Throughout last Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage, Regis girls basketball coach Carl Mattei took the microphone to remind the audience of the many ways they could support the team. Foremost among his selling points were some of the squad’s credentials — national rankings that, depending on whom you talk to, range from fifth to 19th. There’s also the matter of the seven Raiders players who have already signed letters of intent for Division I colleges.
But while the spiel drew any number of oohs and aahs and impressively nodding heads, there was one segment of the hefty crowd that acted as if they couldn’t care less — the Regis players themselves.
“We could care less about that stuff; when we’re behind closed doors, it’s not even talked about,” guard Mariah Williams said.
If there were a motto for the Raiders during the 2008-09 season, indeed, it wouldn’t be “Future National Champs” or “We Have More Scholarships Than You.”
It would likely be something along the lines of “Closing Ranks” or “We’re Not Listening” — which might be quite an appropriate tenet to follow, given how much their eardrums have been assaulted in recent years.
In the past three seasons, Regis has reached the state title game twice and the semifinal round once, only to fall short of hoisting the championship trophy. So to some observers, that makes it “The Team Without Enough Intestinal Fortitude to Get the Job Done.”
The squad has been spurred by a talented core group of six who began playing together on Mattei’s club team in middle school. But the fact that they all ended up at Regis has only led to more whispering — that Mattei is a better recruiter than either Dan Hawkins or Jeff Bzdelik, or that you should be nationally ranked if you can bring in the state’s best players.
Mattei says he understands the grumbling, to an extent. He points out that Regis isn’t alone when it comes to bringing in exceptional players, citing examples like Brenna and Meagan Malcolm-Peck, University of Colorado signees who transferred to Horizon, and Emily Stark, another star performer who transferred from Grand Junction to Highlands Ranch.
“Right now, with the rules in Colorado, and around the country, parents are shopping their kids to give them the best opportunities,” Mattei said. “One is to win state, but there’s also getting scholarships. Everybody’s thinking, ‘Where’s the money? Who can give us the best chance to get a scholarship?’
“It’s not trickling down to 2A or 3A. The Limons and Sterlings, that’s almost old-school basketball and it’s great to watch. But when you get to 5A, the parents are so fickle. I get interviewed once a month by families who say, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about this.’ And if you don’t tell them what they want — they’re starting, they’re playing varsity — they say, ‘OK, we’ll go here instead.’ ”
Ambitious schedule
Regis isn’t going to be found wanting. Junior Shae Kelley is a transfer from Denver East who Mattei says “just showed up.” Megan O’Neal is another highly regarded junior, while Mattei calls 6-foot-3 Colleen Rooney, “the best sophomore in the state.” There is also Janae Hall, a 5-11 freshman who is the daughter of a former NFL player.
The thing is, most of that group’s playing time may come at the end of blowouts, given that core group of seniors. The overwhelming amount of talent has led to an interesting dynamic on the team. On the one hand, Mattei, who likens his team to a college program, would like to see just how good Regis can be.
To that end, the coach has created an incredibly ambitious schedule. After opening the season Wednesday against Mullen, the Raiders will travel the next morning to Portland, Ore., for a tournament that begins that afternoon. The next day, there could be a contest against St. Mary’s of Stockton, Calif., the preseason No. 1-ranked team in the country. Two weeks later, Regis will go to Phoenix for another national event sponsored by Nike.
The daunting slate is just one aspect of Regis’ quest for success. The day after losing to Highlands Ranch in March for the 2008 title, the players were back in the gym. Already before this season there has been a retreat in Breckenridge as well as a psychologist brought in to convince the players they are indeed good enough to reach their goals.
Actually, goal.
Chasing elusive title
“We’re set up nationally to see how we fare against the best teams in the country, but all my kids have been disappointed for three years,” Mattei said. “They could lose all their games the next three weeks, but if they won state, they’d be ecstatic.”
“We haven’t won state yet,” said senior guard Meghan Winters. “That’s our first goal, that’s what our goal has been all four years.”
Beginning next season, the magnificent seven will be broken up, and with three of the seniors going to schools in the West Coast Conference, chances are they will be seeing lots of one another for the next four years. The hope is that before all of those future battles, there will be a moment where they can smile and reminisce about the 2009 Colorado state championship.
“I feel we should have won at least once,” added Williams. “But it’s just like the NCAAs; there’s all kinds of teams that should win, that expect to win but they come up short.
“The thing about this team is that we’ve bonded like a family, so all the talk, all the things that people have said, just rolls off our shoulders. We’re focused on putting it together this year.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
