Willie West

The Booster Bang campaign, a nonprofit fund-raising organization for Crenshaw High School's basketball program, will host a basketball tournament and picnic on Saturday. The event, dubbed the "Willie West Basketball Tournament," will tip off at 11 a.m. in the Willie West Pavilion at Crenshaw High School, 5010 11th Avenue. The series of games will feature former Crenshaw players from the 1970s and '80s, including former NBA players Darwin Cook and Marques Johnson.

The Quiet Man was about to be noisy. Crenshaw Coach Willie West was watching his team build a large lead in the fourth quarter against league rival Dorsey High on Friday when the referee's whistle shrieked. A foul was called on one of his Cougars. West, who had been sitting quietly, as is his way, stood up.

Southern California high schools have dominated the State Division I boys' basketball tournament, having won all seven championship games against Northern regional champions since California adopted the current playoff format in 1982. But Coach Willie West of Crenshaw High School, whose Cougars will play Oakland Skyline tonight at 8:15 at the Oakland Coliseum for the Division I title, does not believe that Southern California holds a decided edge over Northern California in the level of play.

Wednesday's article on the Nike corporation's connections with Southland high school basketball teams is wrong-headed. The piece suggests that it is because of Nike's gifts to such schools as Crenshaw, Fairfax and Westchester that they are successful. In fact, coaches Willie West, Harvey Kitani and Ed Azzam, excellent coaches and teachers all, had highly successful programs long before Nike looked their way. They attracted Nike's attention precisely because they were successful. The article has it backward.

Years of turning away from his father's wishes have put Willie West III in a curious position. He has become a son who would make any dad proud. Along the way, he has picked up some valuable lessons: Don't take your family for granted. Sometimes vocal disagreement beats the heck out of silence. Sometimes you let people be who they are instead of who you want them to be. Maybe his father needed reminding too. Willie West Jr.

Coach Willie West had an empty spot for his new basketball championship banner along the ceiling of the Crenshaw gymnasium. The 16 others that hang in the Cougar Den attest to the school's wall-to-wall titles, but that one spot has been conspicuously barren since Crenshaw last won a championship in 1989. Now West can start redecorating.

IT'S A COOL WEDNESDAY afternoon in January, but the action inside the Banning High School gym in Wilmington is heating up. Despite having the home court advantage, the Pilots have trailed the Crenshaw Cougars most of the game. Now, in the last minute of the last quarter, they rally furiously and pull even at 72-72. Sensing an upset, the fans come to life. Amid the cheering sits a calm figure. He's the man with the most to lose--the coach of the favored Cougars.

Blue-and-gold basketball championship banners adorn the gymnasium walls at Crenshaw High, a tribute to the success of Coach Willie West and his disciples. For 27 years, the Crenshaw boys' basketball program has dominated the City Section, winning a state-record 15 sectional titles. The top-seeded Cougars (22-3) will try to win their 16th--and an unprecedented fifth consecutive--when they take on second-seeded Westchester (24-5) in the Division 4-A final Friday at 8 p.m. at the Sports Arena.

Two decades of excellence collided when Crenshaw High basketball players from the 1970s squared off with players from the '80s during an alumni all-star game July 8. The event was held to kick off the Willie West Alumni Basketball Tournament. Under the guidance of 24th-year Coach Willie West, Crenshaw has won an unprecedented 14 City Section titles and six state championships.

Congratulations for putting into print what City basketball coaches have known for years (March 8). Crenshaw has blatantly recruited players, seemingly with the blessing of its administration and the City athletic office since Willie West has been coaching. Officials in the athletic office have avoided thorough investigating complaints about Crenshaw for so long that Crenshaw, literally, feels it has a license to steal. Coaches with the win-at-any-cost mentality eventually degrade themselves, their schools and all associated with their programs.

