Boys coaches confirm obvious: Sadat’s No. 1

Tim Graham

Thursday, March 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

When the Southern AAA boys basketball coaches got together to pick the players for this year's all-conference team, the only surprise to come out of the meeting was that they didn't select an all-conference team.

Instead, because they didn't feel comfortable voting for players from other divisions they may not have seen, the coaches decided to keep the two all-division teams separate.

They did, however, choose the conference's best player.

No surprise there. Ra'oof Sadat was tabbed the Southern AAA Player of the Year. Durango's 6-foot-8 senior center averaged 19.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.4 blocks a game in leading the Trailblazers to its second straight state championship.

"I'm real happy and excited about it, but Player of the Year is secondary because I wanted to win state," Sadat said. "All the other things are just bonuses.

"But I have to thank my teammates and my coach. I give them a lot of the credit. I thank them for helping me become Player of the Year."

Sadat's coach, Al LaRocque, was rewarded as well as the conference's Coach of the Year.

Rated as one of the top prep prospects in the country heading into the season, Sadat got even better as time wore on.

"I became more of a well-rounded player this year," he said. "I matured to see more of the game. When things aren't going right, I learned I don't have to continue to force (my shot) because we have other great guys on the floor. I also picked up my defensive game and learned to use my height to just disrupt offenses."

Sadat, who will play collegiately at San Francisco, aspires to take his game to yet another level and play professionally.

"It's a goal," he said. "If I don't make it I'm going to be disappointed. I've installed in myself a drive to give 100 percent. I think about it almost every day. God gave me the talent and the size. All I gotta do is put it to work."

Joining Sadat on the All-Sunset Division team was senior Aaron Henderson of Cheyenne, Nevada's leading scorer at 19.6 points per game. Also selected were Sadat's classmate, Kevon Jones (17.7 ppg), as well as the Bishop Gorman duo of Jim Roban (18.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg) and Kendall Soares.

Both Durango and Gorman had all five of their starters selected to either the first, second or honorable mention teams.

Leading the All-Sunrise first team was Eldorado senior Demarlo Slocum, who battled with Henderson for much of the year as the area's top scorer. Slocum finished with a 25.4 average.

Rancho placed two in junior Arthur Ireland and senior Orlando Spears in addition to Green Valley senior Tom Truman and Basic junior Damon Caldwell.

* FRIDAY: All-Nevada girls and boys teams.