So-So Grades A Jojo No-No -- Garfield High's Basketball Coach Holds Court Before Taking It

JoJo Rodriguez starts his team's regimen in Room 117. It's tough, just like everything about being a Garfield High School basketball player. It's just the way.

Guard Germaine Harris is outlining an eight-page paper on the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. It's worth one-quarter of his grade in American History. The big day is Jan. 18, when the paper is due.

Center Willie Stewart is looking up words, writing down definitions for his health class. Just words. "Amniocentesis." "Gerontology."

For right now, these words have as much to do with basketball as "rebound" and "defense."

Rodriguez, first-year coach of the Garfield boys basketball team, has seen it happen too many times - at Garfield and elsewhere.

Teams whose starters can't play because they're flunking a class. Players with outstanding talent who can't make it in a classroom. It's not going to happen here. Not on Rodriguez's basketball team.

The system Al Hairston installed at Garfield, the one that won five state championships, still is in place. But Rodriguez has made an addition. Every day after school the basketball team meets in Room 117 for a study period, from 2:15 to 3:45. The rules are simple. If you don't show, you don't play.

"No matter who you are, or who we're playing," Rodriguez said. "It works out real well for us. I think after a while, you'll see that it helps a lot. A lot of them are glad they don't have homework when they get home, because they've already done it.

"Nine times out of 10 the problem is, when they get home, they don't feel like doing homework, because they're tired from practice. This way they keep their thinking caps on a little longer."

Basketball practice begins at 4 p.m. for Garfield's varsity. The players have just spent most of two hours studying, taking make-up tests or getting extra help from teachers.

Does it help?

"I think it's a good idea," Harris said. "If JoJo didn't set it up, a lot of us would be hanging around, or we'd go home. Then there would be nothing to do. You would tell yourself you'd get to it later, but you probably won't get to it. This way, you do it right now."

Stewart is somewhat used to team study sessions. As a member of Wayne Dickens' football team, he attended a mandatory session every Tuesday.

"Once I get home, I'm usually sleepy," Stewart said. "This gives me a chance to get finished now. And if I don't finish it, it's almost finished when I get home. A lot of us are seniors, and we need good grades."

Said Rodriguez: "I don't want any surprises."

The Bulldogs can't afford too many. Nobody is handing them a return trip to the state tournament. With the exception of guard Andre Winston, last year's starters are gone. This year's team is somewhat of an enigma.

"People just don't know who we are," Rodriguez said. "They can't say what to expect."

Garfield started this season by winning two nonleague games, beating two Class AAA teams, Federal Way and Cascade. Metro League play starts tonight with Garfield at Chief Sealth.

The Bulldogs, without Bryant Boston, Jarvis Kelley, Joshua McMillion, Donald Hunter and LeNard Jones, left little to be talked about this season. But Garfield doesn't need big-name players. It makes them.

Harris. Stewart. Nolan Pinkney. Ajene Robertson. Railen Wheeler. Kareem Myres. Al Wells. Eric Atkinson. The names shouldn't sound familiar, unless you were a fan of Garfield's junior varsity.

"This is not a typical Garfield team," Rodriguez said. "It's all hands on deck."

The typical early-season jitters are there. The team sank 3 of 16 three-point attempts in its first two games. Shot selection, Rodriguez said, will come with time.

Some things never change.

"That's typical Garfield basketball," Rodriguez said. "We start with defense, and the offense comes around. We've stressed defense so much. It's not time for the offense to peak yet."

AROUND THE SOUND DIVISION

-- The Rainier Beach Vikings did it last year, not with size, but with quickness and good shooting. The same applies for this year's Vikings.

One of the best all-around players in the league, senior forward Mike Miller, is back for his third season as a starter. The team still has no dominating post player, but plenty of mid-size players who can play guard or forward.

Senior Anthony Fields, junior Rosell Ellis, senior Julius Pinchback and sophomore Joel Fromm all saw varsity time last year. They know Coach Francis Williams' break-and-shoot offense well.

