When a successful basketball coach such as Mark Sharpley preaches vision, you might assume he’s just talking about seeing the court, reading defenses, waiting for a screen, finding the hot hand or mismatch.
Rest assured, Sharpley coaches all that, but many of the things he tells his players at Jefferson Academy are more metaphor than mandate.
“He works harder in and out of practice making us better players, as well as better people,” Jaguars senior Jared Jenkins said.
Like many coaches, Sharpley places special emphasis on Dean Smith’s mantra of “Play hard. Play smart. Play together.” But Sharpley just likes to add some altitude to the concept. Every relationship in life requires commitment, whether it be families, friendships, jobs or basketball teams.
Sharpley knows his X’s and O’s without forgetting that life includes everything from A to Z.
“The big picture lasts longer than just the four years you play high school basketball,” Sharpley said.
Said senior Tanner Ryan: “Everything he says is valuable.”
With a backbone of five seniors Sharpley has coached since they were seventh-graders, and a mix of talented juniors and sophomores, the Jaguars are 13-0 and ranked No. 3 in the Class 3A boys poll.
They are an improving bunch and gained valuable confidence after a symbolic victory Jan. 9 at Yuma, which ended the Jaguars’ season last year in the regional tournament and handed them their only two loses.
All apologies to fans in Yuma if they thought it was a bit much for the Jaguars — including the lower-level players — to storm the court after rallying amid a defensive struggle for a 39-38 victory. But a mental giant was slain by Tommy Olson, Dave Burkel, Jordan Roland, Jason Propst, Jenkins and Ryan.
“We didn’t really see it as a championship, but just the start of our season,” Jenkins said.
Sharpley, who teaches P.E., has coached at Jefferson Academy, a Broomfield charter school with a content-rich curriculum, the past decade. He coached the Jaguars’ first varsity team in 2001, one year after he led neighboring Belleview Christian — led by Sharpley’s stepson, Jon Sanders — to consecutive Class 1A state titles from 1999-2000.
The Jaguars won 2A state titles in 2002 and 2006, and lost in the 2005 final to Evangelical Christian.
Sanders, a 6-foot-7 guard, is one of several of Sharpley’s former players who have gone on to successful college and professional careers, and many have come back to be assistant coaches over the years.
Sanders made the NCAA Tournament his senior season at Saint Mary’s and has enjoyed international success. His first game this month in Taiwan’s Super Basketball League saw him score 20 points and grab 21 rebounds for Pure Youth Construction.
Sharpley met Sanders and his single mother, Rebecca, while coaching a youth team near Los Angeles. He and Rebecca would eventually marry and move back to Colorado, where Sharpley — an Arvada West graduate — is a native.
“He’s a sponge without pride,” Sanders said via e-mail from Taiwan. “He allows everyone to shine, no matter how small or big their role may be. By letting you teach him as well, it becomes less of a coach-player and a teacher-student relationship, and more of just a relationship.”
Decade of dominance
Since Jefferson Academy’s first varsity season in 2001, the Jaguars have done nothing but win under coach Mark Sharpley, who is 198-35 at the school:
2001: 24-2
2002: 24-2
2003: 18-3
2004: 17-7
2005: 24-2
2006: 24-2
2007: 18-7
2008: 15-8
2009: 21-2
2010: 13-0
