3/3/2011 7:30:00 PMAt John Hay, Senate champs are making the grade in class, too, Terry Pluto writes

Photo by Plain Dealer Photographer Joshua Gunter

John Hay basketball coach Chris Sanders has a  gameplan for life for his players.

Also read: Coach Chris Sanders getting results at John Hay

March 03, 2011, 7:31 PM

By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer

At the start of each season, coach Chris Sanders leads his John Hay boys basketball team to a part of the school where a window overlooks several buildings near University Circle.

"Over there is Cleveland Clinic with lots of good jobs and careers," he says. Then he pauses . . . "And over there is the juvenile detention center," he says. "It's up to you to decide which way you will go."

* * *

Most of the John Hay players know where they want to go.

This is a school where senior forward Ali Bilal proudly says, "I love chemistry," and talks of majoring in chemical engineering at a school such as Heidelberg. He is taking advanced placement courses in physics and English and has a 3.4 grade-point average.

At John Hay, they are serious -- about academics.

"When they talk about student-athlete here, they mean that -- and the student first," said Joe Estrict, a senior with a 3.3 GPA and score of 21 on the ACT test. Among the courses he's taking are honors physics and AP English. He is in John Hay's school of art and design. He also is the team's defensive stopper, defending the opponent's top scorer.

John Hay is the Senate Athletic League champion after beating Glenville, 68-57, in the Feb. 11 title game. It is the Hornets' first boys basketball title since 1993, and only the fourth in the 74-year history of the school.

But most important, it's the first Senate title of any kind since John Hay reopened in 2006 as a magnet school where students need respectable grade-point averages and must aply for admission. They also need recommendations from teachers and must interview and take tests before being admitted.

"In the Senate, smart kids are not supposed to be good athletes," said point guard Eric Seaberry. "That's why it means so much for us to win the Senate. We can be smart and still kick your butt."

Seaberry is a junior who has already taken the ACT test and scored a 21. He has a 3.8 GPA. Some of his courses include AP English, AP government, psychology and chemistry. "My father is a firefighter, my mother is a nurse," Seaberry said. "It's always been school first in my house. It's go to class, get good grades -- or you don't play."

Seaberry said he is receiving letters from colleges such as Cornell, Columbia and Harvard. He wants to keep taking the ACT test to raise his score and secure the best scholarship possible. That's the same plan for several John Hay players.

Guard Devon Carter transferred from Villa Angela-St. Joseph to John Hay for his junior year, where he has become a 20-point scorer. He also has a 4.1 grade-point aerage and a 20 on the ACT. He said he has scholarship offers from Central Michigan, Murray State and Bethune-Cookman. Carter said Kent State and several other mid-major programs have shown interest in him.

"After I decided to transfer to John Hay, people were like, 'Are you crazy?' " he said. The revamped school was hardly a basketball powerhouse. It had an unproven coach in Sanders, who arrived three years ago from East Tech, where he was an assistant on the girls team. Sanders also had coached three years of middle school soccer, and other intramural sports.

He seemed an unlikely candidate to lead one of the most startling Senate sports rebuilding jobs. This is only John Hay's second senior class since the school reopened.

"That's why this title means so much to us," said Carter. "No one thought we could do it."

* * *

"Just because we won the Senate, I don't want us getting big heads," Sanders said. The John Hay coach gathered his players in the locker room for a talk before a recent practice. Sanders praised his players for showing good manners, for doing well in the classroom. He stressed, "We are to be polite to security people, to secretaries, to custodians, to everyone? Got that?"

Sanders then told a story about driving a few players home from school, and how he was pulled over by the police. He talked about being polite to the officer, about howing respect, and "being willing to bend a bit so we don't break" when it comes to showing respect to authority.

"The officer explained they were looking for a vehicle like mine that was stolen," said Sanders. The officer thanked the coach for stopping, and Sanders then drove off.

"What do we do if the police yell 'Freeze?' " asked Sanders.

"Run!" yelled one of the players.

The player then laughed and said: "Coach, we got it. We stop."

"That's right," said Sanders. "We're not having any trouble now. I am very proud of you. But I want to be very proud of you in 10 or 15 years because you keep doing the right thing."

* * *

Sanders said the team "doesn't have most of the problems that you find in some inner-city schools." He talked about how his players usually have two parents or grandparents in the home. The reason their grades were high enough to gain admission to John Hay "is because there is someone in the family who is pushing them."

He mentioned a player who "has a wonderful aunt" to take care of him, and now one of the assistant coaches -- along with Sanders -- is serving as a male role model. Tey work together with the family.

"I expect kids to have nice haircuts, shirts with collars, have their pants pulled up and to go to class and do their work," said Sanders. "John Hay has been rated 'excellent' [by the state of Ohio] for its academics. We want that culture to carry over to athletics."

John Hay has a school of Science and Medicine, of Architecture and Design and Cleveland Early College. Some students graduate in three years. John Hay has a private school feel as kids come from all over the city and parents make sacrifices to get them to and from school.

Sanders requires his players attend tutoring from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. most days, and then practice. If a player is late for the tutoring or a practice, "we have the entire team run," said Sanders. "Now, they police themselves."

His top player may be 6-foot-6 senior forward Chaz Rollins, who is averaging 18 points and 16 rebounds. Rollins "got a slow start in school and it hurt his GPA," said Sanders. He said Rollins may have to attend a junior-college to continue his basketball career. Rollins transferred from Warrensville Heights to John Hay last season. He is taking AP biology and said he did an internship with a physical therapist, a field that interests him.

"Chaz is a good kid and he can do the school work," said Sanders. "I expect him to eventually play Division I basketball."

Sanders praised the character of his players. He talked about how Carter and Seaberry -- guards used to controlling the ball -- had to learn to share this season when they were combined in the backcourt.

"We had some discipline problems last year when guys were selfish and didn't want to follow the program," he said. "We asked them to leave, and we finished with only nine players. But that's not been a problem this year."

* * *

"You only are as good as your last decision," Sanders often tells his team. "Stay humble."

* * *

Sanders is having his players read "The Souls of Black Folk" by W.E.B. Du Bois.

"Coach talks more about off-the-court stuff than basketball," Rollins said. "When I transferred here and said I was going to play basketball, some of my friends just laughed. But I'm glad I did."

Said Sanders: "In every one of my players' jerseys is a heart. When my players see me in 10-20 years, I want them to know that I'm still proud of them."

Sanders said his schedule is very ambitious, facing the likes of Dayton Dunbar, Canton GlenOak, Findlay, Toledo St. John's and Shaker Heights. He said that explains his team's modest 12-8 record, but also why the Hornets received the top seed in the Division II sectional/district tournament at Lakeland Community College. John Hay, ranked 24th in The Plain Dealer's final Top 25 poll, opens its postseason Saturday in a 6:15 p.m. sectional final against Perry.

"I came here three years ago when we had no senior class and our record was 4-12," said Sanders. "There were even some people in the school who thought we should just stay in the magnet league and almost be nothing more than an intramural program. We've proven that smart kids can play some basketball, too."