These Players Are Worth the Wait

There was a time when basketball coaches could get away with telling a young player, “You have to wait your turn.”

Nowadays, that comment is a good way to send a player and his parents fleeing to another school.

Patience is losing ground as an appreciated virtue. Everyone is in a hurry to start. Everyone wants immediate stardom.

Whenever an athlete uses work ethic and drive to improve his skills and develop into a top player, no matter how long it may take, it’s proof that patience can win out.

Here are some players who became varsity standouts late in their high school careers by never losing confidence in their abilities.

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Jerard Moret of Westchester arrived his sophomore season knowing the task to earn playing time would not be an easy one. The Comets were tops in the state. How was he going to break into a starting lineup with UCLA-bound Trevor Ariza and Kent State-bound Scott Cutley ahead of him?

“It was a big gamble,” said Moret, who transferred from tiny Los Angeles Pacific Hills. “I saw the competition. I questioned if I was ready to step out on the court with my game. I had to get a lot better. I was daring I would be able to make it.”

He practiced every day against Ariza, now with the New York Knicks. He also had to raise his grade-point average because the Comets have a policy that every starter must have a GPA of 2.5 or better.

By late December of his junior season, the 6-foot-5 Moret had broken into the starting lineup. He was a top defensive player but improving his shooting skills was a must.

“I worked on ball-handling and jump shots for almost two hours a day, three or four days a week,” he said of his summer schedule.

Moret improved enough that Cal State Fullerton offered him a scholarship. Now, as a senior at Westchester, he has become a consistent performer and learned plenty about what it takes to succeed.

“I was told practice doesn’t make perfect but a perfect practice makes perfect,” he said. “Every day at practice, don’t be afraid to get winded or tired because you are on the floor. You have to be able to make the effort and compete.”

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Danny Houtz of Etiwanda dreamed of starting on varsity when he was in the fourth grade. It didn’t happen until this season, his senior year.

He played two years on junior varsity, then was the sixth man on varsity. He thought he had a starting spot locked up until two transfer students showed up this season.

“Of course I was worried,” he said. “They’re scholarship kids and they’re coming in to a school where I thought I had a sure position. It forced me to step up my game.”

Houtz, a 6-1 guard, was told by his coach, Dave Kleckner, to hit the weights. And that’s what he did from July through November, gaining 15 pounds. He went to a recreation center and practiced shooting over and over.

“I did everything I could,” he said.

He earned the starting spot for a team that won its first 14 games and was ranked No. 1 in Southern California until a loss last week to Compton Dominguez.

“I love the fact I’m on such a great team and my hard work has finally paid off,” he said. “I know I have to work harder than a lot of kids out there.”

Etiwanda fans gained renewed appreciation for Houtz’s contributions as a shooter and defender when he missed the Dominguez game because of a sprained ankle.

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When 6-3 Buchi Awaji was playing on Los Angeles Loyola’s freshman team, people were telling him to look elsewhere.

“They’re treating you wrong” was the typical complaint.

“I wanted to leave because I wanted to play JV or varsity,” Awaji said. “People want to play varsity their freshman year if they’re good enough. Nobody wants to wait. My dad always told me education is first. He was, ‘Wait, wait, wait, your time is going to come.’ I listened to my dad.”

Awaji played junior varsity as a sophomore, waiting for Omar Wilkes to graduate. He took over for Wilkes last season and has become a standout this season, averaging 19.6 points and scoring 40 against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 31 against North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake and 26 against Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley.

“He’s the best player nobody knows about,” Coach Jim Williamson said.

Awaji took it upon himself to improve his shooting skills. He worked with a private coach and spent hours practicing at a local park.

“I’d lay in my bed and shoot the ball, flicking my wrist,” he said.

His parents bought him a $500 weight set for the backyard.

“I turned on the radio and started lifting,” he said.

If Loyola ends up winning the Mission League title, Awaji will be a big reason.

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John Chea, a 5-11 senior point guard at La Quinta near Palm Springs, is averaging eight points and seven assists. He’s the team captain.

Not bad for someone who was cut from the freshman team.

“The coach at the time didn’t see him being ready to play high school basketball,” La Quinta Coach Aaron Brown said.

Said Chea: “It broke my heart when I got cut, but it made me work even harder.”

Chea tried out the next season and made junior varsity. He was a varsity starter last season and continues to develop.

“He’s taken full advantage of each year he’s been here,” Brown said.

Chea, whose parents are from Cambodia, said he knew his time would come.

“I’ve always been a patient guy,” he said.

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