BREAKING NEWS: Fox’s The Best Damn Sports Show period called to say they will be at Saturday’s game, so look for a highlight or two on the show.

Boys and Girls Basketball All-Star Game
Sixth Annual Tribune/Star-News All-Star Classic
Saturday, April 4, Azusa Pacific University
Girl’s game: 5:30pm
Boy’s game: 7:30pm
SERIES RECORD
Boys: Star-News leads series, 4-1
Girls: Tribune leads series, 3-2

Star-News notes on Saturday’s all-star game

Below: Nogales standout Randal Guillory, the brother of Nobles legend, Shomario Richard.

By Fred J. Robledo
Former Nogales High School boys basketball coach Bob Withers recalled a meeting several years ago when then-Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian made a recruiting visit in hopes of snagging Nobles standout Shomario Richard, arguably the best player in the school’s history. Richard averaged 26 points and nine assists his senior season, leading the Nobles to the 1995 Division I-A championship game against Mater Dei.
The Nobles were overwhelmed by the Schea Cotton-led Monarchs, losing 83-33 in the championship, but Richard already had left his mark, finishing his career with 781 assists, which ranks ninth all-time in the CIF record books. “When Shomario was getting a home visit from Jerry, I rushed over to the house in a cub scout uniform because I was my son Ricky’s cub scout leader,” said Withers, now the assistant principal at Rowland High School. “I sat there in a blue shirt and yellow tie and helped change this little kid’s diapers while Jerry talked to Shomario.” That little kid was current Nogales standout Randal Guillory, Shomario Richard’s brother, who will compete for the Tribune team in Saturday’s Tribune/Star-News All-Star Classic at Azusa Pacific University.
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“He was everything to me,” Guillory said of his older brother. “I was only four or five when he was playing, but sometimes I would go to practice and he would want me to rebound for him while he practiced shooting. I never moved from underneath the basket.

“He hit shot after shot. He was a local legend and I was his little brother, it didn’t get any better than that.”

Richard actually started at San Diego State before leaving for Chaffey College, then making the move to Fresno State.

Richard now manages a construction business and is a basketball trainer and one of Guillory’s biggest fans.

“He gave me something to live up to, and it was fun seeing him at my games whenever he could make it,” Guillory said. “I talk to him almost every day and see him on weekends.

“One thing I will always take from him is hard work, because he was always in the gym working on his game.”

Withers recalled that work ethic vividly.

“I would look for Shomario after practice to talk and go over things, but he would hide from me,” Withers joked. “You know where he was? Practicing with the junior varsity. He couldn’t get enough.”

Guillory, a 6-foot-5 forward, has blazed his own trail at Nogales, joining his brother as two of the best to ever wear the Nobles green jersey.

Guillory averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds in leading the Nobles to the CIF-Southern Section Division III-A semifinals, where he earned Div. III-A first-team honors for the second straight season.

Guillory also is a two-time San Antonio League player of the year, and a Tribune first-team selection.

“Because Shomario was here so long ago and their last names are different (half-brothers), a lot of people didn’t realize they were brothers,” Nobles coach Ricky Roper said. “I had heard that Shomario was the best player to ever play here, but Randal is right there with him, and deserves all the accolades he’s getting.”

Withers has watched them both grow, and couldn’t agree more.

“Shomario was a true point guard in every sense of the word, he did everything but drive the bus for us,” Withers said. “Randal is bigger and can do everything. He handles the ball well, can post-up, shoot from distance, he’s the complete package.

“I really believe he will be a natural guard in college, and with his size, he’s going to create problems for other guards.”

Guillory hasn’t yet selected a college. After Saturday’s all-star game, he figures he has a month to sort it all out.

“I’m still playing with my travel team and have tournaments in Houston and Las Vegas before making my decision,” he said. “But first I’m looking forward to this game on Saturday. It’s going to be fun being with my teammates for the last time and putting on the (Nogales) jersey.

“Nogales has been part of my family forever. I’m sure it’s going to be emotional when it’s all over and I walk away for the last time.”