Nado Natterings
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

15 Aug 2007 Issue #31

Ken Caesar, 36, who has been a winner in several basketball programs as both a player and coach, was named the new head boys basketball coach of Coronado High School last week. Caesar succeeds Sandy Dillon, who retired from the high school as a teacher and coach, as the head of the program.

Caesar, a native San Diegan, is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School, where he was a self-described ‘very un-remarkable player.’ Despite that seemingly modest appellation, Caesar played for three seasons on the varsity squad and helped lead the Patriots to the second round of the CIF playoffs his senior year.

Then it was off to Mesa College in Mesa, Arizona, where Caesar played point guard for two years, started down a career path where winning became a consistent pattern and he began forging friendships that would prove beneficial in later years. Caesar, who looks like he could step in and play middle linebacker for the Chargers, “was a little lighter back then.” His roommate and backcourt running mate was a 6-4 shooting guard named Mike Brown, who is now the head coach of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.

“We were 32-2 and went all the way to the NJCC Tournament,” said Caesar of his Mesa College crew. “We had a big team and several of the players were Mormons, who had already gone on their missions and come back to school. I was 18 and several of them were 23 years old.”

After two seasons at Mesa, Caesar transferred to Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, where he continued to find success. The Kingsmen were 25-3 during one of his seasons and were briefly ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III.

Upon graduation, Caesar headed to Australia to play professionally for the Albury Cougars for one season. After one year abroad, he returned to San Diego to find work as a ‘civilian’ in the residential treatment business.

A constant for Caesar throughout his life has been his close relationship with Robert Griffith, the former San Diego State football player, who has played for 14 seasons in the National Football League including stops with the Vikings, Browns and Cardinals. Griffith, a 6-foot safety has made over 1,000 tackles in pro football and played in the Pro Bowl after the 1999 season.

“We were boys since I was a kid,” said Caesar of Griffith. “He went to Mt. Miguel and I went to Patrick Henry. But we lived in the same neighborhood for the most part.” The two remain close and speak frequently on the phone.

Then the basketball friends network started kicking into gear for Caesar, when he received a phone call from the new head coach at Cal Lutheran, offering him a grad assistant position on the coaching staff. “I picked up my Masters degree and came back down to San Diego and worked a while. Robert said he had a friend in the entertainment business and I went to work as a tutor for Arista Records and P. Diddy. That took me all over the world. I was on tour with ‘N Synch, 98 Degrees, you name it. It was non-stop traveling for a year, including MTV and TRL and the NBA All Star Weekend.”

After that whirlwind, Caesar was looking for something a little more permanent and returned to San Diego. “I had a friend who said I should come to his school. They were looking for somebody to be an assistant basketball coach under Mike Haupt at St. Augustine. Mike Brown played at USD when Haupt was an assistant coach there. All those guys are from under the same umbrella.” Caesar went on to teach speech and history at St. Augustine for five years and coached basketball for six seasons. He also assisted Haupt in making recruiting presentations to local parochial schools. During one two-year period the Saints posted a 60-4 record, including a 31-1 run where the Saints only loss was in the Division III State Finals.

At that point, Mike Brown resurfaced in Caesar’s life, calling to ask if his former JC roommate would like to interview for a post with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The job included player development and video editing for the assistant coaches.

“It was a great learning experience,” said Caesar of life in the pros. “I associate it with going to an academy. All you are doing is basketball. There was nothing but five hours of basketball. Brown wanted me on the floor every day, to see it first hand and to work with the guys. These are space age athletes, but the game is the same. The terminology is the same, but the game is faster. They make the same mistakes high school kids make. Being on the floor and preparing really helped me out. I could have stayed in the NBA, but I have a house here and wanted to come back, settle down and put my feet somewhere. Once you get there (the NBA), it’s a grind. It’s a real testosterone, male-driven, I’m in charge, military type of deal.”

The next obvious question is ‘What are your impressions of LeBron James?’ “He’s going to come to a point in his career, when he is going to decide what kind of man he is going to be,” said Caesar of the NBA super star. “This guy is 22 years old. He’s a mature guy and a nice guy. He tries to act tough sometimes, but he’s not like that. I think he is just going to get better and when it’s all over, he’ll be one of the best ever. His upside is tremendous. Some of the things he has done in practice, you can’t believe. I saw the guy play every day.”

