OCA Girls All-State teams announced
The Oklahoma Coaches Association released its girls All-State teams Thursday. The OCA girls games will be played July 25 at the Mabee Center. The small school game starts at 7 p.m. with the large school game at 8:30 p.m.
Large East
Taylor Cooper, Shawnee
U’Knique Gaines, Tulsa East Central
Jodi Glover, Fort Gibson
Devaughn Gray, Tulsa Washington
Lashanda Green McAlester
Kelsee Grovey, Shawnee
Madison Mercado, Sapulpa
Lanesha Middleton, Stillwater
Caitlyn Spurgeon, Vinita
Miranda Taylor, Claremore
Coaches: Carl Treat, Stillwater; Matt Sweeney, Oologah
Large West
Kylie Boggess, Piedmont
Ashley Clark, Midwest City
Alie Decker, Edmond Memorial
Daisha Gonzaque, Edmond Santa Fe
Rasheeda Kabba, Westmoore
Toni Smith, Del City
Kati Sullivan, Anadarko
Courtney Walker, Edmond Santa Fe
Antoinet Webster, Western Heights
Te’era Williams, Douglass
Coaches: Jeff Mahoney, Elgin; Dandy Peeler, Edmond Memorial
Small East
Courtney Backward, Salina
Kelsey Barnwell, Kansas
Megan Brown, Howe
Hayley Bryan, Copan
Courtney Cowan, Kansas
Pete Douglas, Oktaha
Charitee Evans, Red Oak
Shanna Harrison, Adair
Kenzie Solberg, Chandler
Brooke Watkins, Prague
Coaches: Brandon Lindly, Wright City; Mike Buntin, Verdigris
Small West
Jamie Brown, Chattanooga
Lexie Brown, Hammon
Casi Cornell, Thomas
Kori Fast, Fairview
Jordan Garner, Amber-Pocasset
Bailey McBride, Chattanooga
Lacey Paulk, Washington
Katelyn Richardson, Calumet
Jordynn Van Pelt, Snyder
Shayla Williams, Northeast
Coaches: Cherie Myers, Okarche; Kirk Harris, Marlow
Londaryl Perry blog series Part 3: Perry’s first coaching job
Northeast coach Londaryl Perry's first coaching job was at Putnam City West under Mike Nunley. PHOTO BY DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN
This is Part 3 in a five-part blog series, continuing the life story of Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry, The Oklahoman’s Little All-City Coach of the Year.
Perry was profiled in Tuesday’s newspaper, but his life story is too fascinating to be held to one story. This blog post will focus on his first coaching job, when he was an assistant boys coach at Putnam City West under Mike Nunley. Here is the full blog schedule:
Tuesday: Perry’s basketball career
Wednesday: More on Perry’s mother and two brothers
Thursday: Perry’s first coaching job
Friday: Perry’s military career
Saturday: The state of Perry’s family today
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At age 24, Londaryl Perry got his first coaching job.
He became a boys assistant coach under Mike Nunley at his alma mater, Putnam City West.
Nunley became another important friend and mentor for Perry.
“When I first spoke with Mike, I just had a feeling that this man is somebody special,” Perry said.
For his part, Nunley knew pretty quick that Perry was a natural coach.
“What he had was a passion for teaching kids the game of basketball,” said Nunley, now the athletic director for Edmond Public Schools.
Nunley remembers that kids were drawn to Perry, and just generally wanted to be around him. Perry still has that appeal to kids today at Northeast, where he regularly gets hugs as he walks through the school halls.
But what really impressed Nunley was Perry’s attitude.
“Early on, we had a parent meeting,” Nunley said. “Someone was unhappy.”
Nunley remembers Perry looking at him and putting his hand out, palm side up.
“Coach Nunley, most people are looking for a handout,” Perry told him before twisting his hand.
“I’m looking for a handshake.”
That outlook was especially impressive considering Perry’s difficult background.
“He had every right to not be a positive member of society,” Nunley said. “There was nothing. But he never used it as a crutch or an excuse.”
Perry said Nunley taught him patience, and also gave him the opportunity to learn how to be a coach.
“Sometimes, he would just walk out of practice and let me take over,” Perry said. “He would put me there to take control and get the feeling of being a coach.”
Nunley remains a mentor for Perry today. Early in this — his first — season with the Northeast girls, he called Nunley when he had trouble getting through to his team.
The girls weren’t responding to Perry’s aggressive approach; Nunley said Perry was so good at basketball, that he sometimes struggled to communicate with those who weren’t as talented.
