CRENSHAW : Cougars’ Gym to Be Named for West

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.

His teams have lost only four games in the Crenshaw gym during his tenure.

West, 54, said he is gratified by the recognition but admits there is no secret to his success.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” he says of the school’s nationally renowned basketball program. “I’ve been fortunate enough to have players to go along with that.”

The Crenshaw High Booster Club went ahead with plans to name the gym after the physical education department proposed it and a letter was sent out to school personnel.

“Coach West has been a very positive influence on young people,” said club member Roni Carter, citing six state championship titles and more than 500 victories West has engineered during his career. “This has been coming for a long time.”

A native of Houston, West came to Los Angeles in the late 1950s to pursue a college education and escape the harsh realities of segregation. He hoped to play varsity baseball at Cal State L.A., but after two years on the junior varsity squad was told he would never make the cut. It wasn’t his ability, a teammate told him, but his skin color. Though he did wind up playing in municipal leagues, West shifted direction and went on to obtain a teaching credential.

“I wouldn’t let myself fail,” said West. “I realized that you can still be good and not be chosen. Kids today haven’t witnessed what I witnessed, but I try to stress to them education is the most important thing. Not being a superstar.”

West began his teaching career in 1963 at John Muir Junior High, working extensively with after-school clubs that laid the foundation for coaching. He joined Crenshaw’s staff in 1970, just two years after the campus opened its doors. In 1972, his first season as varsity coach, he nabbed the city championship--a surprise even to him, he says.

Over the years, West said he has seen drastic shifts in the surrounding neighborhood, and he and his players find themselves increasingly pitted against gangs, violence and other turmoil.

“Kids have a lot of outside forces now that they shouldn’t have to deal with,” he said. “We’ve lost people to those things. But we’ve had a lot of players get scholarships, go on to higher educations, major universities. Coaching has been my way of helping kids do that. . . . I’m a steppingstone.”

Robert Parker, a varsity basketball player for the last three years, says West has made him work hard, but also has instilled discipline that goes beyond the court.

“He teaches you a lot. He teaches you how to be a man,” said the 17-year-old senior, who hopes to attend Xavier University in the fall. “The name Crenshaw has given us a lot of opportunity. It makes you proud to know you’re the ones to beat.”

Teammate Antonio Simpson, also 17, said one of his most vivid memories of West will be his excusing players from practice to attend tutoring sessions. “For him, school is real important,” said Simpson, who admitted that being on the team forced him to mend his “uncivilized” ways. “And he treats us all equally. To him, there are no stars.”