Maybe it's time to write a folk song about the demise of City Division basketball using music Peter, Paul and Mary and the new title “Where Have All the Players Gone?”
The talent level has clearly hit rock bottom just a year after Alijah Arenas became a McDonald's All-American at Chatsworth High and Taj Ariza led Westchester to the City Section Open Division title. Because their parents went to City Branch schools, Arenas and Ariza stuck it out. Then Arenas graduated early and went to the University of Southern California, and Arisa went to St. John Bosco, then to a preparatory school.
Westchester, where Ed Azzam won 15 City titles in 42 seasons before retiring in 2021.. In Crenshaw, Willie West won 16 city titles and eight state titles. At Taft, Derrick Taylor won four City titles and coached future NBA players Jordan Farmar, Larry Drew II and AJ Johnson. In Fairfax, Harvey Kitani coached for 35 years, won four City titles and two state titles and accounted for most of his nearly 1,000 victories. He was followed by Steve Bike and Reggie Morris Jr., each of whom won a city championship before retiring.
None of the city's schools, once considered among the best in Southern California, come close to resembling their glory days, and they're not alone. The city section lost much of its talent, and it was indeed Hall of Fame talent: Marques Johnson and John Williams of Crenshaw; Gail Goodrich of Sun Valley Polytechnic Institute; Willie Knolls in San Pedro; Duane Pauley of Manual Arts; Gilbert Arenas of Grant; Trevor Ariza in Westchester; Chris Mills in Fairfax. These were decades of success.
No one is to blame. You can't even attribute the drop solely to the Los Angeles Unified School District, whose high schools compete in the city section.
But LAUSD has done nothing to reverse the trend, and hasn't helped matters by opening so many new schools so quickly that older schools have lost their luster as enrollment declines. The situation has become even more destructive due to the emergence of charter and private schools taking away the best athletes. On top of that, the loss of veteran coaches frustrated by bureaucratic problems and rules that force programs to obtain permits and pay to use their own gyms during the offseason contributed to the exodus.
Westchester is 2-8 this season, an example of where City Section basketball is at. Last season's two best players, Gary Ferguson and Jordan Ballard, are now at St. Bernard. Westchester doesn't even have a list posted on MaxPreps. King/Drew won his first City Open Division title in 2024 under coach Lloyd Webster. This season, Webster sent his oldest son, Josan, to Rolling Hills Prep to play for Kitani. King/Drew – 4-10.
Birmingham, Palisades and Granada Hills charter schools were split on virtually every sport in the city section, including basketball. They have no enrollment restrictions as long as there is room for the student. Palisades lost so many students after a wildfire last year that transfers have been a big addition to its teams this school year. Online courses are offered to help students register and participate in charter school sports.
The old inner city powers—Crenshaw, Dorsey, Jefferson, Locke and Fremont—experienced great demographic changes. Many coaches are facilitators rather than teachers. The legacy schools face competition from charter schools View Park Prep, Triumph, Animo Watts, Animo Robinson, WISH Academy and USC-MAE. Once young players are discovered and developed, they rarely stick around when one of the private schools or AAU coaches looking for talent spots them in the offseason.
So what's left? A little.
Palisades, Washington Prep and Cleveland look like the top three teams this season. All three added transfers helped reverse the downward trend. Yet their records are 3-10, 8-8 and 7-6, respectively, against mostly Southern Section teams.
Maybe this could be a one-year fall and the climb back up can begin with the help of coaches who understand that their job is to teach lessons about basketball, life and college prep. Parents need a reason to send their children to City Branch School. It is the job of LAUSD and the principals to help change the trajectory by finding coaches who have integrity, passion, and a willingness to embrace the role of the underdog.
Many in the system are doing their best. It's time to start hearing and responding to their requests for help.
