STEAL TOWN
Grade 9 cut leads Kentucky into the tournament
A Hamilton product leads Kentucky into the NCAA Tournament,
When Hamilton’s soon-to-be-most-famous athlete walks onto the court to open March Madness on Thursday, there will be endless chatter about where he’s going to go in the upcoming NBA draft. Most agree it’ll be in the first round. Some are even predicting the top 10.
It’s just affirmation that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is indeed a special talent.
But when Stef Giovannangeli watches the six-foot-six point guard play for Kentucky, he can’t help but think of the skinny Grade 9 kid with the giant feet who fell to him as head coach of the St. Thomas More midget squad six years ago.
“He didn’t make the junior team,” Giovannangeli chuckles.
That’s right, a guy who was just named MVP of his conference tournament and who has been pegged by both ESPN and Sports Illustrated to be a lottery pick with a rookie salary of $3 million-plus next year didn’t make his high school’s junior team. In Hamilton.
As Giovannangeli recalls, the Gilgeous-Alexander who showed up for that first practice was disappointed about not making the higher team. But he was the hardest worker on the court and clearly had talent. On top of everything else, Shai (rhymes with hay) had a tremendous attitude.
“He was the ‘Yes coach’ kind of guy,” he says.
By the end of the season, Gilgeous-Alexander had been chosen as team MVP as the Knights won the city championship. He was the leading scorer in that game. And assistant coach Chris D’Angelo says his natural ability was clear by then. Gilgeous-Alexander could finish around the basket with either hand, which few players even in Grade 12 can do well.
That summer he transferred to Sir Allan MacNab where he
did make the junior team. But he still wasn’t a standout.
“He had a lot of the gifts,” says coach Tim Francis. “But at the time, we had a great group of kids so he was just one in the mix.”
Yet after not even starting at the beginning of the year — “He had a lot of turnovers,” Francis says. “Maybe he was just nervous” — he quickly separated himself from the pack with a positive outlook and hard work. By the end of the season he was clearly the best player on the team. Based in large part on his terrific defence.
Even with that, Francis never guessed this physically average kid would eventually become one of the most-talked-about players in U.S. college basketball at one of the game’s legendary universities. Or a future pro. In fact, he wasn’t even considered the top prospect at the school. Back then, a six-foot-eight forward named Nolan Narain was getting all the attention.
Within two years, both were playing elsewhere. Narain headed to a high school in Indiana to refine his game. Gilgeous-Alexander left for Chattanooga, Tennessee, to the hometown-sounding Hamilton Heights Christian Academy. After two seasons there, he chose Kentucky over numerous other schools that were after him.
He was supposed to be pretty good. He turned out to be great.
Despite arriving with basically no fanfare and not starting when he arrived, he scored 29 points in his conference championship game on the weekend and is now widely considered the top player on the Wildcats.
Thursday, he gets his first taste of March Madness when No. 5 seed Kentucky takes on No. 12 Davidson. Which happens to be the alma mater of NBA star Stephen Curry, who also played on a junior high school team in southern Ontario before moving to the States and becoming a star. So if you believe in dramatic foreshadowing ...
Amazingly, Narain is also in the tournament and also opens play on Thursday for his No. 12 San Diego State Aztecs against No. 5 Ohio State.
Giovannangeli hasn’t talked with his 19-year-old prodigy since that midget season. Not because of any resentment at his departure. Just because the kid was busy and moving on with his life. But the coach has followed the player’s progress from a distance, taking absolutely no credit for the ascension.
Awhile back, he received a call from an NBA scout asking about the prospect’s character. He had only good things to say.
“I think it’s cool,” he says. “I still have our team championship picture on my desk.”
Yes, he will be looking to get it signed someday. Which shouldn’t be difficult since Gilgeous-Alexander is often home in Hamilton, shooting around at MacNab with his old high school senior coach, Dwayne Washington.
As for that other coach who cut the future NBA draft pick from the junior team, does he ever get teased about that decision now? Giovannangeli starts to laugh. “It’s come up in conversation.”