PORTLAND — It was graduation day at Carmenita Middle School, so naturally, Casper Ware Sr. was driving his son to the ceremony.
Within minutes, the pair had arrived on the Cerritos, Calif., campus, where Casper Ware Jr. eventually plopped down on a chair.
“Pomp and Circumstance” followed. Cap-and-gown donning adolescents grabbed their diplomas. And Ware Jr. got to see it all … from the audience.
He didn’t have the grades.
“I wanted to put it in his mind that this is what you’re supposed to be like,” said Ware Sr., whose son stars at point guard for Long Beach State, a 12th-seeded program that will meet New Mexico at the Rose Garden in the NCAA Tournament Thursday. “After that, there was never a problem with grades again.”
Few were better qualified to transport Ware Jr. to campus that day. Ware Sr., after all, has been taking people to school his whole life.
Named one of California’s 24 All-time Elite Playground Legends, the elder Ware once dominated the summer Drew League in Los Angeles and is still celebrated when he returns. His college career, however, didn’t quite draw the same fanfare.
After spending two years at Yavapai College in Arizona and one at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Ware Sr. finished up his hooping at Division III Dallas Baptist — his potential beating his production in a landslide. He didn’t graduate. He got no overseas offers. And when asked why he didn’t star at a Division I school, he replied “that’s the million dollar question.”
Enter his million-dollar baby.
Casper Ware Jr. may very well be the best point guard on the West Coast. His 17.4 points per game lead the Big West champion 49ers (25-8) while his 2.8 3-pointers per game were tops in the conference.
The eye test shows that the senior was the most instrumental piece in Long Beach State’s 15-1 conference record, and the ear test demonstrates his pronounced vocal leadership.
But while Ware Jr.’s success may suggest that the apple hopped on a tropical storm gust when falling from the tree, he actually gives all the credit to Dear ol’ Dad.
“He has a big influence on my life. He was my role model for basketball. There wasn’t nobody else, not Michael Jordan, not Kobe Bryant,” Ware Jr. said. “He kept me level-headed. He told me all the time, no matter what you do, on or off the court, give 110 percent, no matter what. So I just try to follow that.”
The younger Ware first began mimicking his father via street-ball moves — behind-the-back passes and through-the-legs crossovers that would give Bobby Knight aneurysms.
He’d later endure less desirable influence, when his father forced him to sit out a season of city-league basketball due to an inadequate GPA.
But in time, the mixture of on-court panache and off-court discipline created a player that starred for Gahr High in Cerritos, twice made the All-City team, and earned San Gabriel Valley League Co-Player of the Year honors in 2007.
It also helped sculpt a man now just months away from becoming the first Ware to graduate college.
“That’s a huge accomplishment for me and my family,” said Ware Jr., who took summer school classes after failing to graduate middle school in order to start high school on time. “High school was hard for me. I struggled … and I was like ‘how am I going to do this in college?’ But I pushed through it, and now I’m almost there.”
But whether you’re a college graduate or an elementary-school dropout, the following is pretty easy to comprehend: A player who develops into one of the top point guards in the country generally ends up at a more prestigious program than Long Beach State.
Ware Jr., however, was not recruited nationally. In fact, when signing with the 49ers, he didn’t even change area codes.
The downside to playing in a mid-major conference, of course, is a lack of television exposure. The upside? When fathers want to want to the rush the court after a win, they don’t typically have big crowds to push through.
Last Saturday, Ware Sr. was on hand in Anaheim when Long Beach State won the Big West Tournament title and secured its first trip to the tournament since 2007.
And even though the Honda Center was packed in this case, he still found his way to the floor milliseconds after the final horn sounded.
More than 20 years ago, the elder Ware had passed on interest from the likes of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona — essentially squashing his chances of experiencing a similar high. But watching his son soak in that moment?
“That was the best feeling I’ve had on the court,” said Ware Sr. “Casper don’t call very much, but the look he had in his eyes then — that told it all. I just told him I loved him.”
Matt Calkins can be contacted at 360-735-4528 or matt.calkins@columbian.com
