Valley Vikings head coach Willie Scott huddles with his team during a game against the Mojave Rattlers at Mojave High School Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022.
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Members of the Valley High basketball team meet daily after the final bell in one of the school’s computer rooms.
Before heading onto the practice floor, players have to complete their homework and study for exams. Coach Willie Scott’s mantra is simple: No grades, no basketball.
The teenagers receive tutoring, mentoring from coaches and school staff, and snacks. The fellowship created has changed the culture of the program, going from a team that struggled to keep players eligible with a minimum 2.0 grade-point average to one of the state’s highest achieving academic teams.
Valley won the class 4A academic state championship, where the players’ combined 3.45 grade-point average was better than the roughly 20 teams statewide in the classification.
When word of the achievement came down earlier this week, it was pure jubilation for the players, many of whom exchanged hugs and had smiles from ear-to-ear.
“Don’t believe everything you hear (about Valley). We are smart like that,” senior Darrius Lummus said.
Many students who attend Valley come from low-income families, an obstacle that was magnified by the pandemic. The school’s graduation rate was just 84% in 2020.
Playing a basketball game, on some days, takes a back seat to sheer survival. But Scott, a Chicago native and former college coach, didn’t buy into the narrative and searched for ways to give his players opportunities to thrive.
That starts with the study hall, where Scott was able to cater specifically to the needs of each teen on the team. He took time to listen to the obstacles they faced in learning and in life, and quickly started to realize they wanted to be pushed to achieve academically.
If someone needed help with math, he’d find a math instructor willing to volunteer their time.
“We play a lot of roles in the lives of these kids,” Scott said. “We get to know them to when there’s something bothering them we can say, ‘What’s the problem? How can we fix it?’ ”
If someone fell behind, others were able to step up and lend a helping hand, said junior guard Nakalayah Fabello.
Not only is Fabello one of the team’s top students, he’s also enrolled in Valley’s International Baccalaureate magnet program.
“Most people don’t know what a good school Valley is. It’s a diamond in the rough,” Fabello said.
The same can be said for the basketball program, whose playoff run ended Wednesday against Mojave, one game short of the state tournament. Players became emotional as the final seconds ran off the clock, realizing there wouldn’t be other game this season.
That’s one of the beauties of high school sports: You get a small four-year window to represent your school. And these Valley Vikings were sure proud to wear the red, white and blue.
For Scott, the players’ reaction meant the way he approached the season worked. While the study hall sessions proved to be a success in enhancing the grade-point averages, they also gave players a safe place to congregate after classes. They bonded over shared experiences and the vision of a better life.
“Those kids were just like me — they have a chip on their shoulder,” Scott said.
Scott was a diminutive point guard at Bradley University in the early 1980s but became one of the program’s best all-time players. He graduated as Bradley’s single-season (222) and career (412) assists leader, and is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame.
More important, Scott said he was the only one of 10 children in his family to earn a college degree.
A college degree is one of the aspirations for the players in his high school program. The other, of course, is to win a state title. They’ll gladly start with the academic championship.
“This is a big deal and we are going to celebrate the kids for it,” he said.
