October 4, 2006
Lance Olivier: Heart Matters
Olivier defied all the odds by accepting a scholarship offer from San Jose State
It’s as if players of size somehow have a responsibility for the genetic combination that created their height and that living up to the expectations of others is the baggage that must be borne. Fellow humans consider them a spectacle or, sadly, a verbal punching bag, but always from a discreet and safe distance.
But what is so often overlooked is similar behavior projected at the other end of the size spectrum--that of the smaller player. The hackneyed insults and banal shouts of ‘midget,’ ‘cabbage patcher,’ ‘get the ballboy off the court’ and worse are coarsely but brazenly offered to the sub-6-foot player in the same manner as that of the big man.
Which brings us to 5-foot-3 Pinole Valley point guard Lance Olivier. Looking at size and matchup barriers each and every time he steps on the court, whether it be high school, club or pickup ball, Olivier has continually faced down this challenge. So much so that he’s headed to San Jose State University in 2007-08 as a member of coach George Nessman’s Spartans basketball program.
Per Olivier, San Jose State had been eyeing him for some time, beginning in the 10th grade. Spartans assistant coach Donald Williams kept tabs on him throughout last year’s high school season and also during the summer, becoming more and more enamored with Olivier’s skill set and development. After eventually earning the starting point guard spot for the Oakland Soldiers club team, Olivier shined at a talent-laden six-game national tournament in Los Angeles this past summer, notching 60 assists to just 6 turnovers. Olivier’s production was apparently the clincher for SJSU as Oakland Soldiers coach Lou Richie aptly described Olivier’s play in southern California saying "he was better than any other point there."
For Olivier, linking up with SJSU is the opportunity of a lifetime. "This means a lot to me. I’ve been working hard for a long time."
For the uninitiated, Muggsy Bogues enjoyed a 14-year career in the National Basketball Association after being a first-round (12th overall) draft pick (he played for Golden State from 1997-99). This after playing four years at Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Bogues checked in then at a whopping 5-foot-3, 140 pounds.
Yes, it is inappropriate to burden Olivier with the mantle and career of Bogues--just as it would be to match any high schooler to a professional. The twining of Olivier to Bogues here is merely to provide a reference regarding style of play--Olivier is a jet on the floor, smart, unselfish (probably too much so) and a creative penetrator. He self-describes his on-court strengths as "my speed, ballhandling and passing."
Richie, also the vice principal at St. Lawrence O’Toole School in Oakland, offers this about his point guard: "[Lance] has a bigger heart than anyone I ever coached--there’s no quit in him. He has great academic and social skills. Basketball-wise, he just sees the court so much better than most." Richie added "nobody of Lance’s size is playing the high level of ball he is so that makes him, pound-for-pound, the best in the country. When is the last time anyone his height has received a college scholarship?. All along, I just kept repeating to Lance ‘how many players of your height in this country are better than you?’"
Olivier offers his thanks to Richie. "Lou provided me a lot of guidance as did Mark De Luca, my high school coach at Pinole Valley."
This was an important role for Richie to play as he recalls his own high school days. "I was the only one who believed in me. I had a dream and people said it was too big." Richie walked-on at UCLA and then became an all-ACC player at Clemson.
Helping matters is the fact Olivier is friends with two current San Jose Staters, Harry Brown and Tim Pierce--the latter being Olivier’s host during his campus visit to SJSU. Both Pierce and Brown played at Hercules High when Olivier’ father, Mark Olivier, coached there. Currently running a sports apparel company, the elder Olivier has quite the coaching resume, having taken Hercules High to a NorCal championship, helming the #1 club team in the country at one point and mentoring LeBron James, Leon Powe, Ayinde Ubaka, John Tofi, John Winston and Marquise Kately among many other local stars.
Olivier’s response to the news about his son: "He was supposed to be too small in eighth grade, then too small in high school and too small in AAU ball. Now he has a scholarship and opportunity to graduate with a college degree." He added: "I’ve known George Nessman and what he stands for since his days at Porterville Junior College. He’s looking for my son to graduate." Olivier also likes his son’s choice of San Jose State because, as he put it, "we have relatives in San Jose and he’ll be close enough for our family to come and see him play."
But this family basketball history also has a flip side. Besides jabs about his stature, Lance has felt the added pressure and heard the taunts of being the son of a well-known Bay Area basketball figure. He said, "The pressure is definitely there as everyone goes at me extra hard but it just makes me work even more."
Richie chimed in: "Lance felt [the pressure] every time he stepped on the court. I was upfront and told Lance when he joined the Soldiers that he might not play that much, that everything would be earned. He had no problem with that. Kids will always surprise you and he went out there with his usual resolve and won the starting job."
Even though he has coached and mentored a number of star players, the official visit with his son to San Jose State was the very first such visit to any campus for Mark Olivier. He has certainly received invitations and requests from his players to do so but always left it to family members to enjoy the trip. "To experience such an opportunity with my son was something very special," said Olivier.
Who says basketball is a big man’s game? Not Lance Olivier.
He’s going from the Pinole Valley High Spartans to the San Jose State Spartans--kind of makes it seem like destiny.