Rideaux: A Treat and a Threat

Darrell Rideaux pays attention to detail, but even he isn’t perfect.

Which is why he recently spent all day searching for athletic tape to cover the Notre Dame logo on his sweatpants before track practice at Long Beach Poly High.

Rideaux, one of the best defensive backs in the country and the defending state champion in the 100-meter dash, signed a letter of intent with USC in February. So promoting the enemy wouldn’t be prudent.

Rideaux, 19, meticulously prepared for his high school career, which has been stellar from the start and is approaching its conclusion. Friday’s Southern Section Masters meet at Cerritos College will be the last time he competes for Poly in Southern California. If, as expected, he qualifies for next week’s state championships, he will run for the Jackrabbits in Sacramento.

The USC scholarship was one of the biggest benefits gained from excelling at one of the strongest athletic programs in California. Poly alumni in the NFL include Willie McGinest, Marquez Pope and Mark Carrier. Rideaux was determined to make his own mark even before he arrived.

“When I came to high school, I didn’t want to be known as the next somebody,” Rideaux said. “I wanted to be the first Darrell Rideaux. I wanted to leave a legacy.”

So far his accomplishments include:

* Leading Poly to the Division I football title in 1997.

* Helping the Jackrabbits compile a 27-game winning streak that ended in the 1998 championship game against Santa Ana Mater Dei. He was named a Parade Magazine All-American.

* Contributing to the end of a 33-year drought as Poly last year won its first Division I track championship since 1965.

* Winning the 100-meter state title over defending champion Justin Fargas of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame as the Jackrabbits won their second consecutive championship.

* Maintaining a 3.2 grade-point average in an international business magnet program filled with advanced placement courses that require an average of five to six hours of homework a night.

“I was never worried about his academics,” said Rideaux’s mother, Centrillia Cutrer. “He was more of a bookworm than an athlete when he was little. I had to force him to go outside and run around.”

Rideaux has performed well on and off the playing field, but his biggest impact might be revealed in the stack of nearly 500 letters received from Long Beach children in response to motivational speeches he has given as part of a school program.

Rideaux is a member of the International Ambassadors, a group of ethnically diverse students at Poly that develops community-service projects.

“I wanted to give something back,” he said of his speeches to kids. “I can tell them that here I am--I’m 5 feet 8 and look at what I’m able to do.”

It helped that Rideaux was a prodigy.

“Darrell just seemed a step ahead of most high school athletes,” said Poly quarterback Chris Lewis, who will attend Stanford.

Rideaux is the only athlete to play four years of varsity football at Poly since the school added a freshman class a decade ago.

“I was a little intimidated but I wasn’t going to show it,” said Rideaux, who started eight games as a freshman. “I weighed maybe 145 pounds and I have to cover guys like Ken-Yon Rambo [now a starting wide receiver at Ohio State], who are 6-2, 6-3. The experience taught me a lot.”

Jerry Jaso, Poly’s football coach, saw attributes in Rideaux beyond athletic ability.

“It took maybe five minutes to realize he was special,” Jaso said. “We were considering making him a captain as a sophomore. We just don’t do that here.”

Success on the track also came quickly. Tutored by Poly Coach Don Norford, Rideaux was one of the top sprinters in the state by the time he was a sophomore. He was second at the Masters meet and finished third behind Fargas and Miguel Fletcher of Misson Hills Alemany in the 100 at the 1997 state finals.

Last year, he beat Fargas and Fletcher for the state title in the 100. He also ran a leg of Poly’s winning 400-relay team.

This year, Rideaux has felt the pressure of defending his title, even at invitational meets in Massachusetts and Texas. Rideaux won the 100 at the Southern Section Division I finals last week in 10.49 seconds, but that may not be good enough to win the Masters meet. Junior Warren Rogers of Serra won Division III in 10.42.

Rideaux is used to making adjustments. In his sophomore year, he realized he needed extra help on academics, so he sought out a tutoring program at Long Beach State for training in time management. By his junior year, Rideaux already had a qualifying SAT score.

Rideaux also pushes himself at track practice. He teams with Kareem Kelly, Samie Parker and Bennie Robinson to form one of the fastest 400-relay teams in the state. The quartet won the Division I title in 40.43.

With all the success in high school, Rideaux is forming a similar blueprint for college. He already has picked out a major--international marketing. USC has only one returning starter in the secondary, and Rideaux sees an opportunity for playing time. He will also run track.

“I’ve accomplished almost everything I wanted to in high school,” Rideaux said. “I want to be ready so I can do the same in college. I’ll give myself a week off, then I’ll get going.”