Thursday, February 11, 1999
Guarding a Memory
MBASKETBALL: Ray Young remembers his former high school coach
who put him
on the right track
By David Arnold
Daily Bruin Contributor
Every time Ray Young laces up his sneakers, he is reminded of
his former coach.
Across the side of his shoes, written in black pen, are the
words, "I love coach LaPorte."
It is a subtle tribute to Frank LaPorte, the man who coached
Young through his first three years of high school, before
succumbing to cancer preceding Young’s senior season.
"Yeah, I really miss him," said the freshman. "He was a great
man, and a good coach."
It wasn’t a surprise to anyone on the team. A year ago their
coach had been diagnosed with cancer and given just a couple of
months to live.
Yet, disregarding the doctor’s words, LaPorte went ahead and
coached the team that year anyway, and took the Pilots to a 31-4
record, the NorCal championship and the California State Division
championship game, before losing one last time to Crenshaw.
"He was wonderful," said Young’s mother Lynelle Lewis. "Ray was
real close to coach LaPorte, he was like a second dad to him."
It was under LaPorte’s tutelage that Young became the pride of
St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, the same school that
continues to boast about Jason Kidd.
And although he died before seeing Young selected to the
McDonalds All-American team and sign his letter of intent to UCLA,
Young still credits LaPorte with much of his development.
It was through Young’s Amateur Athletic Union coach Chris Rivers
that he met LaPorte and decided to attend St. Joseph Notre Dame.
Chris had known Young since seventh grade and continued to coach
him through high school as an assistant to LaPorte.
In the years that followed, Young would follow LaPorte and his
Pilots to Nevada and Southern California for games, and to his
coach’s summer home by a lake in Michigan.
"Every year he’d take some players to his place in Michigan,"
Young said. "Coach never married, and had no children, so we were
kind of like his kids, and we liked it."
That summer before Young’s senior campaign he didn’t get to see
very much of his coach. They talked on the phone often, though,
discussing Young’s intentions for college and the upcoming
season.
"But coach didn’t want people seeing him all sick," said a
saddened Young. "So we only got to see him a few times."
"He was truly a friend to Ray," said Lewis. "We allowed him a
great deal."
Every time Young turns around in his dorm room he is reminded of
his senior year.
Because hanging on his wall is a picture he took with his
teammates at the hospital with LaPorte.
That was a close knit group of players, brought closer by the
loss of their coach.
At UCLA, he had to start all over again with tying bounds to his
team. Day after day, he continues to succeed. While his new coach
is becoming more pleased with him, his teammates are warming up to
him.
"He’s a really good person, ever since I’ve known him," said
Young’s friend and roommate Matt Barnes. "We played on the same AAU
team three years ago."
In a program where the starting line-up changes on an almost
weekly basis and is often a surprise to the players themselves,
Young is finding success.
"He used to get hurt every practice, but the day of the game,"
said freshman JaRon Rush, "he’ll give you 40 minutes."
"The reason why Ray was the 14th man and we were thinking about
redshirting him, early in the year," said Lavin, "was because he
couldn’t make it through one of our practices."
"That being said, he’s improved more than anyone on the team
has, athletically, academically and socially."
Every time Young opens his wallet the memory of LaPorte is with
him.
Staring back out of the plastic window is a picture of his
former coach.
"I keep it in the front of my wallet here," said Young, "because
even if I get rich, make it to the NBA or whatever, the first thing
I want to see when I open my wallet is Coach."
Lewis understands what it is like for her son to miss his coach,
because she, in turn, misses Young.
"We missed him tremendously when he left," Lewis said, who was
quick to say how happy she was that Young was returning to the Bay
Area this weekend with the Bruins to face Stanford and Cal.
"About a month ago, I went to the Coliseum (now the New Arena in
Oakland) and bought 30 tickets for his game against Cal, just for
friends and family."
Obviously, Lewis isn’t the only one anxiously waiting for
Young’s return.
"The whole community is very excited," said Lewis. "There were a
lot of people (who) followed him through high school, people who
were very faithful to him."
This weekend will be a strange blending of part homecoming and
part a glimpse at what might have been.
That’s because Young’s parents wanted him to go to Stanford.
"We wanted him to go to Stanford," said Lewis, "but when he made
his decision we respected that. For him, it was the best
decision."
And once again, that decision to head south for Westwood was
due, in part, to the legacy of LaPorte.
As a child, Young grew to understand the game through watching
the Bruins from afar. His parents took him to watch them whenever
they were in town.
It was because of such players as Pooh Richardson, Reggie Murray
and Tracey Murray that his fascination with the Bruins began. At 8
years old he carved a wooden block at the boy and girls club, which
he still has, that reads "UCLA Star."
Even though Young has dreamed of going to UCLA since he was 8
years old, it was LaPorte who insisted that he complete all five of
the campus visits he was allowed under NCAA rules before making up
his mind.
It was LaPorte who made sure Young took his PSAT’s and SAT’s,
and laid down what Young’s current coach Steve Lavin calls, "that
strong foundation as a student and an athlete."
"The first time I saw him he was a freshman at an elite
program," Lavin said, "So I knew that he had that understanding of
the necessary discipline to succeed athletically and
academically."
Four years later, years which saw Lavin turn into the head coach
of UCLA basketball and Young into a blue-chip recruit, Lavin saw
Young in the first back-up role he’d ever played.
Young was always a starter in high school. He was, as his mother
put it, "one of the players the plays ran through."
Now, Young is having to adjust to a role that uses him as an
infrequent starter, a defensive stopper and a sparkplug off the
bench.
"I think is was admirable of him that, when he wasn’t playing,
he didn’t pout or feel sorry for himself, he kept a good attitude,"
said Lavin. "Most McDonald’s All-Americans, when they hit hard
times, either transfer or blame the coach. Ray worked the
old-fashioned way – he’s the model I refer to for having to deal
with that situation."
The manner in which Young adapted, rather than all his
impressive abilities, is what Lavin brags about the most.
"I admire and respect him," Lavin said.GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily
Bruin Senior Staff
Ray Young, freshman shooting guard, keeps his former high school
coach, Frank LaPorte, alive in his memory.
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