Several factors in decline of Camden High’s basketball program

Al Dyer went to an athletic directors' meeting Tuesday morning.

When he returned to his office at Camden High School, he had a dozen messages.

"I think every legend and politician in town called," Dyer said. "They all care so much about Camden basketball."

Dyer, Camden's athletic director as well as its interim basketball coach, has the challenge of restoring order - as well as a little luster - to one of South Jersey's most fabled sports programs.

It's a tall task.

Camden's problems stretch far beyond the scoreboard. The Panthers are 0-7 this season. They have lost every game by 14 or more points. They've lost the last four by an average of 34.2 points.

But that's not the half of it. Monday's surprising resignation of coach Mike Stargell underscored the upheaval that has shaken the foundation of the program.

Among the issues:

A breakdown in discipline. With about two minutes remaining in Camden's final game last season - a 79-59 loss at Middle Township in the second round of the South Jersey Group 2 tournament on March 4 - two Camden players refused to leave the court when Stargell tried to make substitutions.

A bizarre scene unfolded, according to several witnesses. Technical fouls were called. Middle Township school security officials tried to get the players to return to the bench, without success. Finally, police officers escorted the players to the sideline.

Meanwhile, several spectators got into heated verbal altercations with Stargell and a member of his family. The coach was given a police escort to his car after the game.

Outside influences. Stargell said he resigned for personal reasons but also because of frustration over increasing interference from some parents as well as other adults with connections to players in the program.

"The community needs to know this," Stargell said. "These people are pulling at the fabric of the program. They are constantly trying to influence these kids, moving them around.

"They are always telling these kids they should be everywhere but where they ought to be."

Roster upheaval. Stargell said Camden lost eight players who would have been varsity contributors over the last year and a half.

Some of them, such as junior Karon Waller and senior Xavier Nobles, transferred to other schools. Waller is leading Collingswood in scoring with a 20-point average. Nobles scored 12 points and 14 points for Lindenwold this past week in a pair of victories.

Seniors Takwail "Boo" Bailey and Hubert Simmons were starters for Camden in 2008, when the Panthers won the South Jersey Group 2 title. The two athletes transferred to Pennsauken and played for the Indians last season. They have returned to Camden this school year, although they will not be eligible until Feb. 1, provided they are in good academic standing.

"We'll be back in February," Bailey said after Camden's 81-37 loss to Paul VI on Tuesday.

In addition, highly touted freshman Tavaris Headen has not played because of questions about his eligibility. Dyer said that Headen, who started his high school career at Woodrow Wilson and played football for the Tigers in the fall, might be cleared to play for the Panthers in the next couple of weeks.

Camden's 2.0 policy. The Camden school district requires students to maintain a 2.0 grade-point average to be eligible for extracurricular activities. That's a much more stringent policy than the NJSIAA's standard, which requires an athlete to make normal progress toward graduation.

"I support the 2.0 [policy]," Stargell said. "Academics have to be part of the equation. But when you create a policy, it shouldn't work as a negative. We don't lose kids from year to year. We lose kids from month to month."

Fewer students, fewer players. It's simple math. For years, Camden was a Group 4 school or a large Group 3 school. But Camden has toggled between Group 3 and Group 2 in recent years, as enrollment has dropped because of the opening of charter schools such as Camden Promise, Camden Academy Charter, and LEAP Academy.

This year, Camden is the second-smallest Group 3 school, with 806 students in grades 10 through 12.

"They all take a little bit away from the flagship," Stargell said of the charter schools.

The Turner factor. Some observers believe Camden basketball has not recovered from the health decline and eventual ouster of former coach Clarence Turner, who won a South Jersey-record 777 games as well as seven state titles and 21 sectional titles from 1971 through 2008.

"The mystique has gone from Camden basketball," said New Jersey state assemblyman Gilbert "Whip" Wilson (D., Camden), a former Camden city councilman. "When you lose a legendary coach, you lose that."

Wilson, a former assistant under Turner who has been close to the Camden program for more than 30 years, worries that the Panthers will never regain their stature as one of South Jersey's premier programs.

"Camden basketball has always been our shining light," Wilson said. "I hate to sound like the voice of doom, but I wonder if those times will never take place again."