Verbum Dei High School

While Santa Ana Mater Dei High dominates Southern Section opponents in the 1980s and '90s, a different Dei was a nationally renowned powerhouse during the '70s. Verbum Dei--an all-boys parochial school with an enrollment of less than 300 students in Watts--won seven Southern Section championships from 1969-79. This was an impressive feat considering the Eagles won most of their championships when there were four divisions.

Former UCLA star and Chicago Bull David Greenwood will try to lead his high school alma mater Verbum Dei to another state basketball championship as the tournament starts its two-day run today at Sacramento's Arco Arena. Verbum Dei (22-5), which won a title in 1995, takes a 17-game winning streak into the 4:15 p.m. final behind the play of Marlon Parmer and Dalron Johnson. The Eagles crushed La Jolla Bishop's 67-46 to advance while Pacific Grove (27-2) squeaked by Modesto Christian, 55-54.

The Verbum Dei boys and the Brea Olinda girls will try to reach state basketball championship games for the second consecutive year when they play in Southern California regional finals today. Regional finals in five boys' divisions and five girls' divisions will be played at Cox Arena in San Diego and the Pyramid in Long Beach. Winners advance to the state finals to play Northern California regional champions March 19 and 20 at Arco Arena in Sacramento.

Lakewood Artesia High suffered its first defeat in four state championship game appearances, losing, 47-41, to Walnut Creek Northgate in the Division III final Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Before an estimated 10,000, Northgate was near-perfect at the free-throw line, making 17 of 19 shots. "It's hard to beat any team that shoots 19 free throws and makes 90% of them," Artesia Coach Wayne Merino said.

David Greenwood's plan for returning Verbum Dei to glory appears to be ahead of schedule. Greenwood, a Southern Section player of the year at Verbum Dei in 1975 who starred at UCLA and played in the NBA, guided the Eagles to the state Division IV basketball championship last weekend at Arco Arena in Sacramento. Not bad for a first-year coach. "The discipline Coach Greenwood brought us really helped," junior point guard Marlon Parmer said. "Last year, a lot of people weren't very disciplined.

Los Angeles Jordan and Verbum Dei high schools both are located in Watts, separated by only one mile -- and two notorious gangs. Security concerns are the prime reason the schools haven't met on a football field in 10 years -- a span that will end today at 2 p.m. in a season opener at Lawndale High. "It's a beautiful thing," Verbum Dei Coach Kendric Knox said. The teams got together for dinner last week at the Watts Coffee House, an idea hatched by Elijah Asante, Jordan's first-year coach.

VERBUM DEI BOYS Southern Section Division IV-A Verbum Dei should have started this season with confidence and high hopes. The Eagles were coming off a 1995 season in which they won the State Division IV boys' basketball championship and a second consecutive Southern Section title. Then, Coach Mike Kearney, who in seven years had returned a winning atmosphere to the program that had dominated prep basketball in the early 1970s, resigned last May.

When Pius X announced it was soon changing to become an all-girls school, boys basketball coach Deon Evans started exploring other job opportunities. Evans, 32, found an opening with rival Verbum Dei and was hired this week as the new boys basketball coach for the parochial school. He succeeds two-time City Times Coach of the Year Mike Kearney, who resigned for personal reasons. School principal Deacon Marvin Threatt is on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

Marlon Parmer pined so badly for attention from college basketball recruiters, he almost cried. How, he asked, could a high-scoring, 6-foot-2 point guard who led Verbum Dei to the Division IV state championship as a junior in 1998 go virtually unnoticed while other juniors were courted? As it turns out, the college coaches were watching. They just weren't sure what they were seeing. "Marlon is a hybrid; he's a point guard and a two guard," Verbum Dei Coach David Greenwood said.

Los Angeles Verbum Dei High has filed a complaint with the City Section, alleging that a representative from Westchester used "undue influence" to coax basketball player Amir Johnson into changing schools. Johnson, who enrolled at Westchester on Nov. 4, is a 6-foot-9 junior who is considered one of the top non-seniors in Southern California. He averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds last season in leading Verbum Dei to the Southern Section Division IV-A championship.