Sun All-State Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Day showed way for Western

Spencer Patterson

Tuesday, March 6, 2001 | 10:09 a.m.

Ask most casual high school basketball fans about this year's Western Warriors, and you're likely to hear about a high-flying group of athletic guards who pushed the tempo and filled up the nets from 3-point range.

Ask head coach Tony Hopkins, and you'll hear a completely different story: one that starts and ends with the man in the middle, senior center Tim Day.

While his teammates drew oohs and aahs from crowds throughout the year for their antics above the rim, Day quietly anchored Western's state championship run during the 2000-2001 season.

"If he's not doing the dirty work -- defending the post, rebounding the ball, being a steady leader for us, we don't win state, plain and simple," Hopkins said.

Averaging a double-double in points and rebounds, the 6-5 Oregon-bound football player made it possible for Western to contend with bigger front lines, like that of rival Bishop Gorman, whom the Warriors upset for the championship. For his invaluable contribution to the 26-5 4A state champs, Day has been named the 2001 Sun State Player of the Year.

"He was the key to our squad, no question about it," Hopkins said.

After spending last season as a starting power forward and capable understudy to 6-5 center Modesto Fowler, Day emerged as the focal point of the Warriors' offense this year. A dangerous low-post threat who scored 15 points per game, Day also created open looks for his teammates, learning to pass out of double-teams and providing open looks to guards Brandon Weaver, Wendell West and P.J. Stinnett.

A beast on the boards who averaged 12 rebounds, Day also provided the Warriors with a versatile defender, one capable of guarding McQueen sharpshooter Karl Aaker in the first round of state and 6-10 Gorman center Jason Carter in the finals.

"He could do things at 6-5 that you wouldn't think a kid his size could do," Hopkins said. "He's probably the strongest kid I've ever coached, and to be as fundamentally sound as he was was amazing."

Slated to play either defensive end or tight end for the Ducks, Day hasn't completely given up on basketball. Whether or not he tries to walk on in his second sport, he's grateful for the championship it brought him in high school.

"I just wanted a ring, and I didn't care what sport it came in," Day said. "It wouldn't have mattered if it was golf, as long as I won a ring."