History was with the Crenshaw boys' basketball team in its Coliseum League finale Friday against Fremont, and the Cougars made it pay off.Money Brown had 21 points and fellow guard Marcus Williams added 17 for Crenshaw and the Cougars, ranked No. 25 by The Times, clinched second place in the Coliseum League with an 85-74 victory over No. 9 Fremont. Crenshaw (19-7, 8-2 in league) has not lost two home games in a season since Willie West became coach in 1970.

Those who know Willie West best say the legendary coach has mellowed in recent years, that his biting witticisms and intense deportment have been benched like an out-of-control guard trying to take a game into his own hands. Go to a Crenshaw High game, and that's exactly where you'll find West--firmly planted on the bench. He has left the sideline patrol to assistant Maurice Duckett and others while he sits mutely, intent on letting the game unfold before him.

Willie West missed a good game Wednesday night at Crenshaw High. But at least his team won. Jeremiah Turner's driving layup amid heavy traffic with two seconds to play was unsuccessful and Sylmar High fell short against Crenshaw, 73-72, in a City Section championship quarterfinal. Crenshaw will play Manual Arts, an 83-66 winner Wednesday night over Washington, in a semifinal Saturday at either Loyola Marymount or Los Angeles Southwest College.

Willie West missed a good game Wednesday night at Crenshaw High. But at least his team won. Jeremiah Turner's driving layup amid heavy traffic with two seconds to play was unsuccessful and Sylmar High fell short against Crenshaw, 73-72, in a City Championship quarterfinal game. Turner, who led Sylmar (23-6) with 15 points, nearly capped an impressive comeback, taking an inbounds pass with seven seconds to play and driving down the lane. Bodies appeared to collide, but no foul was called.

It will take something of a miracle to beat the Crenshaw High boys' basketball team in a state championship game. Trailing Alameda St. Joseph by 10 points in the fourth quarter, the Cougars staged another of their famous comebacks en route to an 88-82 victory in the CIF Division I final Saturday night at the Pond of Anaheim. Crenshaw Coach Willie West remains undefeated in state championship games, improving his record to 8-0.

It will take something of a miracle to beat the Crenshaw boys' basketball team in a state championship game. Trailing Alameda St. Joseph by 10 points in the fourth quarter, the Cougars staged another of their famous comebacks en route to an 88-82 victory in the state Division I final Saturday night at the Pond. Crenshaw Coach Willie West remains undefeated in state championship games, improving his record to 8-0.

The Quiet Man was about to be noisy. Crenshaw Coach Willie West was watching his team build a large lead in the fourth quarter against league rival Dorsey High on Friday when the referee's whistle shrieked. A foul was called on one of his Cougars. West, who had been sitting quietly, as is his way, stood up.

For Willie West Jr., 13 has proven to be the luckiest of numbers. Thirteen blue city championship banners adorn the upper reaches of the Crenshaw High School gymnasium, forming a circle that is also a symbolic crown of West's achievements as boy's varsity basketball coach. And Friday, during a ceremony preceding a pivotal game against Washington Prep High School, the gym will be officially named the Willie West Pavilion in honor of West's 25 years--and phenomenal success--at the school.

Blue-and-gold basketball championship banners adorn the gymnasium walls at Crenshaw High, a tribute to the success of Coach Willie West and his disciples. For 27 years, the Crenshaw boys' basketball program has dominated the City Section, winning a state-record 15 sectional titles. The top-seeded Cougars (22-3) will try to win their 16th--and an unprecedented fifth consecutive--when they take on second-seeded Westchester (24-5) in the Division 4-A final Friday at 8 p.m. at the Sports Arena.

The world's most popular shoe corporation meets a coaching legend. The result: Billboards. And a dash of controversy. The billboards for a Nike campaign to promote its Nike L.A. line have come down, but the message lingers for many who saw not the face, but the clenched fist of Crenshaw High School basketball Coach Willie West, decorated with his three State Division I championship rings. Above the fist is the ad's sole message:: "To Hell With Moral Victories. The Book of Crenshaw 3:40."