Isaiah Lopez is determined to get to the NBA.
The Agua Fria freshman has many obstacles ahead of him, but at 14 he's determined to make his childhood dream come true, taking the necessary steps toward getting there. A perfect example is this past weekend, as Lopez traveled to Kansas City, Mo., to take part in the NCAA First Team conference.
"It's a basketball mentoring program designed to promote education and athletics along with the proper role of athletics in the educational process," said Chad Groth, a recruiter for NCAA First Team.
Lopez was in Kansas City Aug. 6-9 and learned all about how to succeed in school and what it takes to earn a Division I basketball scholarship.
"It was a great experience," Lopez said. " ... It's a conference that's trying to get you to know what you want to do after you make it playing basketball in college or go to the NBA. They taught me etiquette on how to eat, how to talk, what to do in school in different situations, and what to do and not to do in all things that are going to happen."
The visit also included a trip to the College Basketball Experience, which houses the NCAA Basketball Hall of Fame.
"It was good, made me want to play college basketball," Lopez said.
Lopez will have four years at Agua Fria to prove he can play at the collegiate level, but he's off to a running start. Lopez started played the game when he was 3, and hasn't stopped loving it, he said. Currently he's playing on two club basketball teams, both coached by his stepfather, Simon Phipps.
Fastbreakers is the name of his club team, and Lopez plays on both the 15U and 16U teams. The squad is made up of mostly Agua Fria athletes, with some from Desert Edge. Phipps obviously knows what he's doing, too. At Point Loma Nazarene University he led the 1997-98 Sea Lions team in points, assists and steals.
Success already
Lopez already knows what it's like to have success on the basketball court, having won the 4A division Valley Athletic Conference Championship while playing middle school basketball last year. Lopez was part of the South team in Avondale's Elementary School District, which was composed of players from Wildflower, Desert Star, and Centerra Mirage, where Lopez went to school. The team went 13-0 and won Avondale's first conference championship since the district realignment in 2004.
Lopez spent his sixth and seventh grade years at Michael Anderson Elementary School.
Now Lopez is hoping to make an impact with Agua Fria. He played with head varsity coach Matt O'Meara in summer league games, and O'Meara likes what he has seen, saying Lopez has a special kind of vision and natural ability.
"He sees the floor real well, shoots real well and he's very unselfish," O'Meara said. "He played with us over the summer in just about every varsity competition we had. He came off the bench, he was very strong, in the days that we didn't have our other point guards he started, and he was a contributor. Being the youngest person out there it was very impressive how well he did and how mature he was on the court."
O'Meara doesn't see Lopez as a varsity player this year, but only because he wants Lopez to grow on the lower levels first.
"I've got a couple point guards already and I want to give him time to develop," O'Meara said. "There's nothing worse than pulling up a player too soon and then they don't reach that full potential. I figure bring him along a little slower and hopefully by his sophomore year he'll be able to contribute a lot on varsity."
First team
The program Lopez has joined, NCAA First Team, is in its eighth year and hosts a conference every summer. Groth is the one who recruited Lopez to join, as he hosts his own tournaments and showcases around the Valley and found Lopez.
"I've known of him throughout the years," said Groth, a Buckeye resident. "He's really been one of the top student athletes - I also track kids by academics and athletics - so he's a kid I kind of spotlighted and once I got to know him, saw he has good academics, was good on and off the floor and was a good leader, so I chose him by leadership as well."
Groth and a few other people from NCAA First Team will keep in touch with Lopez throughout the year.
"Just make sure he maintains great academic standings, follow him on the court during the season," Groth said.
Lopez said he models his game after Steve Nash because he's not the fastest or strongest, but can score and get it done, he said.
That being said, he knows there is always room for improvement.
"I know I need to get better, stronger faster," he said.
He also knows NCAA First Team can help him get to where he wants to go, college and beyond.
"I didn't understand what I had to do, but they told us what classes you need to take, how many credits, and we go every year," Lopez said. "So I'm going to know if something goes wrong during that school year, what to do the next time it happens and how to achieve that 4.0 I'm trying to get."
Casey Pritchard can be reached by email at cpritchard@westvalleyview.com
