The nation’s top players like Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland star Ivan Rabb will be squaring off this Saturday at the 8th Annual Prep2Prep Tip-Off Classic at Newark Memorial High School. However, to put on the kind of seven-game showcase that boys basketball analyst and event producer Gerry Freitas presents takes bringing on local talent from local teams.
That’s exactly what will happen when College Park-Pleasant Hill takes the court at 3:45 p.m. to meet a very solid St. Mary’s-Stockton team.
Big shoes to fill
Despite five seniors returning, one of them will not be Joe DeMers, last season’s leading scorer and the second-leading scorer on the team two years ago that was the CIF Division II state runner-up. Demers, the team leader who was the 2014 Contra Costa Times East Bay Baseball Player of the Year and a member of the USA U18 team last year, will not be playing basketball this season.
With Demers gone and a first-year head coach Troy Faulk taking the Falcons’ helm, someone is going to have to step up. Enter 6-foot-6 Kevin Crosno.
Despite an injury that kept him out of the state run two years ago and that season’s summer circuit, and a turned ankle that limited some of his time this summer playing for the Lakeshow AAU team, Crosno returns as a three-year varsity starter who, according to Faulk, is the career school rebounding and shot-blocking leader.
“Kevin is a great leader already, but now we really need his leadership first and foremost,” said Faulk, who previously guided the freshmen and JV teams as well as assisting on varsity during his seven years coaching in the College Park program.
“I feel like coach is exactly right. I know I can do just that and I will need to do just that,” Crosno emphatically told Prep2Prep.
Multifaceted player
Crosno wasn’t at the Freitas-produced NorCal Clash in August, but Freitas, one of the top high school basketball talent evaluators in the Bay Area, still likes his game as does his coach, who sees him making contributions in many ways.
“Kevin is extremely versatile, kind of a hybrid,” Faulk remarked. “We’re going to need him to shoot the 3s, defend on the perimeter, defend in the post, play out of the post scoring and passing, plus more – and that’s a lot to ask.”
Crosno will more than likely be a guard at the next level, but for the Falcons this season it appears he needs to be able to fly high at literally every position.
“Crosno is a solid D2 player. Tough, can shoot it, too," Freitas said. "Injuries have hurt him a bit but he’s definitely worth a higher look."
Family and hoops
Although Kevin says his family members are his biggest fans, neither his father Randy Crosno, a special education teacher and water polo player at Las Lomas-Walnut Creek, or his mother Christine Crosno, also a special education teacher, nor his older brother Andrew Crosno, a lacrosse player currently in the Marines, played basketball. Crosno got the hoops gene from his grandfather Jack Howell.
College and career
Even though he’s a bit under the radar several Division II schools have been hot on his heels, with Cal State Chico, Monterey Bay and East Bay at the top of the list.
As for a future career and what he might want to study in college, the 3.5 GPA student-athlete with science as a favorite subject says he’s torn between business and science and may try to study both to start in college.
Teammates and goals this season
Without DeMers it will take more than just Crosno to step up and get back to where the team was two years ago, and the co-captain knows that and is looking for big contributions from some of his teammates, particularly the other two senior co-captains.
“Steven Daily and Arash Aliyar will have to help as the main scorers," Crosno said, referring to the team's 6-5 forward and 6-0 guard, respectively. "Another player that will need to step up is (senior guard) Gav Beteta.”
After the big year in 2012-2013, the Falcons won the Diablo Valley Athletic League last year but they lost a couple of league games late in the season. Despite being the No. 3 seed, they went out in the first round of the CIF North Coast Section Division II playoffs.
“Last year we definitely thought we would go further but we weren’t ready,” Crosno said. “This season our goal from the start has been to work every day to be the best we can be.”
“Personally, I want to win an NCS championship. That’s where I want to help get the team to,” Kevin continued. “In my three years of playing varsity I’ve never played in the championship game. That’s what I really want.”
Part of a legacy
Faulk has his ideas about his part in continuing to grow the program beginning right now.
“We want to build good habits, have our own culture and get the program set for years to come. We have five seniors and right now it’s about them building their legacy," he said. "They have a chance to be the winningest class ever at College Park.”
Crosno is more than just hopeful.
“It’s going to be different without Joe (DeMers) as our main scorer so we have to replace some scoring through me, Steven (Daily) and Arash, and the other players, but really I think we’ll be better than last year.”
This season’s journey in pursuit of the legacy and the chance for this year’s Falcons to prove themselves starts Saturday afternoon against St. Mary’s and it won’t be easy. The Rams are a quality team.
Like the other six games at this year’s Prep2Prep Tip-Off Classic, it should be a very entertaining matchup.
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