June 28, 2007

Westchester program making its point
Elite high school basketball program has history of producing quality point guards, and a pair of them could be drafted tonight.
By Bob Holtzman
Staff writer

Dominique O'Connor won't need to go to bed tonight and dream about what he wants to do when he grows up.

Instead, the Westchester High junior can simply turn on his television or surf the Internet to see a preview of his dream come to fruition.

Former Daily Breeze Player of the Year Gabe Pruitt (USC) and former All-Area selection Bobby Brown (Cal State Fullerton) excelled at Westchester and are expected to be selected in tonight's NBA draft.

"It's why I came here," O'Connor said. "I used to come watch Westchester games. I saw them play here.

"I knew Coach (Ed) Azzam was a good coach who works with point guards."

Azzam has had several reasons to watch the NBA draft recently, with Hassan Adams (New Jersey), Trevor Ariza (Orlando) and Amir Johnson (Detroit) in the league. Both Pruitt (projected late first, early second round) and Brown (second round) could be drafted tonight and are considered strong candidates to stick with a team.

Several of Azzam's point guards played at the Division I college level, including Sam Crawford, who holds the career assist record at New Mexico State. But he hasn't had one develop into an NBA player.

"One year we had three - C.J. Williams, Brandon Granville and Tony Bland - and when they all left, each of them went to Division I programs," Azzam said. "A good point guard is a lot of things combined, with qualities such as an attitude and willingness to share the ball and be a leader on the team."

Azzam actually hopes to double his number of former players in the NBA tonight. He also hopes to see Brandon Heath (San Diego State) selected.

It would be fitting for Azzam to finally see a pair of his point guards break into the NBA. Coach Charlie Sands, Azzam's mentor and assistant coach last season, said Azzam's expertise with point guards stems from his own experiences.

"He was a point guard himself," Sands said. "Point guard is what really dictates what happens in the game. If you want to see who goes to the Final Four, those teams that have the best point guards are the ones that will control the game."

Azzam stresses leadership from all his players, but with so much talent on his roster, it's a requirement for the point position. Pruitt said the lessons learned under Azzam left him with an excellent foundation to build on at USC.

"His main thing is defending at the point," Pruitt said. "That helped me in college, where Coach (Tim) Floyd constantly preached defense. Azzam prepared me for that first. He got on us for guarding our man. We had to do it if we wanted to play."

Brown was an undersized, overlooked 5-foot-9 shrimp at Westchester. But his defensive efforts and clutch perimeter shooting helped Westchester win a CIF State title his senior year. Then, when he grew between his senior year of high school and freshman year of college, he turned into a scoring machine during four years of Big West Conference play.

"Bobby Brown, you know, hurt us a lot of games because, you know, we didn't expect him to do it," Fairfax coach Harvey Kitani said. "He just played so well his senior year. When he was open, he killed us. I would say out of a lot of the point guards (Azzam) has had, he was the one player who sure had a great senior year that I didn't expect that from him. He really developed as the year went on and I think he could have played for a lot of colleges out there."

Kitani said Westchester's stream of point guards over the past decade has grown from a fertile plantation of experienced players thanks to the stable of talent within the program and Azzam's ability to teach the importance of communication.

"Coach Azzam does a really nice job with all the point guards because he throws you out there and puts you on your own," said former Westchester standout Ahmaad Cook, who just finished his freshman season at Ball State. "You have to lead the team and it helps you become a leader out there on the court. When I got in college, it helped with my leadership skills and it gives you confidence."

O'Connor is learning the same things Brown and Pruitt used to prepare themselves for a professional basketball career.

"I'm working on my maturity and leadership, so when I'm older, he doesn't have to worry about me being a leader," O'Connor said.