Before I summarize our summer program, I first want to thank Jon and Scott and everyone involved with Arizona Varsity for allowing us coaches to promote our programs and our kids. Sometimes we forget that it is the kids that are most important in high school sports. To help these young people grow as responsible citizens, students, and lastly basketball athletes is a tremendous honor and I want to thank all the coaches who spend countless hours away from family to be a part of something much bigger and more important then themselves. And all the coaches (including me) who are married with a family should take a moment to thank that very important family support system. Without that support our joy of coaching would not be as special. I would also like to thank my assistant coaches Ramon Marks (Varsity Assistant), new comer Bryan Rieson (Varsity Assistant), Ben Wilson (Freshman Coach), and Shelton Simmons (JV Coach) for all their hard work, dedication, and loyalty to the Wolverine Basketball Program. Each brings something special and unique to our program. I want to especially recognize Ramon Marks. Coach Marks has been an integral part of all that we do. There is NO DOUBT he should be a Varsity Head Coach and if there is an Athletic Director reading this please keep him in mind.

Okay. This spring / summer season was much different than years past for the Wolverines. In the past we have practiced, lifted, conditioned, and played 4 days a week – and found last season we ran out of gas at the end of the year. With the up tempo, pressing style of play that we run, we felt that more is not always better. This summer we did everything on Tuesday and Thursday's (lifted, skill sessions, practice, and games) except for one weekend tournament and one weekend team camp. We found that as the summer went on our intensity, fire, and work ethic continued to grow and get better and better. To have kids play hard every play during the summer is a credit to our young men. I am extremely proud of these young men for their hard work. That is something I can't coach. We can emphasis it every time we see them (and we do) but you must have special young men to have that desire to do it. We have them.

We started out the summer playing in the Cesar Chavez Tournament Memorial Day weekend. Because of club obligations and family obligations we had two returning varsity players, one incoming freshman, two 06-07 freshman players, and three JV players. We always enjoy competing in this Tournament and Coach Lee is always gracious and hospitable. We went 2-3 and our young players received some valuable lessons during the weekend.

During the last week of may we began our summer league at Copper Canyon High School. The first day of competition we played a very athletic Estrella Foothills team and on the second day we played Coach Brown's Copper Canyon club. Both games we lost - one in overtime - and we think (hindsight is always 20-20) it truly woke our young men up to how hard they need to play, EVERY PLAY ,in our system. I say that because from that point on we did not lose a game in Summer League play. We actually put up a lot of points (averaged around 73 points) because of our constant full court defensive pressure and our run and gun offensive prowess. Our intensity level rarely decreased throughout the games. Our conditioning level was awesome. Our summer league record was 8-2.

The most important event that happened to us this summer was the Pepperdine University Team Camp June 22-24. This weekend our team chemistry grew each day. We played against some very good competition from California, Oregon, and Nevada. Our young men experienced a new level of intensity and learned how to turn up that intensity to meet the competition level. We went 4-3 and lost 2 of the 3 in sudden death overtime (first basket wins). The young men experienced more than just basketball. There were many team building opportunities for the Wolverines including a day at Malibu Beach. We came back to Phoenix a more complete TEAM with each member caring more about the TEAM then themselves and most importantly I think we found a couple of LEADERS – something the Wolverines have not had in three seasons. And Southern California in June DOESN'T SUCK!

Now I would like to take a moment to introduce you to some of the young men that everyone should be looking out for next season:

Manuel Rodriguez – Point Guard – 5'8, 135 lbs. – Senior:

Manny Rodriguez is a lightning quick point guard who can score with the best of them. His three point shooting is very good. He has improved his decision making tremendously this summer which we feel made our team very hard to beat. With the combination of his quickness to the rim, his shooting, and his decision making / passing ability, he has made himself hard to guard on the offensive end. His intensity and persistence on the defensive end has helped increase our team defensive prowess. Manny is definitely someone to watch in the 07-08 season.

Angel Maldonado – Wing / Point Guard – 5'10, 150 lbs. – Senior:

Angel Maldonado has been basically starting since he was a freshman. Angel is a scorer. He can take you off the dribble and finish. He has improved his 3 point shooting tremendously and is a definite long range threat. Again, Angel has improved his decision making and is very unselfish with the ball. He too is a very good defender. We are looking for great things from Angel this season. If he stays focused on his priorities the sky is the limit for Angel.

Albert Suniga – Wing / Post – 6'0, 160 lbs. – Senior:

Albert Suniga is the energy bunny. He is a returning varsity member who does ALL the little things that needs to be done. He has such a nose for the ball and has awesome rebounding ability for his size. He has such a quick second jump off the floor and is relentless after the basketball (i.e. by getting a finger on the ball, tipping it, and then grabbing it). His 3 point shootimg also is very good. Albert will contribute to easy fastbreak buckets because he will out run his defender down court. He never stops. He has grown to be a HUGE leader for our program – something we have not had. He not only leads by example BUT he is a vocal leader that his teammates respect and will listen to.

