arien Boys Basketball has become a sore subject for Blue Wave supporters. The varsity program reached a low point under Coach O’Donnell, who coached for three years going 7-54. 2009 was a rock bottom season when the team went a stifling 1-19, the only win coming from an out of state game. After this rock bottom season, Coach Kyle Marian took over. Marian grew up in the town of Darien playing basketball and had dreamed of coaching the Blue Wave. He set out on the mission of breeding new life into the program. He did not fail, the team improved to 3-17 with a very notable win over Trumbull.
While one program wavered, another flourished. Darien House Basketball is as strong as ever. There are 200 kids that make up the program, participants range from all four grades at DHS. The leagues are essentially comprised of high school boys who wish to play basketball for fun. Each team plays one game a week, all of which take place on Saturday and Sunday. The 9th/10th grade league practices once a week while the 11th/12th does not practice at all. “The boys league is the most prominent that it’s been in a while, it’s good to see all the guys wanting to come out and play basketball,” said League Commissioner Joe Marzano. The program’s strength did not go unnoticed. A Blue Wave Sports Blog article on the 9th/10th grade league received 1,200 hits last year.
The Darien High School varsity team this year faces challenges that look intimidating to overcome. The only returning senior is Matt Lee. The fact that there is one lone captain displays the program’s weakness. It is not Coach Marian’s fault by any means, but it is his problem to deal with. This year for Blue Wave Basketball is a rebuilding year. The integration and development of sophomore George Phillips and junior Liam Naughton will be vital for the team’s success down the road. The team continues to be laying the foundation for a rebuilding process that cannot be completed for a few years. On an interesting parallel, house basketball will contain over 50 seniors this year. It is a unique idea that a recreation league could have so many seniors while a varsity program holds just one.
Varsity basketball could be quick to make house basketball the bad guy. They could say that the glorification and popularity of house is a reason that the varsity program is in shambles. Another reason behind this is the choice of lacrosse athletes like seniors Tony Britton and Bobby Weaver to leave the program. Both of them quit after playing varsity ball for freshman and sophomore year and immediately became the faces of the house basketball league. This jump to house was not because of the house program alone. Both left to focus and stay healthy for lacrosse. The dominant lacrosse program pulled them in and for good reason, Britton is going to play in college for Cornell, while Weaver is going on to play at Princeton. While Tony did things that left jaws on the floor around the league this past 2010-2011 house season, and is the epitome of a “varsity player gone house”, when asked if the house program had anything to do with his quitting, he said “No not at all, I’m not even playing [house] this year, I have a hamstring issue.”
Varsity basketball isn’t losing a competition with house, it is losing against lacrosse, hockey, and football. If great athletes have a better chance of winning and going on to play in college at those sports they will pick them over basketball no matter how much they love the game itself. The popularity of house basketball did not cause the downfall of varsity basketball, the downfall of varsity basketball caused the glorification of the house league. Coach Marian isn’t looking to take on any programs, house or other varsity sports, he is instead looking to breed a cultural shift,
“I’m looking for kids who want to be that change in the program, I want guys that say ok maybe I could win the 57th FCIAC Championship, or I could help basketball get to states, which is in some sense an even greater accomplishment, I want kids who want a challenge,”
Marian said. If Marian is able to complete his extensive challenge, and bring back winning, perhaps athletes would flood back into the varsity program and take away from the popularity of the house program. A sort of shift in basketball powers.