“The game was so easy to him,” Nunley said. “He was Russell Westbrook before Russell Westbrook.”
But he also had to learn that girls sometimes need a different sort of leadership.
“I told him he needed to treat all of those girls as if they were his daughters,” Nunley said.
Once he started looking at it from that perspective, things improved.
“I can not talk to Mike for several months, and when I do it’s a great conversation,” Perry said. “He’s a great man and mentor.”
Londaryl Perry blog series Part 2: More on his mother and two brothers
Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry. PHOTO BY DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN
This is Part 2 of five-part blog series, continuing the life story of Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry, who I featured in Tuesday’s newspaper.
Today, I’ll focus more on Perry’s relationship with his mother and two brothers. Here is the full blog schedule:
Tuesday: Perry’s basketball career
Wednesday: More on Perry’s mother and two brothers
Thursday: Perry’s first coaching job
Friday: Perry’s military career
Saturday: The state of Perry’s family today
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At age 13, Londaryl Perry almost decided life was too much.
“Who gives a damn about me?” Perry thought as he briefly considered suicide.
“Who cares if I live or die?”
He watched his uncle die with his own eyes after a drug overdose. His father died after overdosing on heroin.
But the continuing nightmare was the home life with his mother, who regularly called him a “bastard” and “ugly.”
Yes, Londaryl Perry’s mother wasn’t just dismissive and unattentive. She displayed a genuine disdain for her oldest son.
Londaryl’s mother has claimed for years that she was raped as a 16-year old, which is how she became pregnant with him.
“She says she wasn’t sexually active (when he was conceived),” Londaryl said. “My mother has never changed that story after all these years, that he raped her.”
Because he shares some physical features with his father, Londaryl believes much of the anger his mother showered him with is because of the alleged rape.
“I feel like I was a reminder of him, and all that hatred was taken out on me,” Londaryl said. “To know you’re born out of that, and to be treated like that …
“I was like, ‘What do I do?’”
Even though his mother’s addiction resulted in her often neglecting his two younger brothers, they never got the insults that Londaryl did.
“For both of my little brothers, it was different,” Londaryl said. “She cherished them, and she resented me.”
Perry’s wife Shana, who he’s known since he was in the eighth grade and dated throughout high school, remembers coming home with Perry after a game one night.
There was a house full of addicts, getting high with Londaryl’s mother.
He kicked all of his mother’s friends out of the house, and the two began arguing.
Perry’s mother picked up his basketball, clutched it between her hands and said she was so upset that, “I wish I had a rock this big that I could smoke.”
“You think of home as being a safe place, and it wasn’t for him,” Shana Perry said.
Still, he made sure to come home every day to look after his brothers. After a two-year career at Seminole State junior college, he walked on to Central Oklahoma’s basketball team. A short while later, he decided he’d had enough of his mother’s treatment of his brothers.
No food in the house, a lack of clothing. It had to stop. Shana, now principal at Del Crest Middle School, and Londaryl had just gotten married and were both in college to become teachers.
Londaryl and Shana, now the principal at Del Crest Middle School in Del City, were both in school to become educators.
“The conversation we had was about how we are both wanting to be educators so we can make a difference in children’s lives,” said Shana Perry. “Here are his brothers that need someone to make a difference for them right now.”
The difference they made was substantial. Clifford, then 13-years old, and Jermey, then 10, suddenly lived with adults who cared about them. Who asked questions about what they were up to, and made sure they were fed and clothed.
“As kids, we would just leave for seven or eight hours at a time,” said Jermey Perry, now 25-years old. “She was more worried about her friends than us.”
Both of Londaryl’s brothers are now married with careers and children.
Jermey Perry admits he’d “probably be in jail” without Londaryl and Shana taking custody.
After Londaryl Perry graduated from UCO in 1998, he took a job as an assistant coach at Putnam City West under Mike Nunley, who is now the athletic director for Edmond Public Schools.
Nunley thinks Londaryl Perry did more for Clifford and Jermey than keep them out of jail.
“He didn’t save them from a life of crime,” Nunley said, “He saved them from death.”
Nunley remembers things being very difficult for Londaryl as he tried to be both a parent and a brother to the two kids.
“It was super challenging,” Nunley said. “One of his brothers played for us, and that was really hard on Londaryl. He had huge expectations for him; he wanted his brother to experience the success that he did.
“He wore every single hat. He was his big brother, his coach and his father figure.”