Shane Kozup – Point Guard / Wing – 6'1, 160 lbs. – Junior:

Shane Kozup is a tireless worker with a big time 3 point stroke. He is deadly from the three and defenses will have to be concerned about him BUT that does not define him. Shane can get to the rack at any time and can finish. He has a nice mid-range jumper with a quick release. But the most important thing that Shane has developed since March is his point guard skills. There is no doubt Shane will play in college when he graduates in two years but he will have to be a point guard. H e realized this and has work endless hours to become a very good one. Shane is at his best when he looks to the NEXT PLAY and forgets about the LAST PLAY regardless of whether it was good or bad. Shane also is key to our pressure defense. He is strong enough to play against bigger guards and quick enough to play against small, quick guards. He also has grown and matured into a pretty good leader.

Theo Hooks – Point Guard – 5'5, 160 lbs. – Junior:

Theo Hooks was the leading scorer and assist leader for the JV Team last year and also was a swing player on Varsity. We call Theo "John Bagley" (former Boston College / Boston Celtics Point Guard). Theo has no fear of attacking the basket and has a knack of throwing his body and creating contact for "AND ONE" opportunities. He has improved his 3 point shooting but needs to get better. Theo can push the ball with the best of them and will be a key cog coming off the bench for us next season.

Jeremy Pineda – Post – 5'11, 195 lbs. – Junior:

Jeremy Pineda is one of the hardest working individuals I have ever been around. I can not imagine ANYONE his age in the Valley working harder. His summer workout (in which he has created on his own and does it religiously) is something not many people could keep up with. He does EVERYTHING as if it was the Olympics and he is in the GOLD MEDAL round. When I say everything I mean EVERYTHING. He is what you would want your son or daughter to be like: polite, courteous, a straight "A" student, HARD WORKER, humble, etc…It is hard to keep Jeremy off the floor because of the energy he brings. Jeremy is definitely under sized for a POST BUT he makes up for it with HEART. In our system we don't need a back to the basket dominate POST player (BUT I wouldn't turn it down either) we just need someone to play defense, rebound, and have their hands ready for a dump down layup. Jeremy is a sponge that soaks up everything we say and will help teach it to the younger players. He leads by example and will definitely come off the bench to give us some energy when we may need it.

Darnell Woods – Wing / Post – 6'2, 155 lbs. – Junior:

Darnell Woods did not play much with us this summer. He will most likely be the starting quarterback for our football team and was involved in many football camps this summer. When he did play he showed exactly what we thought we would have in Darnell. He is a very athletic basketball player who can beat his defender up court, finish on the break, and hit the occasional 3 point shot (this is an area that he needs to get better at). Defensively he has incredible anticipation, long arms, quick feet, and pretty good timing on blocking shots. I am looking forward to having Darnell with us full time once our very successful Wolverine Football Season is over (YES THE BASKETBALL COACH and THE FOOTBALL COACH LIKE EACH OTHER and SUPPORT EACH OTHER'S PROGRAMS!!)

Aaron Garcia – Wing / Point Guard – 5'11, 145 lbs. – Sophomore:

Aaron Garcia is someone who will probably swing JV / Varsity. This summer he played the most games of anyone in the program because he played in the JV league / GCU Team Camp and Varsity League / tournament / and the Pepperdine Team Camp. Aaron is young and needs maturing physically but he has some nice skills. Aaron can nail the 3 point shot, handle the ball, and make good decisions with his passing. Again, he is young and needs to do a better job at knowing what is a good shot and what is not (forcing shots – BUT, he has NO FEAR!), understanding help side defense, and realizing that his conditioning level must improve. But like all of our kids, Aaron is a GREAT kid and wants to get better. He will do what it takes to get better. I am proud of what Aaron has done this summer because he went through something he has never been through before. Aaron has a great future in our program.

Brendan Pineda – Post / Wing – 6'2, 170 lbs. – Incoming Freshman:

Brendan Pineda (younger brother of Jeremy Pineda) came into this summer with very good skills. We knew he had skills BUT we were not sure where his HEART was. We quickly found out that Brendan would be a Varsity Player. Brendan can run the floor, post up and finish, shoot the 3 (must improve form and release BUT if his feet are set he will nail it), handle the basketball, and his best attribute is his passing ability – especially from the Post position. He started for us this summer, played significant minutes and got a lot of games by playing with the JV also. He also is a sponge. He listens, asks questions, and then goes and works on what he needs to do to get better. Brendan needs to work out with his brother. If he learns from his brother how to work hard and get stronger, the sky is the limit for Brendan.

Finally, I would like to wish all the coaches and players a safe rest of the summer and a productive and enjoyable season next year (except when you play the Wolverines). Enjoy the day.

Coach Lefebvre