A Father's Day tale: California high school basketball stars overcome family tragedies

Lewis, a highly skilled, 6-foot-9 forward, leaped more than 40 spots in the past year, trailing only D.J. Wagner of Camden (N.J.) in one media ranking of Class of 2023 players. 

"Exciting, but gotta keep working hard to keep that spot," Lewis said.

During the same time, Roberson went from no-star status to a 4-star recruit according to 247Sports, which ranks the explosive 6-5 left-handed combo guard as the 118th incoming senior in the country.

"That's great, but gotta get inside 100," Roberson said. And while the coronavirus pandemic ended last season for the pair, it isn't slowing the duo's preparation for 2020. Each maintains strict at-home workout routines filled with weights, push ups and daily runs. Each finds parks and hoops to get up hundreds of shots every day, which doesn't surprise high school coach Lou Richie of Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.).

"Two remarkably driven, polite and talented student-athletes," Richie said. "Excellent leaders and students. Razor focused."

That focus is sharpened every day by their fathers.


Lewis' father, Ahlee Lewis, is very much alive. He was thrust into a single-parent role two months after his son's birth. His wife Tiffany died from breast cancer after being diagnosed seven months into her pregnancy with Jalen.

"It's just been him and I my whole life," Jalen Lewis said. "He's made a ton of sacrifices. I'm not sure where I'd be without him."

Said Richie: "You got two kids who lost parents in very tragic, sudden ways and have risen above. Fortunately, each had, and has, tremendous support systems in place. Their lives have been tremendously lifted and inspired by their fathers. But theirs is also a family story."

Marsalis and Jason

Marsalis and his dad were extremely close. A former high school baseball player, college graduate and Navy veteran, Jason taught his son how to be disciplined and regimented. A barber by trade, he stood 6-6 and was known around town as "Big Jay."

He ran a tight, but fair, ship.

"He'd wake me up at 6 and we'd workout together," Roberson said. "He gave me chores to do like washing dishes, just built me a lot of structure. It's helped me in so many ways."







Ahlee, Tiffany and Jalen

Jalen never had a chance to know his mother, a softball and basketball player at Benicia High. There were pictures of her everywhere in the house when he was a tyke, but Ahlee had to take many down.

"Frankly, it was too hard on me and I didn't think it was healthy for him," Ahlee said. "There were enough photos for Jalen to surely know who his mother was."

Besides her athletic prowess, Tiffany was a scholar, earning a Master's Degree in Social Work at Sacramento State.

"I've seen a lot of videos of her, and I have some photos," he said. "I remember a couple times getting on the court and being at the free throw line and saying to myself, ‘This is for you mom.' " Jalen, who recently turned 15, owns a pair of size 16 pink Adidas Dame 4s sneakers that have the initials MIAWM on them. It stands for: "Mom is always with me."

"Her spirit is always there," Jalen said. "But my dad's presence is pretty unmistakable."


He played three seasons at UC Davis, graduating with a economics degree in 1989. Basketball was a huge part of his life and he made sure it was part of his son's also. He had the knowledge and background to teach him all the skills.

"I remember picking up a ball at 3-and-a-half and I haven't set it down since," Jalen said.

Ahlee got Jalen immediately involved in the AAU circuit with the Oakland Rebels. Projected to be 6-11, Jalen played against much older kids and more than stood above the crowd.

By third grade, he was playing the center spot. By sixth grade, he was 6-1 and traveling up and down the state and around the nation playing tournaments.

"I learned post moves really early and then guard skills not long after that," he said.

Ahlee, a corporate recruiter in San Francisco, was affectionately known around AAU circles as the Richard Williams (overbearing tennis father of Venus and Serena Williams) of basketball dads.

Ahlee both laughs and cringes at the comparison. Yes, he's involved 100 percent and instructs, he says, but he's balanced enough to offer a bigger picture.

"I'm passionate about the game and my son, but I've never wanted Jalen to become consumed by it," Ahlee said. "We don't talk about basketball all the time.

"I've always encouraged him to speak up and voice his opinions. And he's very opinionated, just like his mother. I'm so thankful for that. I wasn't going to raise a robot." He hasn't. Jalen, with a 3.5 grade point average, is naturally very quiet but has been heard having quite heated discussions with his dad after games.




"Yes, he's hard on me a lot. He's trying to keep me focused and serious. But he tells me he's proud of me and that he loves me, too."

Marsalis and Jalen

Marsalis and Jalen live only a mile apart in the low-lying Oakland Hills neighborhood of Maxwell Park, once considered as "rough and dangerous," but now deemed "resurgent and highly desirable," according to Richie. "Amazing their paths brought them so close together."

There was mutual respect as soon Jalen joined the 2019-20 O'Dowd team. The much ballyhooed freshman immediately noted Marsalis' work ethic, leadership skills and athleticism.

 

Marsalis' all-around play earned him Player of the Year awards by the San Francisco Chronicle and Bay Area News Group. He led the team in scoring (16.5 per game) and rebounding (6.3) and sparked the defense and added 3-point shooting and highlight dunks. Most of all he was a leader, said Richie, perhaps the best he's ever coached.

At every game, Brenaia has been in the middle of Marsalis' own cheering section, a huge contingent of enthusiastic family. It's helped with his intensity and desire to do well, Marsalis said. He never takes a play off, Richie said. 



He taps into his late father for that. At home, he holds on to his dad's Navy medals. During games and workouts, he closes his eyes and pictures pop.


Said Jalen: "The sacrifices he's made to get me to the right places, the right schools, all the AAU games — for me just to be happy — I'm super grateful," Jalen said. "He's had endless job opportunities and certainly places to go. ... I'd be far less of a man without him. I don't want to be exactly like him, but I definitely want many of his traits, like how he speaks publicly and gets his point across."

Ahlee doesn't have to say much to communicate his pride and joy.