For now, Caesar will be teaching at St. Charles Middle School in Point Loma and coaching at Coronado. But that’s not necessarily the long-term plan. “I have a master’s degree, but not a teaching credential. I need to get a credential to get (full-time) on campus. I don’t want to be a guy that just coaches. It’s a different respect level. When I get on campus, it will make it a little easier. The kids see you differently if you are a teacher too.”

Expect Caesar to preach mastering the game’s fundamentals to his players on the court. If the Islander boys basketball team in the coming years takes on the elements of their new coach, it will continue to be a success.

Athletic Physicals Evening a Success

On behalf of the Islander Sports Foundation as well as the CHS and CMS athletic programs, thanks need to be extended to the battery of doctors who helped make the athletic physical evening a success last week.

The doctors included Peter Kelly, Kevin Considine, John Pedrotty, Laura Fagerlund, Trish Kettlehake, Patrick Yassini, Genevieve Bloom, David Hansen, Mike Thompson, Nancy Adam, Matthew Horn and physician’s assistant Sadaf Ilyas. Dr. Cassandra Stroud organized the evening with considerable assistance from Mary Davidson. Thanks to all who attended and assisted with the evening.

CHS Water Polo Season Fast Approaching

Although I have long contended that the water polo season never really ends, the official start to the Islander Boys Water Polo Team’s season will be Saturday, August 25. On that date, Coronado will join 15 other San Diego area schools in the Second Annual Coach Draz Classic to be played at La Jolla High School’s Coggan Pool CIF San Diego section. Coronado will play their game at 2:40 pm against Rancho Buena Vista. Conveniently for scouting and fan purposes, he Bishop’s School plays Granite Hills in the preceding game at 1:30 pm. General admission tickets for all eight games cost $6, which is a pretty fair price for 10 hours of water polo.

Add Water Polo

I recently received an E-mail from the San Diego Hall of Champions regarding a coming luncheon event, which provided me with a link to their website. While perusing the site, I noticed that CHS and now Stanford Alumna Katie Hansen had been honored in both March 2006 and March 2007 as a ‘Star of the Month’ for her water polo efforts with the Cardinal, where she earned All-American honors three times.

Honored July 19 along with Hansen were All-American basketball player Jared Dudley from Boston College and Horizon High School; Kelly Rulon from UCLA and Cathedral Catholic, also in water polo; and Eric Lesserman from the UCSD volleyball team. Hansen was presented with a plaque commemorating her achievement by San Diego Chargers General Manager A.J. Smith.

Add CIF Sports Sponsorship Opportunity

If you are a prep sports booster, the CIF has a great opportunity for you by joining their 500 Club, which financially supports CIFSDS playoff championship events. As you might surmise from the title, for a $500 donation you receive: press box seating at the CIF football championships at Qualcomm Stadium; seating at Cox Arena for the boys and girls basketball championship games; complimentary tickets to other CIFSDS championship events; your name included in a section-wide press release as a member of the 500 Club; and an invitation to the End-of-Year Appreciation Dinner.

For more information on the 500 Club, contact the CIF at 858-292-8165 or via E-mail at jbrewer@sdcoe.net.

CHS Alumnus David West’s Summer Job

CHS Baseball Alumnus David West will be a junior next year at Biola University in Los Angeles. If an English professor asks West to write the typical “What Did You Last Summer” theme, West will have an interesting story to tell.

David is in his second season working for San Diego Channel 4 for the home San Diego Padres cablecasts. West comprises the broadcast’s ‘research division,’ typically arriving at Petco Park 90 minutes prior to game time. He compiles game notes for announcers Matt Vasgersian and Mark Grant. As an added bonus, West on occasion gets to hang with a guy with Hall of Fame credentials in Tony Gwynn.

West, who patrols the outfield for Biola and hits left-handed in a similar fashion to the aforementioned Gwynn, has received an offer from No. 19 to coach him on his batting form before returning to school. To paraphrase the MasterCard commercial, ‘time alone in the batting cage with a baseball legend – priceless.’