darryl

SoCalHoops High School & Prep Report

So Who Is Darryl McDonald? We're Not Sure,
But He's Been Around--(May 31, 1998)

Darryl McDonald was and still is an AAU Club coach, was an assistant varsity coach for San Fernando High most recently, and next year will be the head varsity coach at Alemany in the Mission League of Southern Section CIF, in the Northern San Fernando Valley. But who is McDonald, really?

To answer that question, we went back to our archives, and managed to find a pretty good article on McDonald from a great, but now-defunct hoops publication known as "Jym Rat", which published in 1994-96 (as far as we can tell). It billed itself as "Your Official Source for Recreation Hoop Action", and it featured some great stuff on some of the local hoop scene. It was published by Les Barnett, a true gym rat if ever there was one, who still shows up from time to time at various youth tournaments trying to get enough money to start publishing again. Who knows, maybe he's got it going. We'd sure like to see more of his stuff, because it was pretty good. Ahh, but we digress.

There in the October 1995 issue of JymRat were articles on "Pre Game: Knee Injuries, A Closer Look" written by a local chiropractor, news of upcoming leagues and tournaments, a feature on the "Long Beach Fall Hoops Classic", a story entitled "Old School: Mid-Age Hoopers (featuring Clarence McGee, Tyren Naulls, Jose Slaughter, Will Roberts, Floyd Hooper, Steve Fields, Dewayne Allen, Wally Rank, Herman Barnes, Moby Oliver, Robert Stretch, and Joe Parker) all of whom were 35 or older; a story entitled "Rat Traps--Places to Go For Pick Up Action", and some other really good stuff. Maybe we'll reproduce some of these here later. But there it was, a story entitled "On The Sideline: Darryl McDonald/San Fernando Cavs." Here is the article, reprinted in it's entirety since we are quite certain that this issue is long out of print (remember "fair use"):

On the Sideline:Darryl McDonand-San Fernando Cavs
October 1995

The San Fernando Cavs reputation is growing. Until recent years not many people had heard of them. Ask youth basketball insiders in the San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas to name some of the top teams/programs and invariabily the San Fernando Cavs will be mentioned. Their success can directly be attributed to their founder and coach, Darryl McDonald. McDonald is employed by the North Valley YMCA where one of his functions is the youth basketball program. For the past four years he has also worked as an assistant basketball coach at San Fernando High School

The Cavs have, in their relatively short existence, amassed a record that can rival anyone's . "From 1988 to the present (October 1995) we have established a record of 348 wins against only 25 losses. Our kids range in age from 10-18 years. This year we added two groups to our program, youth 8-10 and girls' 10-18 years," says McDonald.

"I really didn't set out to develop this type of program," says McDonald. "In 1988 I went to the local junior high school and asked the coach if he needed help coaching the team. He said no. Then one day as I was shooting around at the park some kids were watching. They were kids that had been cut by the junior high school team. They approached me and asked if I would teach them some things. I started coaching them and found a few leagues for us to play in. The junior high school team was one of our opponents in the Mid Valley League. We defeated them. We made it to the championship game and lost to Maclay Junior High, which at that time hadn't lost a game in about seven years."

"Based on our success in the Mid Valley League we thought we were ready for big time basketball. That meant ARC. We had a practice game against their number one team I believe it was in the 13 year old division. They had Alex Lopez who plays for Washington State, Cameron Murray who's in his first year at USC [now with Louiville], and a couple of others who are playing Division I ball. They defeated us by approximately 110 points. The score was something like 1`24-12. But as the season went on we added a couple of talented kids to our team: Kimo Atkins and Tony Pulido. About two months later we had another practice game against the same team and we had them by 6 points with about 3 minutes to play and our inexperience took over and we ended up losing by 8 points."

McDonald's success with his kids is not limited to on court achievements. "I really work on building a rapport with the kids and being a role model," says McDonald. "I'm seen by them as a big brother, father, teammate and friend. Probably, at aone time or another, all the kids have been to or spent the night at my house. I take them out to eat and many times have had them for the weekened. We're like family. We look out for one another. We are organized and well prepared when we go to games. It is noticed by others and I think that is what attracts them to our program. We don't recruit players."

"Discipline is probably the most important aspect of our program. The kids have to maintain a "C" average as well as follow certain rules and guidelines. If a player is involved in a physical altercation with a teammate he is suspended for three games. If it happens a second time he is no longer allowed to be in the program. If a player is heard criticizing a teammate, unless it is positive, he is suspended for one game."

"We don't have any rules when it comes to our opponents," says McDonald. "We don't bad mouth them but I teach my players that until the game is over they are our enemy. Everyone may not agree with this. I want my players to keep a mental edge. I don't think they can do that if they are being too friendly with their opponent. I've found that they play better when they feel they are not getting the respect they deserve."

Noticeably. McDonald does not spend much time communicating with parents of his players. He prefers to "avoid intimate or close relationships" with them. "Sometimes when you get too involved with parents they tend to expect favors for their kids. Some think I am trying to distance myself but that is not the case. When it comes to practices and game time I'm all business. All my energy is focused to their kids. My interaction with parents is limited to answering their questions and giveing them information."

Asked what was his biggest thrill over the years, McDonald responded without hesitation. "First, it was when we beat Maclay Junior High and broke their 7 year winning streak. We won by 4 points in their gym. They had been beaten before but never in their own gym. Also we recently won the San Diego Sharks tournament. It was a highlight because I didn't think we were necessarily the most talented team there."

So that's it for now on McDonald. It's a bit dated, and perhaps he's got a few more "bests" in the last two and a half years, but this should give some insight into answering the question "Who is Darryl McDonald."