Decline of Southern Cal Basketball

[Wbbfan1]

http://hoopism.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-decline-of-southern-california.html

No Answers, just questions.

 

[Beemer]

I don't have any answers either. This is a real head scratcher.

 

[johnnyc]

So it's not a decline in Southern Cal basketball so much as a decline in L.A. basketball, right? The article seems to imply that the schools in the surrounding area are doing well.

 

[ochoopsfan]

It is a decline all over. When I started going regularly to High school games in Orange County, around 2007 there were so many more great games and rivalries. That has gone away. The only thing I can think of is that soccer volleyball lacrosse and softball are more appealing or more popular. Perhaps basketball is harder to play than the others.
I hope it is cycle that just needs a push to get back over the hump. I dont have much interest in the other sports.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

The article is addressing multiple issues at the same time. I think ochoopsfan correctly raises the point that there are a lot of sports for the player to choose from; volleyball (beach and court) and softball are staples of southern Cal, of course, and I have noticed the inroads of Lacrosse, really a New England sport originally, out west. And I recently noted the top soccer school was UCLA at the time.

As to attendance, I do think the writer nails issues of big city, multiple choice circumstances. On the college level, one factor could be how the men's programs are doing (or are viewed). In the PAC, it is very difficult to attend both sides as one would be generally attending 2 games per week - not to mention Volleyball and Football ending up as the season begins and softball (and baseball) starting up as the season winds down - we have walked from the softball stadium to the arena several times just following the women.

And finally, there really is a disconnect I think between the west coast and the rest of the country as to college sports. We mostly play other teams from the western part of the country (for cost reasons), just as the teams not west of the Rockies tend to play each other more-so than looking for competition further west. This most likely has an impact as well.

 

[willtalk]

I am from NorCal but I believe that the answer down south might just mirror the problems up north. In the North be better high school teams are almost always run by private schools. The economic downturn in California has had a major negative affect on funding for so called extra curricular activities such as sports and the arts. It has gotten to the point where activities that used to be free now have to be paid extra for by the parents. The private schools in the North who have the successful programs come from wealthy districts with parents who not only are able and willing to support those activities financially but also allow the schools to set a higher standard that challenges the students to achieve their best. The public schools tend to promote mediocrity. Most public schools are run by scared administrators who are so afraid of law suites they will buckle under to any complaining parent who thinks their daughter has been treated too harshly. It is nearly impossible to run a challenging basketball ( or any other kind of ) program in a public school that does not have the support of parents who support setting a high bar for their children which requires discipline and a lot of commitment.

For parents that want their daughters to succeed both academically and athletically they most always have to get them into private schools. And that requires a financial commitment and hardship a lot are not either capable or willing to take. I know of many parents up north who are willing to have their daughters commute and pay tuition just to give them them to the best combination of academics and basketball programs available.

So this author doesn't understand why the inner city isn't producing the players it once did. Duh! It's the lack of standards and promotion of mediocrity in public education which has resulted not only in the decline of academics but his now has also affected athletic standards as well. When I went through the public school system in California we led the Nation. The standards have now regressed so that the California system ranks with those at the bottom. What can be expected from someone with a limited chronology to draw from.