The Vikings were one of the youngest teams at last year's state tournament and were eliminated early. Williams has only one more chance. This is his final season at Rainier Beach. He will be moving to California after this season.

The Lakeside Lions, another state-tournament team, are dealing with Jason Bond withdrawal. Life without the big man, who now plays for the Washington Huskies, hasn't been easy, as the Lions are 1-2. Gone are Bond's shot-blocking skills, rebounding skills and his reliable short jumper.

Bond aside, most of the team returns.

"If you would have asked me before the season what our strength is, I would have said our guards," Lakeside Coach Chuck Rheinschmidt said. "Now I'd say it's our centers and forwards.

"We've done well, taking up the rebounding slack, but we're not shooting well. Sometimes I think there's too much intensity. They think they have to get it done, right now, this second, instead of letting it happen."

Patience and better shooting will rescue the Lions. Unlike last season, they will rely on guard play to win.

The Ingraham Rams have revealed their new-look offense, one designed to resemble Loyola-Marymount's. The Rams will do a lot of running and a lot of shooting. Their favorite mode of transportation is the fast break.

Donnie Stringer and Dante Felder link the old generation with the new. A player to watch is sophomore Alonzo Wilson, who scored 25 points in the season-opening victory against North Mason.

"Quickness and I.Q.," are the Rams' strengths, said Ingraham Coach Kim Stewart.

On paper, the Cleveland Eagles look to be one of the league's pushovers. They lack the size and the athletes. However, they did keep up with Lindbergh before losing the nonleague game, 67-65. Only two players, Cal Johnson III and Eric Takhaar, return from last year's varsity. ------------------------------

METRO BASKETBALL PLAYERS TO WATCH

MOUNTAIN DIVISION NAME, POS. SCHOOL HT. YR. --------------------------------------------------------- Greg Wickstrand, center/forward Blanchet 6-5 Sr. Jacob Cheha, guard Blanchet 5-11 Jr. Kareem Hill, forward Franklin 6-7 Sr. Ahmed Jenkins, forward Franklin 6-7 Sr. Pete Coleman, forward E. Catholic 6-5 Sr. Tavares Mack, center/forward Hale 6-8 Sr. Jevon Green, forward Hale 6-3 So.

LAKE DIVISION NAME, POS. SCHOOL HT. YR. --------------------------------------------------------- John Clark, guard-forward Ballard 6-4 Sr. Damon Williams, forward/center Ballard 6-6 Sr. Bryan Weathers, forward Seattle Prep 6-5 Sr. Erik Feider, center Seattle Prep 6-4 Sr. Mike Greene, forward Roosevelt 6-3 Sr. Jayson Bass, forward O'Dea 6-4 Jr. Lonnie Franklin, forward O'Dea 6-4 Jr.

SOUND DIVISION NAME, POS. SCHOOL HT. YR. --------------------------------------------------------- Andre Winston, guard Garfield 6-0 Sr. Willie Stewart, center Garfield 6-2 Sr. Ajene Robertson, forward Garfield 6-6 Jr. Mike Miller, forward Rainier Beach 6-4 Sr. Rosell Ellis, forward Rainier Beach 6-4 Jr. Landon Stone, guard Lakeside 6-0 Jr. Reilly Schanno, forward Lakeside 6-1 Sr. Alonzo Wilson, guard Ingraham 5-10 So. Calvin Johnson, forward Cleveland 6-1 Sr. -----------------------------

COACHES' POLL -- Coaches' predicted order of finish for the Metro League's Sound Division boys basketball race. Four points were awarded for first, three for second, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams (first-place votes in parentheses):

SOUND DIVISION SCHOOL PTS. ------------------------------ 1. Garfield (4) 16 . 2. Rainier Beach (1) 13 . 3. Ingraham 10 . 4. Lakeside 7 . 5. Cleveland 4 .