It is minutes before game time at a CIF Southern Section semifinal contest between Mater Dei and Rancho Verde, and the Mater Dei pep band is playing a familiar tune.
Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach ““ the site of the game ““ is a good 35 miles from West Los Angeles, but “Sons of Westwood” is echoing through the high school gym as if UCLA had just emerged from their Pauley Pavilion locker room.
The reason for the refrain can be spotted in the layup line for Mater Dei, clad in their red-trimmed white jerseys. UCLA-bound senior Tyler Lamb arrives at his turn in the line, executes a now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t crossover dribble at the elbow, and glides in for a lay-in at the rim. The move looks so effortless, he might as well have been yawning.
Lamb will bring his polished all-around game to UCLA next season as part of a 2010 recruiting classes that already includes three signatories. The 6-foot-5-inch, 190-pound guard, who started his career at Colony High School in Ontario, Calif., before transferring to Mater Dei after two years, has been verbally committed to the Bruins since September 2008, an early pledge that has made it possible for Lamb to play the past two seasons at a remarkably high comfort level.
“It’s made it a lot easier in a way, because I already know where I’m going,” he said. “Being committed to UCLA early, it was kind of a relief for me.”
Not that being comfortable on the court is much of an issue. It is minutes into the semifinal, and Rancho Verde’s guards are being victimized by a white blur wearing number 0. Lamb is all over the backcourt on defense, tallying four steals and dropping nine points on a variety of dipsy-doodles and pull-up jumpers to stake Mater Dei to a 32-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. His all-around game is on full display.
“It’s been great playing with Tyler,” Mater Dei senior forward Max Hooper said. “My shooting ability opens up driving lanes for him, while his penetration ability opens up outside shots for me. We work very well together.”
It is a Friday night in late February and no Pac-10 games are on the docket, yet the future of the conference could very well be on display on a high school court in Huntington Beach. There’s Lamb, sashaying around his opponents as “Sons of Westwood” blares in the background. There’s fellow Mater Dei senior Keala King, a crafty lefty heading to Arizona State next season. And there’s another Mater Dei senior, sharp-shooting guard Gary Franklin, who originally committed to USC but is now bound for Cal.
“It’s crazy,” said Lamb of playing with guys who will be his future rivals. “I’ve known Gary since we were like 9. We’ve always wanted to play against each other in college or go to the same school. Keala too, we’re really close. We joke around about it, but I’m going to miss playing with them when the time comes.”
Mater Dei is the largest non-public school west of Chicago, but the rate they’re producing Pac-10 players is still alarming. This year’s trio will join UCLA’s Blake Arnet, Arizona’s Alex Jacobson, Stanford’s Andy Brown and USC’s Mike Gerrity as Pac-10 monarchs.
“Guys have come out of our program and started as freshmen, so I guess that’s a compliment to the program,” Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said. “Tyler ranks right up there with them, and he’s a little bit different than all those other guys in the way he can play.”
With a great history comes a limited jersey selection. Lamb declares that he chose his number 0 in large part because of its uniqueness. A pause, a chuckle, and then he concedes that it’s also because “at Mater Dei, all the other numbers are retired.”
It is the end of the game, and Mater Dei has easily advanced to the championship showdown of the Southern Section’s 1-AA Division, defeating Rancho Verde 94-58. Lamb, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds to go along with an array of blocks, steals and assists, slowly leaves the court as the Mater Dei band escorts him with another round of his future fight song.
“Man it’s crazy, it pumps me up a lot,” says Lamb of constantly hearing the signature Bruin ditty. “I can’t wait to hear it at UCLA, and play in front of a much bigger crowd and everything. And the student section is crazy at UCLA too.”
Lamb’s stellar performance on this night is perhaps fittingly sandwiched in between a pair of inconsistent efforts by UCLA against the Oregon schools. With the Bruins bidding farewell graduating senior guards Michael Roll and Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, the potential for playing time next season is there, not that Lamb has designs on anything just yet.
“I don’t really see a role yet,” he said. “I’m going to go in and play hard and do whatever coach Howland says. He already told me I’m going to have an opportunity to play, and it seems like he’s putting it in my hands how much I’m going to play.”
Lamb added that part of the appeal of UCLA to a recruit like himself is coach Ben Howland’s track record of sending guards to the NBA. And while much has been made about the appeal of Howland’s system, Lamb’s coach foresees a mutually beneficial relationship.
“I think Tyler really fits in well at UCLA,” McKnight said. “I just like his ability to do whatever it takes to win. He can defend, he can score, and he’s used to winning.”
It is time for the post-game handshaking and hugging as the Mater Dei team emerges from the locker room. Lamb and his peers are swarmed by red-clad faithful offering congratulations and passing on the news: The Monarchs’ opponent in the section finals will be Etiwanda, the alma mater of former UCLA guard Darren Collison.
Despite Lamb’s advantages in height and smoothness of jump shot, he is not dissimilar to the current New Orleans Hornet in the way he can affect the game emotionally and physically. Like Collison, Lamb has a penchant for making big shots and contributing in multiple ways.
It is time for the building to clear out. The UCLA fight song plays one final time, in a high school gymnasium of all places, bookending the game with plenty of fanfare.
“I like to make big plays and I like to get my teammates involved,” Lamb said. “I think when I play, I bring excitement.”