CULVER CITY “”mdash; The West Los Angeles College gymnasium would
never be mistaken for Pauley Pavilion.
But on a handful of Saturdays and Sundays in the dead of summer,
the balmy courts are flooded with the top men’s basketball
players on the West Coast.
Although it is four months away from the start of the new
season, UCLA sophomore swingman Josh Shipp is already facing double
teams and drawing a lively and dedicated, if not overwhelming,
crowd in July.
Shipp is one of eight Bruins playing in the 2006 SayNo/ProCity
Summer League, which runs through Aug. 12 at the West LA campus.
The presence of so many UCLA players in the league has become an
offseason tradition, and has left an imprint on the only summer pro
league sanctioned by the NCAA.
Other programs are represented as well. San Diego State guard
and reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Brandon
Heath is also playing in the league this summer. Former UConn guard
Marcus Williams played in SayNo the previous two summers.
The SayNo/ProCity Summer League was started at Cal State Los
Angeles 30 years ago by Rod Smith, at a time when pro leagues were
sprouting up all over Southern California. Today, SayNo/ProCity is
directed by Smith’s son Dave, and is one of the few leagues
left in the Southland. There is even an inland extension to SayNo,
a 12-team league at Cal Poly Pomona that currently features
UCLA’s Darren Collision.
“Our league has flourished over the years because we
really try to cater to the players,” Dave Smith said.
“We give them a chance to play in front of friends and family
back home.”
Smith attributes much of the popularity of the league to the
close-knit basketball community in Southern California. On Sunday,
SayNo alumni and former Bruins Jordan Farmar and Dijon Thompson
attended the games to cheer on their friends.
“To see former SayNo guys come back … just says a lot
about the relationships these guys form growing up and playing ball
together,” Smith said.
But the league is far from casual. The coaches yell at players
and referees while the modest seating is filled to capacity
(admission to all games is free).
“The players are friends, but they are also really
competitive,” Smith said. “They want to come out here
and show off their skills.”
The motivation for playing in the summer league is a little bit
different for every Bruin. Shipp, recovering from an injury-riddled
second season that led to a medical redshirt, is still trying to
regain his strength and mobility and work off the rust. Cameroonian
sophomores Alfred Aboya and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute are still
trying to pick up on the nuances of the game.
Incoming freshmen James Keefe and Russell Westbrook are playing
at the request of UCLA assistant coach Kerry Keating, who wants
them to become accustomed to the speed and athleticism they will
face at the next level.
“I’m having fun with the guys while sharpening my
skills,” said UCLA sophomore Michael Roll, who is playing
alongside USC’s Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt for Hank’s
Franchise Boys. “It’s a friendly thing because I grew
up with most of these guys and have known them since I was a
kid.”
The coaches assemble their rosters by recruiting whichever
players they feel most comfortable with. Hank’s Top Prospects
coach Thaddeus McGrewder has known Shipp before the Bruin was even
a teen, and is now coaching him.
Smith knows the players see the games as a casual exhibition
between friends, but says the intensity of the coaches is what
drives the league.
“Every year I coach in the league, I get the chance to win
with a guy I have known since he was just a kid,” McGrewder
said. “But that doesn’t mean the league is all about
nostalgia. We all want to win.”
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