Buckley basketball program changing school's celebrity image

Kim Kardashian. Paris Hilton. Matthew Perry. Alyssa Milano.

The list of former students from Buckley (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), a small private school nestled in the hills of suburban Los Angeles, reads like a red carpet roll call.

When Jennifer Lopez was reportedly thinking of enrolling her children at Buckley, The Huffington Post called the school "a hot spot for Hollywood's finest."

While nearby private schools like Campell Hall (Jrue Holiday), Harvard-Westlake (Jarron and Jason Collins) and Notre Dame (Giancarlo Stanton), lay claim to illustrious athletes, Buckley has been known more for its celebrity-laden student body and award-winning performing arts programs than its sports prowess.

But that perception is changing thanks to head coach Mike Hamilton and Buckley's budding dynasty of a boys basketball program, which has rattled off 24 straight wins to open the season.

A single moment from a few weeks ago epitomizes the shift. When senior Chase Holliday's three-pointer swished through the net at the buzzer to give Buckley a one-point road victory against Parker (San Diego), it was more than just a win — it was a statement.

Holliday, who held his left hand in the air well after the shot went in, received an embrace from Hamilton, who continued sprinting towards the stands.

Hamilton climbed the bleachers and met Holliday's mother, Leslie. He gave her a big hug and said two words: "Happy Birthday."

After delivering his mother the best birthday present she could imagine, the 6-foot-3 Holliday was left speechless.

"To be honest, I didn’t really say anything," he said. "I just gave her a hug. She has always believed in me and she always told me I was meant for moments like that. To finally see one come around, it was great."

Hamilton, who has coached Holliday since he entered the K-12 school in seventh grade, was equally overcome by emotion.

"Chase and I have a very special relationship," he said. "He hadn’t gotten the accolades of a kid that plays Southern California basketball. I have this diamond here. People don’t get to see how hard he works. ... Chase has waited his turn."

It's not as if Buckley's success has come out of nowhere. The Griffins have won 15 Liberty League titles over the past 20 years and have been in the CIF Southern Section finals three times in the past seven years.

Their second section title appearance came in Holliday's freshman season, when they lost to Oaks Christian and standout Blair Holliday — Chase's older brother — who went on to play football at Duke. Buckley doesn't have a football team, so it wasn't really an option for the older Holliday.

"Honestly when it happened I didn’t really understand how much I would appreciate it now," said Chase Holliday. "But looking back at it, it was an awesome experience. It was kind of like we were back at home in the front yard playing one-on-one because that’s how everything started."

Breaking through

The Griffins finally pushed through to win the school's first section crown last season, when Hamilton was named the CIF Southern Section Division 5AA Coach of the Year. They also won two games in the state tournament before losing a heart-breaker to San Gabriel Academy, 42-40, in the quarterfinals.

But still, there was something special about the Parker win. Something that may have finally given the last push to a tide that's been trying to turn for the past decade.

Buckley (24-0) has been perfect this season, and has won in convincing fashion thanks to the leadership of Holliday, fellow senior Astin Beal and junior Austin Butler, who all average around 15 points per game. Out of the 24 wins, 21 have been by more than 20 points, and most margins of victory have been closer to 40.

Since Buckley is a small school (high school enrollment is 305 students), the skepticism is inevitable: "You might be undefeated, but who have you played?"

Hamilton is well aware of it, and it's something he's worked hard to remedy.

"The big schools wouldn’t schedule us at all," he said. "Price (Los Angeles) was the first big-time program to play us. Our first couple years we were getting spanked, but (Price coach) Mike Lynch was giving us a shot. He said, 'If you want to compete you have to play in tournaments.'"

Hamilton took the advice, and entered Buckley into tournaments with larger, more storied programs. The Griffins played in the L.A. University tournament last season in order to get used to competing at a higher level, but a funny thing happened — not only did they compete ... they won.

Buckley beat Dorsey, Los Angeles, Campbell Hall and host school University to win the tournament. Needless to say — outside of Buckley at least — that was not the expected outcome.

"Those were games where people really scratched their heads," said Hamilton.

As an encore, the team traveled to Taft (Woodland Hills), a school with an enrollment of approximately 2,600 students (nearly 10 times the Buckley high school enrollment) that just two seasons earlier had won the L.A. City Section championship.

These are the type of games that, prior to recent success, Buckley would never have dreamed of scheduling. But Hamilton was willing to possibly sacrifice his team's ranking in the division to help prepare for the playoffs.

"Whether we win or lose, it’ll be noted that we even wanted to play those teams at this point in the year," he said. "It says a lot about the kids that are playing."

Buckley played hard against Taft but lost, 66-56, and Hamilton said that loss was instrumental in this year's success.

"Learning to lose has helped us learn to win," he said.

And win they have.

Getting defensive

Defense has been the key to Buckley's success, said Hamilton, as their goal is to hold every team they play to under 50 points.

"The players get mad when teams score. That’s the only time I see them fighting," said Hamilton of his close-knit group. "They hold each other accountable on the defensive end. If you’re not going to play defense, we’re not going to give it to you on offense."