Londaryl Perry blog series Part 1: Perry’s basketball playing career
Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry during the Class 2A state tournament. PHOTO BY DOUG HOKE, THE OKLAHOMAN
I wrote a story for Tuesday’s newspaper about Northeast girls basketball coach Londaryl Perry, who was raised in a home with a drug-addicted mother and his two younger brothers. When Perry was 21-years old, he took his mother to court and was given custody of his two brothers. Both of them now have careers, wives and children.
Perry’s childhood was extremely difficult, and his life story goes well beyond what was in Tuesday’s newspaper article. I decided to continue Londaryl Perry’s story in a five-part blog series. I’ll release a new blog each day focusing on a different aspect of Perry’s fascinating, often chilling, life story.
Today, I’ll write about his basketball career and how hoops, in many ways, saved his life. Here is the list of the blogs I’ll release each day:
Tuesday: Perry’s basketball career
Wednesday: More on Perry’s mother and two brothers
Thursday: Perry’s first coaching job
Friday: Perry’s military career
Saturday: The state of Perry’s family today
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At age 8, Londaryl Perry was introduced to basketball.
His family bounced around Oklahoma City from apartment to apartment, and in the summer before his third-grade year, he was playing with some kids at a park.
One other boy asked Londaryl to play on his summer league team, the Colts.
“We would just go out there and play, and I just kept playing,” Londaryl said.
He had natural talent and loved the game, but basketball was also a welcome distraction from a miserable home life with a mother who not only ignored her oldest son, but showed genuine disdain toward him.
She made fun of him in front of her friends, mocking the clothes he wore and calling him awful names.
The one family member Londaryl remembers really showing him affection and love was his uncle Jerome, who also lived in Oklahoma City and now lives in Denton, Texas.
“I remember him coming to me one day, telling me how he didn’t think his mom loved him because she was doing drugs and she was never there for him,” Jerome Perry said.
“Like a lot of little kids, he always wanted to make his mom proud. But she never took out time for him.”
She didn’t even take out time to watch him play basketball. In a hoops career that lasted through four years of college, Londaryl’s mother saw him play exactly twice, and she had to be dragged there both times by other parents.
“Even when he was a little boy, he was a great basketball player,” Jerome Perry said.
“I used to always try to tell his mom, ‘You need to go see him; your son is great out there,’ but she was too busy worrying about getting high and doing drugs.”
Perry didn’t realize a college basketball career was possible until he was 16 and a junior at Putnam City West.
One day, PC West coach Dick Balenseifen walked down the hall with Perry and handed him a letter from a junior college in Kansas.
“What is this for?” Perry asked his coach.
“This is the middle of my junior year, and I had no idea I could go to college and play basketball,” Perry said. “I never even thought I could.”
Through that point in high school, Perry’s grades were bad. He was never ineligible during basketball season, but made C’s, D’s and F’s otherwise.
“I was ignorant to everything,” Perry said. “My environment that I grew up in was totally different than those other kids around me.”
From that point on, though, Perry’s grades improved dramatically while he continued to shine on the hardwood.
Perry played AAU ball between his junior and senior year. His team, the Oklahoma Trotters, went to AAU nationals at Wake Forest and did well, making it to the top 10.
He was playing in the same tournament as guys like Allen Iverson, Joe Smith, Jeff Capel and Jerry Stackhouse.
After one game, Perry was surrounded at his locker by college recruiters, who began asking him questions. But when they asked about his grades, Perry became defensive and told them to leave him alone.
“I told them they were wasting their time, because I don’t have the grades to go to college,” Perry said. “I had this high moment, being surrounded like that, and then I hit a low.”
As a senior, Perry averaged 20.5 points per game and earned a spot on The Oklahoman’s Big All-City team. But still, his early grade issues likely cost him an opportunity to play Division I basketball.
He went to Seminole State College, where he played for two seasons.
Between his freshman and sophomore seasons, he came home to Oklahoma City and worked every day at a tree service.
He would work from early in the morning until 5 p.m. each day, and then take college courses in the evenings.
“By doing that, I had no basketball in the summer and I gained weight,” Perry said. “Because of that, a lot of my options went away.”
Perry remembers one Division I coach coming to Seminole and saying that, because he had gained weight, it didn’t look like he cared about basketball.
According to Perry, word spread from that point and his options for big-time hoops after junior college became very limited.
So he walked on at Central Oklahoma, where he eventually earned a scholarship. He graduated from UCO in 1998.
“When I look back on it, it was a blessing,” Perry said, because he was able to take custody of his brothers and help raise them.
