McKnight Keeps Mater Dei on Top Despite Illness, Injuries

Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight has heard the whispers and felt the criticism often during his 17 years at the county’s most successful boys’ basketball program.

It goes something like this:

With all the talent they get, he doesn’t need to coach.

Or . . .

Who are the top five players in the county? Mater Dei’s starting five. The second best five players are sitting on Mater Dei’s bench.

Or . . .

McKnight has so many assistants, he doesn’t have to coach. He just shows up and takes the credit.

To the contrary, if there was ever a time in which a coach’s steady hand was needed, it came this season at Mater Dei.

The Monarchs were plagued by so much illness and injury that not once was McKnight able to put the five players he wanted onto the floor for any length of time. Still, he guided the Monarchs (34-3) into the state Division I title game for the fifth time. Mater Dei lost, 50-45, to Oakland Fremont on Saturday.

For his efforts, McKnight has been named The Times Orange County coach of the year.

“To get a lot of good players to play together isn’t easy,” McKnight said. “I’ve been blessed over the years with good talent and we’ve played against comparable competition. I always tell them that if we play as a team we’ll still have our season in March.”

McKnight, who has an overall record of 509-45, has guided the Monarchs to seven Southern Section titles this decade. Sure, he says, his half a dozen assistant coaches deserve a lot of credit.

“Good coaches find that they are better when they surround themselves with good assistants,” he said.

“Some coaches are inferior but they want to be the dominant person on the bench. In my case I’m real good in some areas and in others I’m not real good. That’s why I have people around me who are good in those areas. The school gives me the luxury of having six coaches on the bench.”

Villa Park Coach Kevin Reynolds says that as a result of all the support he gets, McKnight doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

“He provides motivation,” Reynolds said. “[Assistant Dave Taylor] does the Xs and O’s. Gary provides the toughness and the mental aspect of the game,” Reynolds said.

Pacifica Coach Bob Becker agreed.

“Mater Dei kids never beat themselves,” Becker said. “They are well coached, well-schooled and as far as I’m concerned well-respected.”

Capistrano Valley Coach Brian Mulligan suggested that this season might have been McKnight’s toughest, considering all the makeshift lineups the Monarchs used.

“His game plans down the stretch have been fantastic,” Mulligan said.

Ocean View Coach Jim Harris, for whom McKnight began his coaching career more than 20 years ago, said it’s time McKnight got credit for his success.

“Sometimes you get overlooked because of the talent you have,” Harris said. “But it takes a great coach to coach talented players. In his own right, for many years, he has been a heck of a coach. Everyone likes to knock off the guy on the top. If they can’t do it on the court, they’ll do it verbally.”

McKnight said he isn’t worried about what others think.

“I don’t see the criticism we used to in our earlier days,” he said. “We have proven what we can do, to maintain our level of competition all these years is a big chore.”