Howie Levine singing new championship tune in Van Nuys

VAN NUYS, Calif. – He dreamed of bright lights and stardom in show business, but instead created a career coaching high school basketball which has spanned more than two decades.

Twenty six years ago, Howie Levine became just the second head boy's basketball coach in Grant High School's 54-year history. At 3 p.m. today, Levine will lead the Lancers against Bell in the City Section Division III championship game at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

A win by Grant would mark the program's first ever championship.

"This is what I was born to do," Levine said.

But he also was born to perform.

"I've sung all my life and had dreams of being a show business guy or a rock and roll guy," Levine said. "For me, singing is like when I used to play the game. I get the same type of thrill. To be truthful, I was a much better singer than I ever was as a basketball player."

Levine, a North Hollywood native who coached three time NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas, played point guard under Grant coach Bill McKee in the 1971 and 1972 seasons. "I didn't turn the ball over at all," he recalled. "I wish I shot better."

As a player, Levine realized he'd one day become head coach.

"We kind of had the plan that I was going to take over for (McKee) since I was in the 11th grade," said Levine. "He didn't say it out loud, but he knew it."

Off the court, the coach sings Frank Sinatra classics and performs in jazz clubs, weddings, private parties, Las Vegas shows and Rat Pack themed shows. He's released albums, has YouTube music videos, raises basketball funds by performing and will play the character Teen Angel in Grant's upcoming musical theater production of Grease.

"I grew up kind of on the Beatles, but I dug Sinatra," he said. "I was so shy and didn't want to do it in front of people, but at 7 years old, I did it by myself and said, 'I can do this. I can actually sing.'"

It's an art form noticed by his players.

"Jazz-Natra, as he calls it," senior forward Travis Wilson said.

Wilson played his entire freshman season without knowing his coach was also an experienced singer. When he learned the unexpected news as a sophomore, Wilson decided it'd be best to hear it for himself. He tried to come up with ways Levine could sing to the team, but got his chance to take in a live performance when Grant hosted a jazz concert.

Levine certainly didn't disappoint.

"I was going crazy when I saw him," Wilson said. "There was a lot of yelling. Nobody expects that. All the kids who were there, they just know him as a basketball coach that yells a lot. Then they start going crazy because they didn't expect him to be as good a singer as he is."

Senior guard Lawrence Pointer said, "He was doing his thing. I know that I could dance to it."

Levine notices parallels which he prescribes to both music and basketball. "When I'm working with the big band, my trio or quartet, it's the teamwork.

"If you've got an 18 piece big band, that's 18 individuals that can get out of hand. Instead of getting out of hand, they bounce off of one another. It's very much the way a good team needs to be."

Levine replaced McKee in the 1986-87 season and guided the 1988 Grant team to the Sports Arena finals, the closest the team has advanced toward an elusive championship. Levine has taken four teams to sectional semifinals in his career.

This season, Grant (27-5), which features nine seniors, has been playing under the motto, 'Unfinished Business.' They've got the words printed on the backs on team sweatshirts as a reminder.

The slogan references the way the 2010-2011 campaign ended, particularly the disheartening 67-65 sectional semifinal loss to Garfield.

"It was really heartbreaking," Wilson said of last season's finale. "All you could think of is we have one more year. This time we're not going to give it up."

Senior center Gor Plavchyan, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound presence in the paint, has led the Lancers, averaging 18.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.

Levine credits the team's length on defense and rebounding ability among chief sources of their success. The Lancers have held opponents to 59 or fewer points in 22 games, meanwhile averaging 71.3 points on offense.

Grant grabs 45.2 rebounds per game and has hauled in 1,446 boards on the season. "This is the best rebounding team we've ever had here at Grant High School," said Levine.

The team also benefits from tight-knit camaraderie stemming from a tragedy which struck last year. Levine's mother, Clarice, underwent brain surgery when she was 36 and initially recovered. "She should've died and she didn't," Levine said.

But in November, Clarice Levine suddenly died as basketball season got underway. Levine's players took it upon themselves to cancel practice and attend her funeral service.

"I came here thinking everybody was coming to practice," assistant coach Tarek Abdelsameia said.

Abdelsameia's phone rang that day. On the other end was point guard Gurgen Harutyunyan. "Gurgen calls me and says, 'You know we're not coming to practice. We're all going to the funeral.'"

"I'm still touched by it," Levine said as his voice cracked and his eyes watered for a moment Friday after practice. Five years ago, the coach also lost his father, Norm, who was a regular at Grant's games and would sit at the end of the Lancers bench.

In the days after Clarice's funeral, practice resumed as usual at Grant. "His mom just died. I probably wouldn't have gone, but he did," said Wilson. "We all saw that and said, 'OK. This guy wants it. We need to want it just as hard as he does.'"

"When my parents died," Levine said, "I didn't miss a practice because practice and the games became my savior."

Grant will advance to the CIF Southern regional championships regardless of the outcome of their game against Bell. Tournament seeding and pairings will be determined Sunday. The Lancers will play in an opening-round game Tuesday.

"As we won (last) Saturday night's game against Banning, we were like, 'We finished our unfinished business, but there's still more to come,'" said Pointer. "(Levine) hasn't won a state championship. We want to get him that."