Verbum Dei’s Chaney Makes Grade With Mom

There are lots of ways for parents to motivate teenagers to action.

From taking away their allowance, to grounding them, to barring use of the family car, those are the typical threats.

But nothing provokes greater fear in a teenage basketball player than hearing Mom say, “If those grades don’t come up, you can forget about basketball.”

Richard Chaney knew his mother wasn’t bluffing, either.

“My mom’s most strict because she wants me to succeed,” he said. “I was failing and she threatened to cut me off the team if I didn’t pick up my grades.”

The message got through to Chaney in middle school, and he’s been grateful ever since. Last November, because of his success in basketball and in the classroom at Los Angeles Verbum Dei High, he signed a letter of intent with Utah.

“I never thought that day was going to come,” he said. “I had heard of others signing and wondered what that would be like. It was exciting. I felt important.”

Chaney, 6 feet 4, is one of the better basketball players in Southern California. Watch how high he soars on a dunk. See how smooth the ball rotates on his three-point attempt. Watch how fast he moves up and down the court. He’s averaging 23 points and eight rebounds for Verbum Dei (10-3), ranked No. 19 by The Times.

“I feel I can play any position in high school, even center,” he said.

Chaney impressed Utah Coach Rick Majerus with his athleticism and shooting skills, but it was his mother, Esther, who made the most profound impression during a recruiting visit to the family home in Compton.

“I love the character of the young man,” Majerus said, “but even more, I love his mom.”

Majerus said it’s clear that Chaney has been “held accountable” for his conduct on and off the court, with his parents doing a good job teaching him about the importance of education.

Chaney was chosen by Verbum Dei officials to be one of a select group to speak at a senior retreat. The topic of his speech is causing Chaney some anxiety, though. He’s supposed to talk about his struggles to reach this point in life.

“It’s difficult because I don’t really have any problems,” he said. “I’ve got two good parents. They taught me right from wrong. They influenced me to do good. I don’t know what it’s like to struggle. I’ve been blessed.”

Chaney has contemplated what he’d like to do if basketball doesn’t take him beyond college.

“I want to be either a homicide detective, veterinarian or forensic pathologist,” he said.

His job interests come from watching medical programs on television and the intrigue he felt dissecting a fish in biology class.

“It was a big orange fish,” he said. “It stunk.”

Just don’t ask him to dissect a worm.

“That was boring,” he said. “There was nothing inside.”

Dissecting defenses is Chaney’s real passion. Because of his size and quickness, he presents problems for opposing coaches. He’s too big for guards to cover, too quick for forwards and too mobile for centers.

Majerus could be looking like a recruiting genius next season with the three talented recruits he signed out of Southern California.

Besides Chaney, he picked up guard Tim Drisdom from Downey Calvary Chapel and forward Bryant Markson from Monrovia.

Chaney originally committed to USC, but said he changed his mind because Utah offered a better opportunity to stay focused.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “I want to know what it’s like being on my own, taking care of myself.”

Chaney already knows his parents have done their job preparing him for the challenges ahead.

“I know the odds of going to the NBA are slim, so I fall back on education,” he said. “That way, I won’t disappoint myself or my family. I hate the most seeing players really talented going to community colleges because they don’t want to learn or take care of school. I didn’t want to be like that.”

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.