Clay-Chalkville's new coach gets dream team
Robi Coker was on his honeymoon in Jamaica in May when he got the word. He'd gotten the job.
He was going to be the new boys basketball coach at Clay-Chalkville High School.
For the young man who grew up in this state as a sports junkie, his first head coaching job could be a gold mine.
If he can get through the minefield.
Coker's first team will include two of the top 50 juniors in the nation, one of whom could be the No.1 college prospect in the class of 2009. His first team could be one of the better teams in the state.
If the Alabama High School Athletic Association rules that the transfers of DeMarcus Cousins and Christian Watford are legitimate.
DeMarcus Cousins, who left Erwin High, and Watford, who left Hewitt-Trussville, started school at Clay-Chalkville this week. They started running and lifting weights with their new teammates.
Meanwhile, the Clay-Chalkville principal said, the AHSAA is investigating to make sure DeMarcus Cousins and Watford and their families have followed the proper transfer rules.
AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese wouldn't comment on specific cases but did say the association doesn't investigate all transfers.
What? Only high-profile ones?
"We don't look at transfers as high-profile or low-profile," Savarese said. "Every child is high-profile to us."
If only everyone involved in high school athletics felt and acted that way.
Savarese said the AHSAA looks into transfers only when a member school asks the association to get involved. It's not hard to imagine why the schools that DeMarcus Cousins and Watford left or the schools that'll have to play Clay-Chalkville with them in the lineup might have questions.
Recruiting services rank the 6-foot-9, 234-pound DeMarcus Cousins at or near the top of the Class of 2009. Some insiders think he's likely to attend UAB, but that hasn't stopped schools such as Alabama and Kentucky from pursuing him.
One service figures the 6-7, 205-pound Watford as the No.48 national prospect in this junior class. Alabama, Missouri and others have shown interest in him.
Imagine working with that kind of talent in your first job. Imagine being a first-year high school coach dealing with big-name college coaches recruiting your players.
It's a tall order for Coker, who'll turn 26 in September but looks 16.
After getting his education degree at Jacksonville State - where he worked with the basketball program - Coker followed JSU assistants Michael White and Torrey Ward to Ole Miss to work for Andy Kennedy.
Coker served as the Ole Miss operations assistant last year. He consulted with Kennedy before taking the Clay-Chalkville job.
"It seems like a great situation for him," Kennedy said. "He has a lot of energy. He has a good basketball mind. He's as hard a worker as I've been around. He puts his passion into it. That's why I think he'll be successful."
Despite his year at Ole Miss, Coker is a lifelong Alabama fan.
"A huge Alabama football fan," Kennedy said.
Coker played football and basketball at Crossville High School. As a point guard, he came up four assists shy of the state career record for assists. So he's talented if not tall.
If everything checks out, he'll be looking up at DeMarcus Cousins and Watford. All he'll have to do is get them to look up to him. Kevin Scarbinsky's column appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Write him at kscarbinsky@bhamnews.com.
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