Nt Recruit Leads Team To State Tournament

[GreenBat]

Son/guard Sumner understands father/coach's sideline demeanor during Jarrell's trek to state

by Galen Wellnicki - Telegram Staff Writer

Published March 8, 2007

The relationship between Jarrell senior guard Andrew Sumner (left) and his father, coach Drew Sumner, is a big factor for the state-bound, second-ranked Cougars. (Scott Gaulin photo)JARRELL - The courtside manner of Jarrell boys basketball coach Drew Sumner would never be confused with warm milk and Prozac-chip cookies.

Patrolling in front of the state-bound Cougars’ bench, he is usually as subtle as a grizzly bear with abscessed wisdom teeth. He can make Daffy Duck look mellow.

If Sumner got paid mileage on the sidelines, the Jarrell ISD would have to float a new bond issue every year. He takes his occupation seriously and puts every ounce of energy into making his team successful.

Senior son Andrew Sumner and his teammates are familiar with the bark.

“People always tell stories about things he does on the sidelines,” Andrew, a 6-1 guard, said of his father Wednesday during what turned into an impromptu media day and workout on the Cougars’ campus. “They like to look down and see what he’s doing.”

Adding with a chuckle, the younger Sumner said, “I’ve always thought about putting a camera on him all season to record his animation.”

That hyper persona of coach and much more laid-back demeanor of son will be on display again at 8:30 a.m. Friday when the second-ranked Cougars (28-6) play third-ranked Shallowater (29-3) in the first Class 2A semifinal of the University Interscholastic League Boys Basketball State Tournament at Austin’s Erwin Center.

Whitewright (30-4) and Kountze (30-6) will collide in the 10 a.m. semifinal, with the winners set to battle for the championship at 2 p.m. Saturday.

At times, playing for Sumner appears to require asbestos ears.

“I’m hard on all of them,” Drew Sumner said. “They are resilient. They work hard to be successful and that’s what makes this very rewarding. They stay together (this group of kids who all excel in several sports) and make it happen.

“As an example, they lost every game they played in eighth-grade football, but we told them that if they stayed together, they could make the playoffs and they did this year.”

Is he harder on his own son?

“At times it can be hard,” Andrew said of playing for his father, “but it’s also very enjoyable and rewarding to be able to share all my accomplishments so closely with my father. I think he’s a lot harder yelling-wise on me than the other guys. He calls me out more, but I understand why he does it. I listen and take what he says to heart, but I never take it personally.

“Having my dad as a coach is really a lot of fun.”

Does it go home or stay in Las Vegas, so to speak?

“When we go home, he’ll make little comments,” Andrew said. “He’ll tease me about something in the seventh grade - nothing big, but he gets his little digs in.”

“As a general rule it stays here,” Drew responded to the same question. “We have fun and joke around.”

As of mother Jill’s role in the family equation, Andrew said, “She stays in the background most of the time but will get on me when I do something stupid. She is my No. 1 fan.”

Despite his success in basketball and four other sports, Sumner has committed to North Texas as a distance runner and will sign with the Mean Green on April 10.

Being a five-sport athlete requires discipline, but Andrew is in his “slack time,” according to Drew.

“Things are going to start getting busy for him against,” Drew said. “Right now, it’s just basketball - his short season. With track and baseball coming up the days will get much longer. He’s not going to enjoy spring break.”

“I get up early and run in the morning and have baseball after school,” Andrew said. “It’s 6 or 7 before I get home in the evening. It’s tiresome, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

What was the sporting genesis for the men of Sumner?

“We started playing T-ball and in the yard in the evenings,” Drew said. “He grew up playing sports. When he was about five, my wife, who is pretty athletic, and I would run with him and have trouble beating him. We were amazed at how fast he could run.

“Basketball? We took him to Rich Sivertsen’s camp in Georgetown when he was in the third grade and he could already shoot layups perfectly with both hands. I guess you really want to start earlier with your first son.”

“I probably was three or four,” Andrew said. “There was little league basketball, camps and T-ball. I played soccer until the sixth grade. I started running in middle school and really took it seriously as sophomore with Mr. (Mike) McCracken, my AP (advanced placement) calculus teacher.”

How does Andrew relax?

“I go to my girlfriend’s house and we watch movies and play video games with our friends,” he said.

His girlfriend is fellow UNT recruit Mallory Cantler, who will play softball in Denton.

Shallowater has its own father-son combination - coach Ray Morris and sophomore starting point guard Andrew. His older brother Eric played on the Mustangs’ 2004 state title team.

NOTES: Shallowater, located a healthy walk north of Lubbock, traveled to Austin on Wednesday and is headquartered in a luxury North Austin hotel. Jarrell will leave today after practice and stay in similar digs on the southside. Shallowater is dismissing classes at 1 p.m. today and will not hold school Friday, making the time up later. . . . Jarrell has a pep rally scheduled for 8:15 a.m. today, but the Cougars’ coaches must be in Austin for a 6:30 a.m. coaches meeting.