Before the season even began, we wondered about this West Rowan boys basketball team.
Oh, we weren’t wondering whether the Falcons were good. The Falcons are always good.
The question was whether coach Mike Gurley had too much talent for his own good.
You know how it goes these days. Are there enough balls to go around? Will there be jealousies among the best players? Will everyone think they’re the best player instead of playing their roles?
Going into tonight’s home game against East Rowan, those questions don’t need to be asked anymore about the 14-0 Falcons.
West Rowan is the real deal. And the reason is, these kids genuinely like each other. They like to see the assists by their name as much as the points. And their adoring fans love to see the big fat zero in the loss column.
To the players, Gurley says, the wins and losses have taken a backseat right now.
“We’re trying to change our goals,” he pointed out. “Instead of a win-loss situation, we’re trying to play as hard as we can and as unselfishly as we can.”
Mission accomplished, coach. The chemistry, more than anything else, is why the West Rowan tradition is carrying on in Mount
Ulla.
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Gurley tries to downplay his team’s record but he knows deep inside, everyone is keeping a close eye on this team. Not just locally, but nationally.
The Falcons are ranked 36th in the latest Student Sports Magazine’s poll.
“Yeah, and at the same time, 35 cents will get you a phone ca ... wait a minute, 35 cents won’t get you a phone call!” laughed Gurley. “So it’s not really relevant for what we’re trying to do.”
West has been winning by a margin of nearly 30. Tonight, Gurley meets East Rowan’s rookie coach Derek Kurnitsky for the first time. East has made a habit of playing people close, but hasn’t been able to finish many deals. And no one is expecting the Mustangs to win in the Gurley Dome.
And believe this. Despite East’s 2-12 record, West will not take the Mustangs lightly. They won’t be basking in the spotlight of their national ranking.
But that doesn’t mean Gurley won’t let his boys enjoy the notoriety.
“I’ll let them enjoy it, because if I was playing, I would enjoy it,” he said. “It’s fun to get praise. It’s fun for them to be on cable television against Statesville.”
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Gurley has actually been relatively subdued this season — if that’s possible for the “mouth that roared.”
He has lost control only once — and nobody saw it. Early in the season, he slammed a wall in the locker room at halftime because his team was giving him a futile effort from the free throw line. He banged his hand and broke a small bone.
He can laugh about it now because, No. 1, it has healed. And No. 2, it has been the Falcons’ only injury.
He doesn’t go berserk if his team doesn’t leap out to a 20-0 lead every game. He sits there, claps his hands and enjoys what can surely be his finest season as a head coach.
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Kurnitsky is a Gurley fan. Always has been. He can remember watching Gurley’s mannerisms and sideline demeanor when he was an assistant at Davie during the Sam Moir Christmas Classic.
Tonight, he may not have time to watch Gurley as often because he’ll be too busy trying to figure out a way to stop 6-foot-8 Donte Minter and 6-foot-7 Junior Hairston and 6-foot-7 Phillip Williams and 6-foot-7Jason Williams and speedy Horatio Everhart and jump-shooters T.J. Gaither and Brian Avery and .... well you get the way I’ve drifted.
You can bet Coach K will be admiring not only the coach and players but the fervor of the biggest basketball crowd in the county.
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Admiration is all West Rowan is getting right now. It hasn’t lost a game in its conference’s regular season in almost three years and no one is expecting it to happen in 2002.
Gurley will make sure the Falcons take it all in stride. No big heads in his camp.
“It’s fun to be recognized for the talent these guys have,” said Gurley. “But we can’t forget about the effort, the desire, the motivation, the time and the commitment we put in while working toward our goals.”
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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