A few years later, when he was in the Army, Perry joined a military basketball team. He got to travel all over Europe playing basketball. In 2006 his team, the Wiesbaden Eagles, won the Army-Europe community-level basketball tournament. Here is a Stars and Stripes story on the championship game victory, during which Perry scored 31 points. There is also a photo of him playing with the article.
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Finally, when I Googled “Londaryl Perry,” I came across this highlight video on YouTube that his son posted. The video shows highlights of Perry playing basketball in high school and college, so enjoy.
Scott Raper gets all dressed up for Centennial’s championship celebration
Centennial boys basketball coach Scott Raper danced with the school mascot, among other things, during the team's Class 3A boys basketball state championship celebration on Friday.
To celebrate their repeat as Class 3A boys basketball champions, the Centennial players didn’t want to simply repeat the embarrassment of coach Scott Raper that they enjoyed last year.
They wanted to surpass it.
So rather than shaving their coach’s head, like they did to celebrate last year’s state title, they made him wear a dress — while they shaved his head.
“This is what the kids asked for,” said Raper, who has been Centennial’s head coach since the school opened in 2007. “They did what we asked for, so I wanted to do this for them.”
The Bison were highly ranked all season, but lost during the regional playoffs, which sparked their title run. Raper said it was important for the team to forget about what it accomplished last season and focus on the task ahead.
“We wore our championship rings for about the first four games of the season,” Raper said. “And then I said, ‘That’s it. I don’t want to see another ring. Last year is over with.’”
If the Bison pull off the three-peat next season, what will Raper have to do then?
“I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me,” Raper said with a grin, adding that he would donate $250 to the school’s food bank if the team wins a third title.
NOTE: Video of the event will be posted the blog soon as well.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK
Centennial picks Don Willis as next football coach
Former Millwood football coach Don Willis has been selected as Centennial's next head coach.
Don Willis is returning to Oklahoma City after eight years in Texas.
The former Millwood coach has been chosen as Centennial’s new head coach. He was at Millwood for 22 years, including nine as the head coach, leading the Falcons to three consecutive Class 2A titles from 2000-02.
He won at least seven games in each of his nine seasons, compiling a 91-27 record overall. He left in 2004 to take a job in Texas.
Willis replaces Mark Ryan, who moved on after a difficult battle with health issues last season.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK
Douglass’ Stephen Clark named state Gatorade Player of the Year
BY RYAN ABER
raber@opubco.com
Douglass’ Stephen Clark’s game morphed this season when he was asked to take on more of the scoring load instead of distributing the ball as much.
Clark’s game flourished, helping the Trojans to a third consecutive Class 4A title.
Thursday, Clark was honored with the Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
The 5-foot-10 junior guard averaged 29 points 13 assists and five rebounds per game.
He scored 40 points in Douglass’ championship-game win over Anadarko.
Clark is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year, which will be announced later this month.
The award also takes into consideration off-the-court activities. Clark mas maintained a 3.88 GPA and has volunteered for multiple groups as well.
Clark is the first junior to win the award in Oklahoma since Putnam City’s Xavier Henry did in the 2007-08 season. Henry followed it up with a second award as a senior.
Other recent state award winner include Bridge Creek’s Ryan Spangler, Putnam West’s Tyler Neal and Oklahoma Christian School’s Blake Griffin.
OKC church planning fundraiser to help Stephen Clark for trip to Germany
Flights to Germany aren’t cheap, and an Oklahoma City church has stepped up to help Douglass basketball player Stephen Clark’s family with the costs for his trip to take part in the Albert Schweitzer Tournament.
Clark will be playing for a US junior team that will compete in Mannheim, Germany, from April 3-14 in an event with teams from 15 other countries, including Argentina, Australia, China, Serbia and Spain.
Because it is not directly tied to the Olympic team or an Olympic-sanctioned event, the families must pay travel costs due to NCAA recruiting rules.
The fundraiser service will be held at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Voice of Praise Baptist Church at 2200 Culbertson Dr., in Oklahoma City. The church’s pastor, Rev. Tony F. Wise, will be joined by guest speaker Rev. Teron V. Gaddis, a pastor and teacher at Greater Bethel Baptist Church.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK
Classes 4A-3A-2A girls’ basketball power poll: Anadarko, Fort Gibson on top
Caitlyn Spurgeon, left, puts up a shot over Anadarko's Lakota Beatty in the first round of last year's Class 4A state tournament. Vinita has beaten Anadarko out of the state tourney in four straight seasons. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Yesterday, I posted my large-school girls’ basketball power poll. Today, I present my poll for Classes 4A, 3A and 2A.
