Think HS Basketball doesn't get a fair shake in Texas: Check this out

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/basketball/2006-12-12-jeannette-football_x.htm?csp=34

Kickoff trumps tip-off in Pa.

By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY
Basketball practice was supposed to start in mid-November at Jeannette (Pa.) High School, but new coach Jim Nesser still hasn't heard the squeak of sneakers against hardwood or seen his promising team run a drill.

The hitch: Jeannette plays Saturday in Hershey, Pa., in the Pennsylvania Class AA football championship, and all 15 of Nesser's returning basketball players are football players, including 6-foot-6 junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

"Right now, I'm just supporting the football team," says Nesser.

"It is what it is, and you just think about the positive things. Winning itself helps, because it build confidence, and that's going to carry over to basketball."

Nesser, who's been to every football game and summer scrimmage in this 14-1 season, will drive to Hershey on Saturday for the 1 p.m. game against Wilson. The basketball turnaround will happen in a hurry.

After the football team's bus ride of about 190 miles back to Jeannette on Saturday, Nesser's basketball team is scheduled to make a 3 a.m. Sunday bus ride to Pittsburgh, fly to the City of Palms Classic tournament in Fort Myers, Fla., and play Monday afternoon.

Nesser, who recently met with players and parents to pass out uniforms and gear and go over the itinerary, is a stickler for preseason conditioning. He knows football shape isn't basketball shape and expects his players will be "running in quicksand" for a while.

Nesser says Jeannette has missed three basketball games (one section game will be rescheduled). But he's looking at next week as a sort of baseball spring training for his squad, which went 24-4 last season with Pryor (a big-time college prospect in both sports) averaging about 22 points and 11 rebounds.

"Eventually we'll get the rust off," Nesser says. "It's not how you start. It's how you finish."

Nesser, 45, a veteran of about 20 coaching seasons, took over at Jeannette after the previous coach resigned. Nesser's been helping with the ninth-grade team. "I'm assistant ninth-grade coach," he says.

He's also been scouting future foes. "The problem is when you have too much time on your hands, you do a lot of thinking," he says with a laugh. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, too much thinking sometimes. Know what I mean?"