Video: Massive expectations for Sierra CanyonTrailblazers enter the season ranked No. 3 nationally.
For most high school basketball programs, winning back-to-back state state titles would be a defining moment.
But
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) isn't most high school basketball programs. All signs point to the 2018 and 2019 championship seasons being building blocks in its emergence as a national power.
Players like Marvin Bagley III (Sacramento Kings), Kenyon Martin Jr. (preparing for professional career at IMG Academy), Remy Martin (Arizona State), Scotty Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt), Cody Riley (UCLA), Cassius Stanley (Duke) and Duane Washington Jr. (Ohio State) have dotted the Sierra Canyon roster since 2017, yet the 2019-20 Trailblazers are the most star-studded bunch yet.
This year's team features star seniors
Ziaire Williams (deciding between North Carolina, Stanford and USC among others), Kentucky pledge
Brandon Boston Jr., TCU commit
Terren Frank and
Zaire Wade – the son of three-time NBA champ Dwyane Wade.
Then there is 7-foot-3 junior
Harold Yu of China, Top 10 sophomore prospect
Amari Bailey and the most famous Trailblazer of them all before ever playing a game,
Bronny James – son of King James.
Sierra Canyon will play a schedule that caters to demand to see it in action, going on the road for games or tournaments in Arizona, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey and Texas.
ESPN is going all in on its coverage, streaming or televising 15 games.
Since the 2014-15 season, Sierra Canyon has gone 167-23 with three state titles – Open Division crowns in 2018 and 2018 and a Division V championship in 2015.
The journey begins Thursday at the San Diego Tip-Off Challenge against Montgomery.
Sierra Canyon head coach Andre Chevalier answers questions at the program's media day in October along with Harold Yu (far left), Terren Frank and Amari Bailey.
Photo by: Heston Quan