May 27, 2010

Hoosiers are revamping

Kevin McCarthy
 

Bay Area Hoosiers Coach Rob Jones demonstrates versatility, having played football in college and now leading a band of high school basketballers on the court. But personal adaptability is nothing new -- Jones displayed this back in his gridiron days. As a scholarshipped Santa Clara freshman footballer, all was proceeding harmoniously for Jones until the Bronco braintrust decided to no longer field a college football team after his initial season concluded. What happened next deserves inclusion in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.

photo of Rob Jones
Jones is a sports Renaissance man

Jones still wanted to play football. So in an unheard-of case of cooperation between colleges, Jones and four pigskin teammates worked out an agreement: they would attend San Jose State University during the fall semester and play on the Spartan football squad. Once the season ended, they would exit SJSU and re-enroll at Santa Clara for the second and third quarters of the school year.

This bi-college arrangement continued until the players graduated.

However, hoops was always of interest to Jones. "I hung out with [Bronco basketballers] like Steve Nash, Lloyd Pierce, Randy Winn and my brother Claude while at Santa Clara."

So after graduation, it was natural for more basketball Jones-ing.

"I coached in National Junior Basketball and also became the freshman boys basketball coach at Archbishop Mitty," Jones explained.

But come spring and summer, there was a hoops intermission.

That ended when Jones hooked up with Rick Perez, who had started the Bay Area Hoosiers basketball club team and the relationship continues to this day.

photo of Dominque Lee
Dominque Lee

Last summer, the Dominique Lee-led Hoosiers were tops in the Bay Area and northern California and, more importantly, have seen 30 players earn college scholarships in the last three years.

Here’s a YouTube video of the Hoosiers beating the Soldiers in 2009.

photo of the 2009 winning Hoosiers
The 2009 winning Hoosiers

But it is a single Hoosier team being fielded in 2010.

"We decided organizationally that this year we would focus all of our attention, resources and expertise on one team -- this team," according to Aalim Moor II, the Hoosiers CEO. He added, "We’re not rebuilding, just reloading. We have a new look and a new feel but the same core values. Our focus is still development -- creating a certain kind of student/athlete and player, in essence a Hoosier player. That’s someone with the right outlook, character, work ethic and approach to life. Helping our kids become academically prepared is a focus for us. Our philosophy is not just about building an elite basketball player, but building a sense of community and working with families to help fashion a solid young person."

He continued, "Phillipe Doherty and our coaches are still doing skill work training and working guys out. That’s the staple to our program -- it’s what defines us."

As for next spring and summer, Moor said, "11 players are already with us, more will be Hoosiers in the future."

The following is the Hoosier 2010 squad, all class of 2013, with comments contributed by Jones, who added "this group is loaded with talent and upside and they love to be in the gym working on their game." Moor agrees, saying "these guys have the opportunity to be very special."

The Hoosiers will be participating in the upcoming Rumble In The Bay tournament: