September 4, 2017
EDCAL 7
High school basketball players
test their skills against pros
Lynwood High School junior Carl
Lewis recently got to experience something
that many sports fans often dream of – the
chance to go one on one with professional
basketball stars and college standouts.
Since July, Lewis and several of
Lynwood’s High’s most skilled basketball
players have gone toe-to-toe against Real
Run Basketball’s top talent, where they
practiced ball handling, endurance and
passing drills. The Lynwood students then
had a chance to put these new skills into
practice with weekly matches against vari-
ous college and professional players.
“It was really fun and helpful,” Lewis
said. “The college and professional players
came out here to help us become better
athletes with better attitudes and it ended
up being a great experience.”
Real Run Basketball, founded in 1998
by former professional basketball player and
Lynwood High assistant coach DeAnthony
Langston, also teaches high school players
about building personal character and good
sportsmanlike conduct by providing them
with positive support. This is the first year
Lynwood High has participated in the Real
Run Basketball summer league, thanks to
Langston’s new coaching position.
“Real Run Basketball brings some great
energy here to Lynwood since we have
amazing top 50 college-level players, elite
level high school players and even profes-
sional overseas players.” Langston said.
The program holds two games per day
on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and
Saturdays – which gives Lewis and two
other Lynwood High juniors, Tyler Parks and Benjamin Simeran, plenty of time to
work with the program’s other participants.
“Hosting this summer league at Lynwood
High brings a great deal of positive energy
to our campus,” Superintendent Gudiel
Crosthwaite said. “It’s especially important
for our students to meet with the college
players since they can encourage them to
pursue higher education options.”
Lynwood High basketball coach Jason
Crowe called the summer league games
a major blessing for the Lynwood High
students, giving them the chance to receive
academic career advice from college players
who attend such institutions as Washington
State University, Pepperdine University,
USC and Yale University.
“It’s a great opportunity for our students
to be able to develop their skills with older,
more experienced players,” Crowe said. “It
gives our student athletes something to
aspire to and lets them know what aspects
of the game and their lives that they can
work on.”
In the past, the program has played
host to a range of professional basketball
players including Lamond Murray, Kevin
Love and DeMar DeRozan. Langston was
hoping to have Paul George, an Oklahoma
City Thunder small forward, meet with the
program’s participants before the current
season ends.
Participants are scheduled to compete in
an elimination tournament to see which of
the program’s eight teams will be crowned
as this year’s champions.
PAREDES has a passion for helping students succeed
socially, emotionally and academically, espe-
cially those who arrive at school without
solid support systems in place.”
Paredes is particularly proud of the
Advancement Via Individual Determination
program she started at Las Palmas Middle
School as principal about 10 years ago.
“I planted the seed, and the most amaz-
ing staff took the challenge and flew with
it,” she said. “The school now has such a
powerful community of learners among the
students and more specifically among the
teachers.
“After I left the school, my assistant
principal, Nicole Cos