Boys’ basketball: Kameron Chatman is one win away from 2013 debut

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I haven’t seen anyone come up with a ‘Free Kameron Chatman T-shirt’ just yet. It would be a hot seller among Long Beach Poly fans who have been waiting an entire season to see Chatman, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Portland, Ore., make his Jackrabbits debut.

He played during the summer for the Jackrabbits, and was so good that big-time colleges were offering him scholarships. But the Southern Section declared him ineligible for one year from the time he arrived, saying that because he played for a travel team coached by Poly’s Sharrief Metoyer, he was ineligible. You can’t follow your club coach to a school. Forget that Metoyer was his god father.

Well, the wait is almost over. Chatman is scheduled to become eligible on Saturday. If Poly can beat Mater Dei on Tuesday in an Open Division semifinal playoff game, Chatman can play in the regional final in Ontario.

‘That’s our battle cry,’ Metoyer said after Poly’s victory over St. John Bosco on Friday.

The Jackrabbits want to give Chatman a chance to show what he can do. And he can do plenty. I saw him in the summer, and he’s a terrific shooter, something the Jackrabbits can use. He seems to have dealt with his ineligibility well. He played junior varsity and practices with the varsity. He’s got a great smile and just wants a chance to play.

It would be quite a story if he could make his debut in Citizens Business Bank Arena for a trip to the state championships in Sacramento on the line.

-- Eric Sondheimer