Thunderbirds Aging Well -- Highline Cc Program Courts Mature Players

-- DES MOINES

Patience isn't one of Joe Callero's virtues.

He wanted to see his Highline Community College men's basketball program grow up in a hurry. So, he recruited grown-up guys who had been out of high school for a couple of years or so.

The result: After some early struggles, HCC is 2-0 in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) Northern Division.

"We knew for us to be successful, we needed a sophomore-dominated, mature team," said Callero, 29, in his third and final year as head coach. He intends to pursue a coaching position at a four-year college. "We knew Marc (Callero, his younger brother) coming back as a sophomore would be one of the top two to three point guards in the league, but that wasn't going to be enough. So we looked for transfers and older people."

Marc Callero (5 feet 11), a 1990 Enumclaw High School grad, and T.J. Bohl (6-3), a Kentwood product the same year, are the only starters back from last year's club, which finished one game out of the playoffs at 6-6, 16-10 overall. Two other expected returners, including Kentridge sharp-shooter Collin Crenshaw, opted not to return.

Coach Callero has filled the other starting spots with sophomores Derek Sledge (6-0) and Brandt Borghorst (6-7) and freshman Carlos Carson (6-4). Sledge, out of Mount Tahoma in Tacoma, played at Green River two years ago with Tony Callero, another of Joe's brothers. Borghorst went from Seattle's Blanchet High to Sheldon Jackson in Alaska before being lured back by the Thunderbirds. Carson, a 1989 graduate of Rainier Beach, had been playing football at the University of Idaho.

Three others who are getting plenty of playing time also have been out of high school for a while. Danny Nevitt (6-2) played at Kentridge, then sat out for two years. Eric MacGregor (5-7) went from Cleveland to Grays Harbor for one season, then skipped three years. Federal Way's Bronzell Miller (6-5) has been playing football at Eastern Arizona Community College the past two years.

Coach Callero didn't bypass high-schoolers completely. He brought on Tyler Geving (6-2), a pure shooter out of Highline, Tim Sorensen (6-2) of Seattle Christian, Aaron Schaefer of Jefferson and Ramone Sanders of Auburn. They see marginal time. Geving currently is sidelined with mononucleosis.

Callero likens this team to his 1989-90 club, which made it to the NWAACC finals and placed sixth. Both took a while to adjust to his coaching style, he said, then began putting things together by the time conference play began.

"This year's team is a lot like the one I had my first year," Callero said.

"We have mature people physically and mentally. Last year we had a ton of freshmen, and 18-year-olds have to make so many adjustments in life anyway.

"Our team chemistry was suspect as far as taking the extra pass."

Callero prefers to see the ball worked inside. Borghorst averages 16 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.

The T-birds have shown scoring balance. In their two conference victories, all five starters have scored in double figures.