He Earns Credit for Loyalty

And then there was one.

Nothing is more revealing about the state of high school basketball than what has happened at Bellflower St. John Bosco, where Daniel Hackett is the only remaining player from a group of exceptional freshmen who made the varsity as 15-year-olds two years ago and were proclaimed the Fab Four.

“We’re trying to stay together and do something special,” Hackett said in December 2003.

By the next February, 7-foot-1 Alex Jacobson had transferred to Santa Ana Mater Dei. Last season, 6-4 Quinton Watkins left for Compton Dominguez. And this month, point guard Kertd Elisaldez enrolled at Villa Park.

“There’s nothing much you can say,” Hackett said. “Guys want to leave schools and are attracted to shoes and other stuff.”

Every September, when school begins, basketball coaches must wait to see who’s come and who’s gone. Rumors were played out on a weekly basis over the summer at tournaments and on the Internet.

Pierce Brooks transferred from Woodland Hills Taft to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. Nigel Carter went from Notre Dame to Taft. Patrick Christopher moved from Lakewood Mayfair to Dominguez. Romeo Miller is at Beverly Hills after playing last season at Los Angeles Windward.

Auri Allen, a 6-11 sophomore center from Los Angeles Verbum Dei, was a major focus of speculation. Would he leave? Would he stay? He’s no longer enrolled at Verbum Dei and is apparently being home-schooled and trained by a private coach.

The fact that Hackett stayed at St. John Bosco is news, considering he had been apparently slated to leave all summer.

“The past two months, I heard I was at Mater Dei, then [Lakewood] Artesia,” he said. “I knew I was going to be at St. John Bosco. It’s my school, and I’m going to stick with it.”

Hackett, who is 6-4, would be my nominee for a Southern Section Champions of Character award for exemplifying what high school sports is supposed to be about.

He lived in Italy from first through eighth grades before arriving at St. John Bosco, where his father, Rudy, a former NBA player, became the dean of students. Rudy was recently appointed an assistant coach at USC, giving Hackett an easy excuse to switch schools.

But he refused to be influenced by people who have corrupted high school basketball with their win-at-all-cost mentality.

“I feel transferring out of a school is letting people down,” he said.

“People look up to you. You have to stick with it and do your best.”

Athletes transfer for many reasons. Some seek more exposure, thinking it will help improve their chances of earning a college scholarship. Others leave because they want to play for a championship team or are fed up with a coach. Whatever the reason, basketball seems to be the sport in which players are continually facing pressure to switch schools.

Running away from a problem doesn’t help a teenager grow up. In fact, it could start a pattern of failure.

Once and for all, parents need to understand that in terms of earning a college scholarship, it doesn’t matter where their son or daughter plays. Performance and academics count most.

“Whether you’re at Dominguez or Mary Star, they’re going to see you,” Hackett said of college recruiters.

It isn’t inherently right or wrong when an athlete transfers, though the conspiracy theorists always assume illegal recruiting was involved.

Students are allowed to choose whatever school they want as long as rules are followed.

But those who stick it out because they value academics, friendships or feel a sense of loyalty deserve special praise. Hackett is one of them.

“When we’re in the huddle and we say, ‘Team,’ we’re a team for four years,” he said.

Hackett’s former teammates have moved on, but something tells me St. John Bosco got to keep the best one of all.

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