After an exciting season of Del Mar High School’s fall sports, the student athletes are transitioning to winter sports. Football and girl’s volleyball players are turning to basketball and soccer, along with new faces going to the tryouts and conditioning as well.
To focus on a group participating in one of the many sports this season, the boys varsity and junior varsity basketball teams were asked questions about their previous experiences with basketball, as well as the coaches opinions going into the upcoming season.
Varsity coach Mark Collins says “We do everything, since it’s still the beginning we’re working on a lot of fundamental drills, but we do everything.” Collins has been coaching for over 30 years, at multiple different skill levels internationally.
“I have coached at the high school level internationally, I’ve coached at the professional level internationally and back in the states,” says Collins. “I coached in the country of Denmark for 2 years as a professional coach, and about 8 years as a high school coach.”
The beginning of Collins’ coaching started up when he was a basketball player himself. He’s always been point guard, and he says “it’s kind of the coach on the floor, so I’ve had those leadership skills at a young age, and I’ve kind of carried it with me.”
With the season coming up fast, Collins shares his confidence in the team.
“I am [excited]. We are young, but pretty good. We got a lot of guys that work hard, so I’m really excited to see them play together and grow.” Collins Says.
Senior Anakin Russamevipanont, who’s also varsity co-captain with Hayden Tieu (12) started playing basketball in the second grade. He also was on an AAU team for six years, until it unfortunately disbanded. He plays point guard, shooting guard, and small forward.
When asked about continuing with basketball after high school, Russamevipanont said he would not be playing after graduating.
“This is just for fun right now, I’m not playing after [high school].” he says. “I keep getting injured.”
Another varsity player, Jayvohn Johnson (11), had a similar past interest and journey with basketball, however he plans on continuing through college and going pro.
“It just started for fun, then I started playing around in different teams, like AAU. ” says Johnson. He’s played point guard and shooting guard since he started the sport, which quickly led to them becoming his favorite positions.
Noah Olibeira (11), another varsity player, had a more recent interest in the sport as he started in sixth grade, in Brazil.
Olibeira currently plays as small forward and power forward. However, he used to play as shooting guard, which he wishes he could go back to.
“In Brazil, I used to play as a shooting guard, and I miss that because I would have more time to handle the ball and shoot whenever I wanted to, but I like this position. I’m learning how to play it.” He says. “It was difficult when I started trying, but now I’m getting used to it.”
Jared Chavez, head JV coach, has been coaching for six years. He started off with middle school, then moved to high school, but quickly realized he enjoys coaching the older age group more, due to the fact that he has more time to bond with the players and get to know them.
From freshman to senior year, Chavez played as point guard and shooting guard, but prefers point guard, considering the fact that he had always wanted to be it.
Like Collins, Chavez also shares his feelings about the group he gets to coach this season.
“Yeah, I’m really excited. I’m pretty confident in this group we have this year.”
Junior varsity player Tyler Felix (11) started basketball in eighth grade at Monroe Middle School. He played for school and recreation at the teen center. Felix plays point guard, shooting guard, and power forward, but he prefers to play point guard or shooting guard.
Felix has a great amount of support from his family, and he says they are his motivation for working hard in this sport.
“I usually play for my family,” says Felix. “a lot of them usually come to my game, mostly my grandmother. Even though she’s usually ill, she still comes to my games to watch. It’s her favorite thing.”
Basketball is currently a hobby right now for Felix, as he wants to “have fun on jv and help the jv kids get better, so we have a good, strong team next year.” Although, he does wish to go D1 if there’s a chance.
Sophomore Zayvyn Villalobos has only started playing basketball last year, however he wishes he started earlier.
After high school, Villalobos will not be continuing with basketball to college or professionally. For now, he plays as a center.
Diego Lopez (10) started playing basketball on an AAU team when he was 8 years old. He now plays small forward.
Other than basketball, Lopez also plays football. Even though he might not go D1 or pro with basketball, his goal is to get a scholarship for football and follow that.
When asked about it, Lopez says his motivation before a game is being around his teammates due to their always high energy.
“Hanging out with my team before the game. […] the energy is always up.”
The boys’ basketball team has an exciting season ahead of them, with their first game being on November 26, at Milpitas High School. The Dons have eight pre-season games, facing Harker, Oakwood, University Prep Academy, and more. The rest of their schedule can be found on Maxpreps.