This one was obviously much harder to narrow down to 10 teams because of the added class.
I try to take the coaches’ rankings, strength of schedule and my own judgment to determine my poll. Much of this poll, you’ll find, is quite different from the coaches’ rankings. I try my best to explain why I ranked the teams the way I did.
As always, please leave comments or shoot me an e-mail with your thoughts.
1. Anadarko (4A, 21-1)
The Warriors’ only loss came to 5A No. 1 Shawnee. Lakota Beatty will be one of the top recruits in the state as a senior next season, and she’s been fantastic as a junior. Anadarko has been beaten out of the state tournament in the first round by Vinita (ranked fourth in this poll) in four straight seasons.
Record vs. this poll: 2-0
2. Fort Gibson (4A, 22-1)
The defending 4A state champions will enter the playoffs as a strong contender to return to state and bring home the gold ball. The Tigers’ only loss was to 5A No. 2 Tulsa East Central.
Record vs. this poll: 1-0
3. Northeast Academy (2A, 19-2)
Northeast is ranked No. 5 in the 2A coaches’ poll, and I can’t understand that for the life of me. A seven-point loss to 6A No. 2 Midwest City and a close loss to Holland Hall in the Stroud Tournament are the team’s only two setbacks over the course of a brutal schedule. Northeast’s resume includes a win over 5A No. 4 Carl Albert.
Record vs. this poll: 1-0
4. Vinita (4A, 20-3)
Hornets have won 12 straight since losing to Tulsa Washington and Jenks in a tournament over the holiday break. Senior Caitlyn Spurgeon, an Arkansas Tech signee, is one of the state’s top scorers.
Record vs. this poll: 0-0
5. Snyder (2A, 18-2)
The defending 2A champs’ two losses are both to No. 1 teams — 4A No. 1 Anadarko and A No. 1 Chattanooga. However, Snyder has beaten Chattanooga twice this year.
Record vs. this poll: 0-1
6. Kansas (3A, 19-2)
Only losses are to Fort Gibson and Class 6A Jenks, and both came during the Tournament of Champions in late December. The Comets have played a tough schedule.
Record vs. this poll: 0-1
7. Prague (3A, 21-1)
Red Devils’ only loss came to Jenks in the Tournament of Champions. Schedule includes impressive wins over Skiatook, Chandler and Perkins-Tryon.
Record vs. this poll: 0-0
8. Sulphur (3A, 21-1)
Only loss came to Anadarko, and wins over Mount St. Mary and Caddo are impressive. The Bulldogs haven’t played too tough a schedule on the whole, though.
Record vs. this poll: 0-1
9. Millwood (3A, 17-5)
Arnelia Spears’ team has played a tough schedule that includes losses to Carl Albert, Northeast, Bishop McGuinness and Dallas Skyline. Wins over Piedmont and Mustang give the Falcons credibility, plus, Millwood suffered through injuries early in the season.
Record vs. this poll: 0-1
10. Oktaha (2A, 25-0)
Oktaha and Amber-Pocasset are both unbeaten and ranked second and third, respectively, in Class 2A by the coaches behind Snyder. I give the slight edge to Oktaha right now, but neither school has played a tough schedule.
Record vs. this poll: 0-0
jkersey@opubco.com
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Douglass point guard Stephen Clark offered scholarship by Oklahoma
Douglass point guard Stephen Clark received a scholarship offer from Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger on Monday.
Add Oklahoma to the list of college basketball programs seeking the services of Douglass point guard Stephen Clark.
Clark was invited to the Sooners’ game against Missouri on Monday night, and head coach Lon Kruger offered the 5-foot-10 junior a scholarship, as first reported by ESPN.
“Coach Kruger told us he wanted Stephen as a Sooner,” said Dorshell Clark, Stephen’s mother. “So maybe we can begin building a relationship with him and the other coaches.”
Oklahoma joins more than a dozen other programs pursuing Clark, along with the likes of Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Connecticut, Missouri, Memphis and Marquette.
Clark is the third in-state player the Sooners have offered a scholarship, along with Edmond Memorial point guard Jordan Woodard and Tulsa Washington shooting guard Juwan Parker.
If you’re looking for some extra reading on Clark, here’s a quick look at his 65-point game in January.
Here’s a story from December about Clark’s transition to point guard.
And here’s Monday’s piece on Clark and the rest of the state’s star-studded 2013 recruiting class.
– Scott Wright, swright@opubco.com
Twitter: @ScottWrightOK
