Best and brightest lead pack Lumpkins grew to mighty Padre

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, May 1, 2008 | by Glenn Reeves

When Stephen Lumpkins entered Serra High in the fall of 2004, he stood 5-foot-8. Serra coach Chuck Rapp had no idea what kind of player Lumpkins would become.

"As a freshman he was a three guy, a small forward," Rapp said. "Even then he could score. And he looked like he was going to grow."

Did he ever.

Lumpkins was 6-4 as a sophomore, 6-7 as a junior and 6-9 as a senior.

A first-team All-County selection as a junior, Lumpkins dominated as a senior. He was so good that he made the County Player of the Year selection process an easy decision. A proverbial no-brainer, always a good thing for us here at the IQ factory.

Lumpkins, 6-9 and still growing, is headed to American University in Washington, D.C. He averaged a County-best 21.1from Sports 1

points, 10.9 rebounds and shot 55 percent from the floor.

"Statistically, you can argue that it was the best year ever in the history of Serra," Rapp said.

That's saying something.

Lumpkins finished his Serra career with the highest season (21.1) and career scoring average (17.9) in Serra history. He also had 22 rebounds in a game, which tied the school record.

Not bad for the former 5-8 freshman.

"He always scored and was always productive," Rapp said. "And he was always ahead of where I expected him to be. As a junior I thought he would go through a year of getting used to the speed of the game. He didn't. He had a great junior year. Then he had a monster senior year."

Despite being a marked man, Lumpkins had an amazingly productive senior season. Other players would have been proud of his bad games.

"The thing that impressed me most about Stephen was his consistency," Rapp said. "He never had that one game where he got shut down. The league was full of good big guys, Bellarmine's Niyi Harrison, SI's Vince Legarza, Riordan's Jorge Camacho, Sacred Heart's Jerry Greene. And Stephen still shined, night after night."

Basketball stardom often comes with unsavory side issues, at the least a swelled-head or prima donna syndrome.

"He was really a team-first guy. He did it in a classy way and made my job a lot easier. This sport is full of high-maintenance Divsion I guys. Here I had a no-maintenance Division I guy. He always made his teammates better."

Lumpkins committed to American after his junior year. At 6-7 with an accurate 15-foot jump shot, there was some thought that his future might be on the wing. But now at 6-9 and still growing ("I swear he looks like he's grown another inch or two since basketball season," Rapp said), it's clear he will remain in the post in college.

But at just 210 pounds, Lumpkins knows he'll need to put on muscle. The coaches at American have told him they want him at 225- 230 by the start of next season.

"I'm going to get in the weight room, get stronger and quicker," he said. "I want to start hitting more 3-pointers, extend my shooting range."

And after choosing American, Lumpkins watched the Eagles make the first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.

"It's a program on the rise," Lumpkins said. "The next four years I want us to go to the tournament every year, and hopefully win some games in the tournament."

Baseball was his first love, and he's performed well as a left- handed pitcher on the Serra baseball team the last two years. There's no doubt that if he wanted to concentrate on baseball, someone would he happy to give him a shot. Just as his late growth spurt made his basketball potential increasingly intriguing, it has also stirred visions of Lumpkins as the next Randy Johnson.

But Lumpkins makes it clear his future is on the hardwood, that he doesn't mind leaving baseball behind. He likes basketball's pace and as for baseball:

"It's just a little too slow."