Cotton Goes Quietly

After his second season of high school basketball in 1995, Schea Cotton was at the top of his game.

The sophomore had not only led his team, Santa Ana Mater Dei, to the state Division I championship, but he was living up to the lofty expectations that had been established by everyone around him.

Few Southland players had been as talked about before playing a game of high school basketball as Cotton.

And it was easy to understand why. Those closest to Cotton were the least humble in their opinions of his talent.

“He’s like a Michael Jordan,” Pat Barrett, Cotton’s longtime youth coach, said the summer before his prized player started high school. “Schea is a playground legend. I talk to all the college coaches around the country. Everyone’s talking about how good Schea is. A lot of them have never even seen him play.”

Even Cotton’s mother, Gaynell, referred to her son as “a child in a man’s body.”

Cotton’s initial success, coupled with such high expectations, make the ending to his high school career all the more surprising. Because of academic and physical problems, he played in only 11 games last season as a junior and none this season.

His future in the sport is uncertain.

Cotton, a guard-forward who never shied away from the attention, isn’t granting interviews. Neither is his family.

Instead, he’s concentrating on graduating this spring from St. John Bosco, an all-boys’ parochial school in Bellflower.

“As far as Schea is concerned, we have no comment,” Gaynell said last week.

Cotton, 6 feet 5 and 220 pounds, hasn’t been forgotten in basketball circles. After being courted by several major colleges, including Kansas, Syracuse and North Carolina, he signed a national letter of intent with Long Beach State in November. His older brother, James Jr., is a junior and the leading scorer on the team.

But whether Cotton ends up at Long Beach State, a junior college or elsewhere is still a question.

Cotton is still considering joining the growing ranks of high school players going directly to the NBA.

There are significant hurdles in both cases.

Cotton hasn’t academically qualified for a college scholarship because of an insufficient score on the Scholastic Assessment Test needed for eligibility. He took the SAT for the first time in October and must take it again and get the necessary score before the fall semester.

And as far as the NBA draft in June is concerned, some experts consider him a longshot.

“I know all about this kid and he’s overrated,” said Marty Blake, director of scouting for the NBA. “How can this kid play in the NBA when he’s not even playing in high school this season? It’s a joke.

“He’s not ready for the draft, of course not,” he said. “I feel sorry for him and all of the high school kids like him. They’re just not ready for professional basketball at their age.”

Donnie Walsh, president of the Indiana Pacers, said he’s heard of Cotton but hasn’t seen him play.

“I’m aware of Schea Cotton, but I can’t say I know much about his ability,” Walsh said. “You have to take these high school kids more seriously today, though, so if he wants to jump to the NBA, then we’ll probably at least take a look.”

Brian Breslin, the basketball coach at St. John Bosco, said he has had limited conversations with Cotton about the NBA draft and hasn’t been afraid to voice his opinion.

“I’ve told Schea that I don’t think anyone 18 years old is ready for the NBA,” Breslin said. “He has a body to play in the NBA and he can do some things that are NBA-like, but can he do those things on a day-to-day basis? I don’t think so.”

Ever since Chicago high school player Kevin Garnett became a first-round draft choice of the Minnesota Timberwolves in June 1995, there have been rumors about Cotton making the same jump. Cotton has even indicated he is considering it.

Breslin said he stopped wearing clothes with the school logo in public because he was repeatedly stopped by strangers wanting to know if Cotton was going to turn professional.

At summer tournament games last year, fans frequently approached Cotton for his autograph and asked about the draft. At the Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis in July, Cotton conceded to a reporter that he felt he had the ability to go straight to the NBA.

Many people wouldn’t have argued with him at the beginning of his high school career.

After playing four games at St. John Bosco at the beginning of his freshman season, Cotton transferred to Mater Dei. He immediately earned a starting job on one of the Southland’s winningest teams, averaging 20 points and seven rebounds. The Monarchs finished 33-1, winning a Southern Section divisional title.

As a sophomore, Cotton was the dominating player on a team that finished 36-1 and won the state Division I championship. He averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds and was selected the section’s Division I player of the year.

Despite his success on the court, Cotton said he was unhappy at Mater Dei and transferred back to St. John Bosco in May 1995. He said he felt out of place.

“I was an alien myself,” Cotton said after leaving Mater Dei. “I was foreign to Orange County.”

Breslin welcomed Cotton’s return, but Cotton broke a bone in his left hand seven games into the season and didn’t return until the regular-season finale. He stayed out longer than expected to concentrate on his studies. St. John Bosco finished a disappointing 16-13, losing in the divisional quarterfinals.

Despite an inexperienced team, Breslin had high hopes this season because of Cotton. But his star player underwent shoulder surgery in September to repair a ligament and hasn’t played since. He injured the shoulder during a summer league game in Long Beach.

“The doctor told Schea that this kind of surgery required a six- to eight-month rehabilitation,” Breslin said. “He wore a sling for three to four weeks, and even now it’s hard for him to pull his arm above his head. . . .

“He tried to do a little shooting earlier this month, and I think he just ended up further delaying his rehab.”

Breslin said Cotton has told him he wants to play in the prestigious McDonald’s all-star game after the season, and Cotton, though it is possible he will not play at St. John Bosco this season, is on the nomination ballot for that event.

Cotton is doing well in school and was elected vice president of the student body government, Breslin said, but he hasn’t attended any basketball practices, and only a few games.

“I think it’s too much of a distraction for him when he comes to the games,” Breslin said. “He sat on the bench when we played at St. Bernard recently, and afterward all these kids came up and wanted his autograph. He said he doesn’t want the focus to always be on him.”

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Cotton Highlights

Schea Cotton’s high school basketball statistics:

* 1993-94: St. John Bosco/Mater Dei, 20 points per game, 7 rebounds per game

* 1994-95: Mater Dei, 24 points, 10 rebounds

* 1995-96: St. John Bosco, 25 points, 11 rebounds

* 1996-97: Hasn’t played.

AWARDS

* 1993-94: All-Southern Section Division I

* 1994-95: All-Southern Section Division I, player of the year