Junior guard Cameron Shelton has transferred from Chino Hills to Damien.
Shelton was a key starter for the Huskies as a freshman in 2014-2015.
Last year he was the first player off the bench for a Huskies team that went 35-0, won Baseline League, Southern Section and state Open Division titles and was declared national champion by multiple organizations.
He said the move had nothing to do with playing time or the athletic part of the equation. It was about academics.
“Most of my early life I went to a Christian school,” he said. “My parents thought it would be better for me the next two years. They have a 90-something percent college acceptance rate so this was more about my future.”
Shelton said he still considers the Huskies his friends and he’ll miss being on the court with them. It will also be a little bit strange to play against them as a member of a rival league team.
It is made a bit easier by the fact that the team had a historic run last year that can probably never be equaled.
“I’m always going to have those memories,” he said. “It was special. Those guys are my friends and they’ll always be my friends.”
Right now Shelton is focused on improving his game. He is playing for Watson Elite 16-under which ironically is coached by Matt Dunn, who was the coach at Damien until last season.
Shelton said Dunn had nothing to do with the decision.
“He didn’t even know I did it. I never really mentioned it to him.”
No doubt he’ll be a welcomed addition to a Damien squad that won a league title two years ago and was second to Chino Hills last year. The Spartans graduated their two leading scorers.
The Braves had no competition in the Mt. Baldy League so the toughest task for Pope was trying to find a way to keep her team sharp and focused when they didn’t have an equal. Teams that lack competition in the regular season frequently crash and burn in the playoffs – not the Braves who won a CIF title and finished as state runner-up.
The Spartans move from one league into the Baseline, probably the most competitive in all the Southern Section. And they win nine of 10 league games, finishing ahead of Etiwanda and Chino Hills. They lost a second round Open Division CIF game to Orange Lutheran but capitalized on the second chance and won a state title in Division 3 in that portion of the playoffs. A lot of coaches have trouble getting a team up for the state playoffs after a CIF run. No problem here. Some said the Spartans would have been better off in Division 3, a probable easy winner, and not in the Open. Dunn said, “Bring it On.”