Defense becomes even trickier when the Griffins, whose tallest player is 6-foot-3, are forced to play against taller teams. In last year's playoff run, Buckley had to deal with Brethren Christian 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, now playing for UC Irvine. Ndiaye scored 34 points, but the Griffins held the rest of the team to just 17 and won handily.

This season's lone close game against Parker (San Diego), a San Diego Section team featuring 6-foot-8 St. Mary's commit Evan Fitzner, who finished with 23 points but had to work hard to get them. He made just 6 of 15 shots from the field, which put Buckley in position to win the game with Holliday's late heroics.

"They had a lot of experience playing in big games. They're not shy to big games. None of these things faze them," said Hamilton. "They’re tough, they understand in basketball that if you’re around and pay attention to detail, you have a chance to win.

"They're not afraid. They're not built that way."

Holliday, Beal and Butler have been instrumental in shifting the Buckley sports culture to a year-round focus, playing in tournaments against bigger schools throughout the year.

"We’re all together, even if we don’t have practice or we don’t have school," said Holliday. "We’re best friends off the court so we always go hang out together. We always go get lunch together. It’s kind of weird because we joke and say, ‘we never have a day off,’ because it seems like we’re with our team 24/7, and that’s really what it is."

The fact that three next-level basketball talents remained at Buckley is a sign that the program is gaining respect. Holliday and Beal are being courted by several Division III schools, including Wheaton College, and Holliday has been contacted by the University of San Francisco and Portland University.

Butler, a junior, is being recruited by Division I schools like Pepperdine, Portland and Loyola Marymount, according to Hamilton.

But it's not just basketball that keeps talented players on the Buckley campus. They also have to keep up with the school's rigorous academic standards.

"Though we like having athletes want to come here, they don’t get any breaks," said Buckley athletic director Byrd Newman-Milic. "If you’re only coming here for basketball, this is probably the wrong place. Though you can get great basketball here, you need to come here for the great academics, the great environment, the great social setting. There are more reasons than just basketball to come to Buckley."

That's just one reason why Buckley has seen its fair share of basketball talent walk out the door and transfer to other schools.

Nearby Harvard-Westlake's varsity roster sports two former Buckley students in 6-foot-8 Nick Medavoy and 6-foot-5 Bryan Polan, whose brother Richie led Buckley to the 2007 section title game and has his jersey retired at the school. Larry Bush, now a 6-2 standout senior guard for Calabasas, also attended Buckley in middle school.

"We put a list together of (former Buckley) kids that are at other places. There’s a pretty formidable list," said Newman-Milic. "But (our current players) decided this is the place and stayed. We’re not begging you to stay if you don’t think this is the place.

"This is a good place, that you should be proud to be at. I think most of our guys are."

Fit and promising future

Newman-Milic sees a bright future for Buckley basketball, noting that current eighth-graders Kihei Clark and Mike Meadows are the real deal, and have no plans to leave.

"(Clark) could probably start for us right now," said Newman-Milic. "I have been doing this a long time. I can tell you I have not seen a better shooter than (Meadows)."

Kids like Clark and Meadows are staying at Buckley thanks to the culture Hamilton brought in 2003 from Harvard-Westlake, where he was an assistant.

Rob Kardashian, Kim's younger brother and a 2005 Buckley graduate who was a junior when Hamilton took over, remembers an immediate shift in focus.

"He just completely changed the program and it became very serious," said Kardashian. "He was a real coach. It was just a good fit.

"I love Hamilton and loved him as a coach and a friend off the court. But he was definitely intimidating then, and he still is now."

Cultivating relationships with alumni is another way that Hamilton keeps the basketball culture strong at Buckley. Kardashian said he and his old coach occasionally play golf together.

"It’s just kind of a huge family that Hamilton brings, because he asks us to come and run five-on-five with the team during the season and help them out if we can," said Kardashian. "Hamilton just knows what he’s doing. He’s just a good coach."

Part of what allows Buckley's smaller roster to compete with teams of all sizes is superior conditioning. With help from the administration, Buckley has developed a strength and conditioning program for all sports with coach Rob Wright, also a teacher in the social science department.

Newman-Milic saw their hard work pay off in a 66-50 win against Notre Dame.

"Our guys got on the court with Notre Dame, which is a football school — they train their athletes," he said. "Our guys looked every bit as strong, every bit as in condition. We weren’t tugging on our shorts in the fourth quarter and they pretty much were."

Buckley trailed Notre Dame by nine late in the second quarter, but came back to win by 16 in the "War on the Floor" showcase. This was a signature win for a program that is fighting for respect, even in its own backyard.

"It wasn’t luck, or they had injured players, or whatever," Newman-Milic said. "I hear from people, ‘Well, they’re a little down this year’ — they’re still Notre Dame."

Buckley has another chance to boost its stock on Monday in a rematch against Taft, this time at Buckley's gym. The Toreadors are 9-11 this season, but are 3-1 in the West Valley League. Beating a City Section team of Taft's pedigree would do wonders for Buckley's basketball reputation, and might make some forget the school's celebrity cast.

"We play really hard in our gym, especially," Newman-Milic said. "We play hard anyway, but in our gym there’s a sense that you don’t walk in our gym and outwork us and play harder than us. That’s just not happening."