SBVC basketball coach wants to win with local talent

I ran into SBVC men's basketball coach Gerry Wright recently at a Wolverines football game and he is excited about the coming season. You might remember Wright was put in the precarious position of taking over the Wolverines in December when previous coach Derrick Pugh was relieved of his duties just as the team was leaving for an afternoon game in Riverside.

Wright did an admirable job, directing the team to a Foothill Conference title. (In a preseason poll of memeber coaches, SBVC was picked to finish fourth.) A playoff run ended with a second round loss to Saddleback. The outcome might have been different had the team's only presence in the paint not been injured in practice a few days earlier.

The interim tag was lifted and Wright was officially handed the job in April. He deserved it.

It looked like he was going to be loaded this year since most of his key players last year were freshmen. But other coaches went after his players like vultures while SBVC administrators tried to make a decision. Wright said there is no animosity between himself and the other players. Most were from out of state and Wright said they didn't have the financial means to stay here.

The only returning player is Bo Harrison, a local product out of Redlands East Valley. But that is OK with Wright who says he wants to prove you can win with local talent.

Former Coach Phil Mathews, who took the team to the state tournament in both his years here, had connections all over the country and used those when it came to recruiting. The team that played at SBVC last year was basically his.

There is nothing really wrong with that. This is college, not high school. Recruiting is part of the game. But it still seems to violate the spirit for which junior colleges were intended. Most of the local players who have played at SBVC in the past few years were nothing more than seat fillers on the bench. It could not have been easy for them to practice hard every day for their neighborhood school when they knew they were going to be pushed aside for highly touted players from across the country who probably never heard of San Bernardino.

Having the majority of players from out of state also helps add to a disconnect between the school and the community when there should be just the opposite. Let's hope Wright is successful in his mission.