Friday, Dec. 22, 2000 | 9:52 a.m.
There is enough talent on the Mater Dei High School boys basketball team that head coach Gary McKnight calls it one of the best he's ever had, which says a ton about this group.
In his 18 years as head coach of the school in Santa Ana, Calif., McKnight's teams have compiled a record of 543-49 heading into this season.
The Monarchs (9-1) recorded a 94-73 win over St. Mary's of Phoenix in the semifinals of the Millennium Cup bracket of the Powerade Holiday Prep Classic Wednesday night before losing 66-55 to Oak Hill in Thursday's championship game.
"We came here because we wanted to play them in the finals," McKnight said.
"I just think being one of the top one, two or three ranked teams means you've got one of the better programs. Our 1985 team went undefeated, but we have more size and depth this year." Senior center Jamal Sampson, junior guard Mike Strawberry and sophomore forward Harrison Schaen add even more star power to the team in a different way.
Sampson, who has committed to attend California next fall, is a second cousin of former NBA center Ralph Sampson. Strawberry is the nephew of Darryl Strawberry, whose last stint was with the world champion New York Yankees.
After watching the two of them on the court, it's easy to see that good genes played a role in their athletic development. Jamal is a 6-foot-11 force inside while McKnight uses Strawberry as a defensive stopper who is equally capable of scoring when needed.
Don't recognize the last name Schaen just yet?
Well unless you know your Playmate history, it may take a while.
Schaen is the son of former Playboy Playmate Jan Schaen and Lionel Schaen, a producer and former professor at the University of Southern California film school. Not only was Jan a Playmate, but Harrison considers Playboy founder Hugh Hefner a close friend.
"I guess you can call him my uncle," Schaen said. "He's been close to the family ever since.
"He was there when I was born and everything."
Maybe Schaen gets his charm from "Uncle Hugh." For a 15-year-old, he is not only an immensely talented basketball player, he is extremely articulate and witty.
"No," he answered with a sheepish grin when asked if he had ever seen his mom's pictorial. "Honestly I haven't; she just told me about it,"
"I get more attention that way, I guess. It's something to be proud about because your mom is that good looking. That's something to be proud about. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. The guys on the team respect me. They understand."
Sampson is continuing to nurse an injured right ankle, the third consecutive year that he has been hurt.
As a sophomore, he broke both of his pinkie fingers, and he came down with hepatitis his junior year after drinking some contaminated water in Florida during a basketball tournament.
Injuries notwithstanding, the coaches at Cal are pleased he chose their school over Kansas, UConn and St. Louis.
"He does tend to be a little bit injury prone, but if you notice when Jamal plays, everything he does is very aggressive," Cal assistant Jon Wheeler said.
When it comes time for Schaen to select a college, Pac-10 coaches should be thankful to hear that he is interested in staying on the West Coast -- and it would help if the school has a good art program. Schaen already has his own website design company called Intense Studios and mentioned Stanford, USC and UCLA as possible schools.
Until then, he and the rest of his teammates are focused on only one thing -- winning.
"I feel that this team we have right now is the best team ever in Mater Dei history," Schaen said. "I mean we have the most depth ever."
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