Cowitz Gets Strength From Playoff Run

His team had just advanced to the Southern California Regional final, but Jay Cowitz didn’t get off the bench to celebrate. He couldn’t.

He was fatigued. His neck and back were hurting. The complications from cancer were flaring up again.

Cowitz was in no hurry to rise from his seat. Last July, his doctors had given him three months to live. He had made it to March, and had coached his team, San Luis Obispo Mission Prep, deep into the girls’ basketball state playoffs.

The pain was screaming for attention on this particular night as Cowitz tried to block it out, like he had been doing the last eight months. After a few minutes, he rose. Another success.

One of the state’s winningest basketball coaches, Cowitz, 49, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last July 12, his wife’s birthday. Today, he tries to win a state championship for the first time after three unsuccessful attempts sprinkled throughout his 19-year career.

This time, Mission Prep (24-5) plays San Francisco Convent of the Sacred Heart (28-3) at Arco Arena in Sacramento. That Mission Prep got this far is a victory in itself. It was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Royals, who lost both starting guards from last year.

But the team and its coach have been tossing aside roadblocks the entire season.

“I’ve drawn as much from them as much as they’ve drawn from me,” Cowitz said. “I think it goes both ways.”

Cowitz, who has four children, first sensed a problem when he developed a skin rash that covered most of his body, his legs in particular. After he was diagnosed, the cancer spread from his pancreas to his liver and spine.

He has worn surgical masks during practice to protect him from infection when his white blood cell count was low, removing them only to shout to his players.

He has undergone four-hour chemotherapy sessions to slow the spread of cancer in his pancreas and liver. He has had radiation treatment for his spine. Because he is relatively young, Cowitz has had treatments that are double the strength of typical sessions.

“The radiation is really fatiguing,” he said. “That wears me out. I’m just fighting the fatigue. It hits you without any rhyme or reason.”

Cowitz has not driven since he lost consciousness in front of the school last October, the result of a blood clot that moved to one of his lungs. His wife drives him to and from school.

“Pancreatic cancer is a nasty cancer,” Cowitz said. “There’s no cure for it. They have treated it to the point where my organs are working correctly again. It’s in my bones pretty good, but everything else is knocked back as far as they can knock it back.”

He teaches three classes in social justice and ethics, a decrease from his usual workload of five classes. A vocal coach who was known to frequently break clipboards, Cowitz has had to adjust his style.

“In practice he was way more hands-on [last season],” said center Katherine Suderman, a 6-foot-4 junior who will be a top recruit next season. “It’s not as easy for him because he’s not as strong. He used to play defense against me in the post. He can’t do that anymore.

“He doesn’t yell standing up quite as much. He’ll sit down and yell. But we still hear him. A lot of it is just words of encouragement.”

Cowitz has 395 victories, ranking him among the top 20 in state girls’ basketball history. He has taken the small school, with 264 students this year, and turned it into an annual power. Mission Prep recently won its 11th consecutive sectional title, tying Brea Olinda for the state record.

Suderman said she feels lucky to make it to the state final with Cowitz.

“I keep telling myself he wasn’t even supposed to be here now,” Suderman said. “The doctors said he wasn’t supposed to live three months. It’s an honor to play for him. It motivates me every day when I see him. He pushes himself very hard.”

Cowitz has a network of supporters. His family. The school. Team parents. And, somewhat surprising, rival coach Cary Nerelli.

Nerelli, in his 16th year at Morro Bay, has been Cowitz’s adversary for more than a decade. Their teams, though not in the same league, play every year in front of an overflow crowd.

Sometimes Morro Bay wins. Sometimes Mission Prep wins. Somewhere along the evolution of the rivalry, Nerelli found a friend -- Cowitz.

Nerelli is not surprised that Cowitz looks comparatively hale.

“He’s such a strong-willed individual, unless a person knows about his illness, you’d never know,” Nerelli said. “To watch him go through this sends a message to his players. I fully expect to see him back, coaching with the same intensity he has over the years.”

Last summer, Nerelli and other coaches approached Cowitz about an all-star benefit game. Cowitz’s response? That’s the type of thing done for somebody that doesn’t have a chance. The game never got off the ground.

“He doesn’t want the spotlight on him,” said Mission Prep Athletic Director Tom Mott. “He just wants to coach basketball and get on with his life.”

Mott, a former student at Mission Prep, played on a freshman baseball team coached by Cowitz in 1988. He remembers his reaction last summer when he was told of Cowitz’s diagnosis.

“Someone who’s been so strong, so influential in so many kids’ lives, you’d never think anything like that could happen to him,” Mott said. “When he was diagnosed, they didn’t think he’d make it this far. He’s hurting, but this [playoff run] is definitely keeping him going.”

Cowitz hasn’t discussed with his players the importance of winning today. He doesn’t want to pressure them. And, despite what doctors say, Cowitz believes he’ll be back next season.

“You get dealt your cards and you either play them or you fold,” Cowitz said. “I’m not ready to quit playing.”