.
Mesa's star shines in every way
by Randy Kindred -The Kindred Blog: www.pantagraph.com

Desmond Medder is a long way from home this week, playing basketball in America’s heartland. The air outside is much colder. The faces are unfamiliar, the opponents new and different.

That’s OK.

Medder is the same no matter where he is. His father insists on it.

They have a bond these two. Bike Medder is a single dad who works multiple jobs, one of which is coaching women’s basketball at a community college. Desmond is a Mesa (Ariz.) High School senior who hears his father’s voice in his ear, and works tirelessly to make him proud.

So while the Medders live in South Phoenix, the most dangerous, crime-ridden area in Arizona, Desmond Medder is undeterred by the darkness around him. He is a beacon of respect, courtesy and commitment for teammates, classmates, teachers/coaches and young children.

Dad insists on it.

“My dad always taught me to be respectful of everybody, to say hi to people when you see them because you never know what type of day they’re having,” Desmond said following a game in the State Farm Holiday Classic.

“You never know if that could make their day. It never hurts to be nice.”

Polite has no boundaries. It travels well. So whether Medder is in a hallway at school or halfway across the country, talking to a reporter he’d never met, he is the same.

This is a kid — no, a young man — who gets good grades, is captain of his team, is being recruited by Division I colleges and has a fabulously refreshing outlook on life.

A 6-foot-1 guard who leads his team in scoring, rebounds and assists, he often takes a city bus to and/or from school. That can mean getting up at 5 a.m. and being at the mercy of bus routes.

“It can be anywhere from an hour and 30 (minutes) to a two-hour bus ride,” Medder said.

No matter, he steps off the bus the same guy, so well-liked and well-respected at school his head coach, Shane Burcar, calls him “someone you root for” and “everything a student-athlete should be.”

You’d never guess he goes to bed and wakes up in a neighborhood with danger at every turn.

“There are people walking around with guns,” he said. “There are some gangsters in my neighborhood. Sometimes there are good people, but it can be rough at times. We can’t leave our door open like you can in Mesa. All of our stuff would be gone.”

Working in Medder’s favor is that he plays basketball, and does it well. His older brother, Donte, was a star at Mesa and played at the University of Tulsa.

His family is linked to the game, a fact which, right or wrong, provides a measure of protection.

“A lot of times being in the South Side they know who plays basketball and when you’re good and you can do certain things, they don’t have an interest in you,” Medder said. “They like you more than they want to hurt you or rob you.”

That said, he can cautiously walk down streets that have swallowed up others, some of them Medder’s friends.

He could have fallen prey, but had something no one else did: a father with a catchy nickname — he became “Bike” as a kid after jumping over a bicycle — and a strong set of morals and ethics.

“I was well grounded,” the younger Medder said. “My dad taught me too well to do something stupid and make my dad look bad and my family look bad. I never veered off. I’ll never go down that path.

“That’s not me.”

.

JACKRABBITS LOSE TO MOUNTAIN VIEW - 01/12/12- The Jackrabbits lost on the road at Mountain View by a score of 53-34. Desmond Medder led the scoring for Mesa with 17 points and DJ Henderson contributed 11.

SCORE BY QUARTER
Mesa ...............04 15 10 05 34
Mountain View 04 18 13 18 53

NEXT UP:
at McClintock - Tuesday - Jan. 17th

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

STATE FARM HOLIDAY NOTES: Desmond Medder was 1 of 6 players named to the All-Tournament Team at the State Farm Classic. Christian Harris was a nominee for the All-Tournament team.

STATE FARM HOLIDAY CLASSIC BRACKETS
http://theclassic.org

 TOURNEY BOX SCORES

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

FEAR THE HOP - CONGRATULATIONS GILBERT TIGERS - Gilbert defeated Mesquite in the championship game of another very successful Fear the Hop Tournament. Thanks to all the teams and fans that participated. FEAR THE HOP BRACKETS

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

AIA POWER RANKINGS - Follow the Jackrabbits on the AIA Power Rankings this season. These are used to determine the schools that will make the State tournament play-offs under the new alignment. The Jackrabbits are in Division I, Section 3. POWER RANKINGS

HOW THE POWER RANKINGS WORK FOR 2011-12:

Division I Sectional Tournament (8 team bracket): The top eight (8) power ranked teams from each Section will make up the Section tournament. The bracket will be seeded according to their power ranking within their Section. The tournament will consist of three rounds and will be single elimination.

Division I State Tournament (24 team bracket): Four (4) teams from each of the three Sections for a total of 12 teams will earn an automatic bid based on how they finish within their Sectional tournament. The final 12 spots will be based on overall power ranking. The bracket will be seeded according to overall power ranking of the 24 teams. Teams seeded #1 to #8 will get a first round bye. The tournament will consist of five rounds and will be single elimination

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

MESA HIGH ALUMNI WHO HAVE GONE ON TO THE NEXT LEVEL - Jackrabbit tradition is rich with All-State players, Player of the Year winners and those  that have gone on to excel at the next level, including some that have played in professional leagues around the world. They include David Van Dyke, Lee Cummard, Aaron Fuller, Graham Hatch, Donte Medder, Michael Crowell and Hakeem Rollins. Read about these former Jackrabbits on the ALUMNI page.
 

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

MESA BASKETBALL RECORDS - Check out the individual game, individual season and individual career records on the RECORDS page.