Beverly Hills Boys Basketball Off to a Strong Start

The Beverly Hills boys basketball team has a new coach and a new attitude toward the upcoming season. 

The Normans won just four games two seasons ago and 13 games last year. After three games this season, the Normans have defeated all of their opponents by an average of 24 points a game. 

"I expect to win at least 20 games," said Austin Mills, the team's leading scorer with 19 points per game. "I'm confident about this year. We should have a good team. " 

First year head coach Jarvis Turner wouldn't go as far as predicting a number of wins, but his confidence in his team is apparent. 

"I think we'll be pretty good. I think we'll be competitive," said Turner, who previously coached at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. "I think the Ocean League is one of the toughest leagues out there…I came from a very competitive league out in the Valley, and I think this league is probably better than that league." 

The Ocean League includes Inglewood, which went to the Division 4AA semifinals last season, and Division 1A champion Santa Monica. 

"Samo [Santa Monica] is definitely a big rivalry game," Mills said. "I'm confident we can win the Ocean League this year…with the work we put in, we could win it."

If the Normans are to win anything, they will have to rebound the basketball, according to their coach. 

"Our weaknesses right now are on the backboard, rebounding and defending," Turner said. "Those are the things we need to focus on in order for us to have a great year." 

And of course, getting the ball to junior guard Mills will also be key. 

"[Mills] has a very high basketball IQ. He does a lot of things well out on the floor," Turner said. "What we're looking for from him this year is more leadership skills, as well as scoring the basketball, getting his teammates involved, and of course, getting after it defensively." 

The Normans return only two players from last year's varsity squad, Mills and junior Mike Lanier. Turner said he will be looking at some of his senior players to "carry the load" this season, including captains Malik Blades and Julian Dakdouk. 

The Normans plan on spreading the floor out on offense and penetrating the lane to kick the ball out to shooters. On defense, Turner has them playing man-to-man and working a half-court press. In Beverly Hills' second game against Salesian, the Normans' press defense was so effective that Salesian called multiple timeouts in a matter of minutes because Beverly Hills caused so many turnovers. 

"Defensive drills, we work on them every day. Just over and over again to make sure we have it down," Mills said. "We keep coming out hard—we'll be able to just kill teams with the press." 

Turner, who played at USC and professionally in South America before becoming a coach, said he's trying to instill in his team the idea of working hard and having fun this season. 

"What I try to share with those guys—try to enjoy the moment," Turner said. "Just try to come together and create an opportunity that they can be proud about for the remainder of their lives."  

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