Not all basketball comeback stories are made on an NBA court. In fact, sometimes they are made on the sidelines…in a high school. In this case, the number one ranked basketball high school in Seattle, Washington. Former NBA All-Star guard Brandon Roy, the head coach at top-ranked Nathan Hale High School, has won Naismith Coach of the Year honors from the Atlanta Tip-Off Club, according to a press release. This is Roy’s first season of coaching at any level.
Nathan Hale wasn’t done there. In addition to Roy, consensus number one recruit Michael Porter Jr. took home the top player honors. “It’s a dream come true,” Porter said in a news release. “This is the biggest individual accomplishment of my basketball career so far, and I feel blessed.” Porter, a 6’9″ forward, averaged an astounding 34.8 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. In Nathan Hale’s 68-51 3A state championship victory, Porter scored 28 points and brought down 17 boards.
This represents the third time that a player and coach from the same high school brought home both major awards. The other two times were Jared and Satch Sullinger in 2010 and Lonzo Ball and Steve Baik last season.
“Michael was the leader of a talented team which worked hard and never lost sight of their end goal – a perfect season and winning a state title,” said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “Coach Roy was the steady guidance who motivated this team to improve every single game and ultimately they both were rewarded by winning Naismith awards.”
Seeing Brandon Roy make this sort of impact after a disappointing end to his career is great to see. The story of Nathan Hale High School’s rise to prominence is even more incredible. In the season before Brandon Roy became the head coach, the school finished a pathetic 3-18 and went through five head coaches in five years. In one season, Roy turned a program into the most prolific powerhouse with the country’s top prospect. Impressive does not do the situation justice.
