnight and I’m cool with [his former Mater Dei teammates]. It’s nothing like people want to believe, but I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Returning to St. John Bosco, Cotton missed most of his junior season because of a broken bone in his left hand. He didn’t play as a senior because he severely injured his left shoulder during a summer tournament. He underwent surgery in September to repair ligament damage.

But rumors persist. Cotton has heard them all, that he didn’t play this season because he doesn’t like St. John Bosco Coach Brian Breslin; that his parents are upset with Breslin; that he was academically ineligible.

“It’s real frustrating,” Cotton said. “It makes me real defensive because people are watching everything I do, listening to everything I say. It’s just hard to be [a teenager].”

Cotton was not invited to the prestigious McDonald’s All-American game, but he did play in the Derby Festival all-star game April 19 in Louisville, Ky. Although rusty and still undergoing rehabilitation on his shoulder, Cotton scored 14 points.

“I’m not all the way back yet,” Cotton said. “The doctors told me it would take about a year to do everything I used to, but I’m working hard and I know I can do it.”

Which is why Saturday’s game is so important to Cotton. The Double Pump Classic is his last chance to take another good memory with him before moving on.