The Kalani High School boys basketball team has a favorite saying: “Character revealed!”
The players say it when someone is late for practice. They also say it when someone comes through in a clutch.
“It gets past any excuses,” assistant coach Nathan Davis says. “It’s a reminder that what is important is how they act as people.”
On Sunday, Kalani’s JV and varsity teams held an end-of-season luncheon at Dave & Buster’s to celebrate their winning year and, more important, their character revealed.
The players showed up wearing collared shirts. There wasn’t a dress code. The older boys just told the younger players to dress nice.
Each player went to the front of the room, took the microphone, thanked his parents, coaches and teammates and shared a favorite memory from the year. Some were funny, some were brief but all were sincere.
“Basketball is good but there’s other stuff. Just making them speak in public, that’s a good skill to pick up,” assistant coach Noa Hussey told the parents and younger siblings in attendance.
It’s a different program. The players are required to keep journals during the season. They share their writing with one another, finding strength by revealing fears and vulnerabilities. They each are paired with an “accountability partner” to make sure both reach goals and keep commitments, from grades to good behavior.
One of the season’s big moments of “character revealed” was in the Feb. 7 game against Roosevelt for the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II championship. It was a chance for Kalani’s redemption after losing the title to the Rough Riders in triple overtime in 2016. Kalani’s 61-52 triumph this year was largely due to 15-year-old Brandon Chung.
“He was in foul trouble early,” Hussey said. “He didn’t play most of the first half, but in the second half he was the reason we won.”
Hussey described Chung’s 11-point second-half performance like he is still dazzled by what he saw. Except for one free-throw attempt, Chung made every shot he took. “He was a sophomore playing in a championship game. The gym was packed. He had maybe a hundred people back home on Maui watching the game live on TV. This was pressure and he wasn’t rattled at all. To respond that way, to have that maturity at his age.” Hussey smiles, remembering the moment. “And he was so patient, not demanding the ball, just letting the game come to him.”
Chung was named most valuable player for the game. “I was the first deaf person to get that, so it was really an honor,” Chung said. He’s a boarding student at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind. This year there are six students from HSDB competing on Kalani athletic teams, the most ever.
The accommodations aren’t a big deal. Chung’s sign language interpreter, Danny Gong, who was with him at every practice and every game, made a YouTube tutorial video of basketball-related signs for the team with terms like “post up,” “rebound” and “watch your back.” Chung was also patient with his teammates’ ad lib signs. He can read lips. “And I can talk,” Chung said, “so they understand me.”
The last time there was a news story about Chung, he was 6-foot-2. Since the state championship last month, when Kalani came in third, Chung has grown and is closer to 6-foot-3 now.
The entire team has grown.
After the lunch was over, the boys pushed in their chairs, thanked their mothers and went together to play the restaurant’s arcade games. No rowdiness. Just fun to be had and character to be revealed.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
