New wave of high school basketball coaches making big impact across Arizona

They've come from different places. Taken from great coaches. And taken their new teams to new heights.

Say hello to the next wave of boys basketball coaches who are making big impacts this high school season.

From Duane Eason at Phoenix Mountain Pointe to Cory Bardet at Paradise Valley, Chris Lemon at Mesa Red Mountain and Zach Washut at Cave Creek Cactus Shadows, they're quickly leaving imprints as impressive coach able to get the most out of players.

Mountain Pointe is 17-1 and ranked No. 1 in 6A by azcentral sports a year after going 11-15.

Red Mountain is 11-7 a year after Lemon quickly turned around Gilbert Mesquite. 

Paradise Valley is is 12-4 and won two holiday tournaments.

Cactus Shadows is 12-3 after going 15-11 last season.

Eason, a baseball player at Troy State, was a high school basketball coach for 14 years in New Jersey before moving to Phoenix in the summer of 2016, latching on at Phoenix College as an assistant under Matt Gordon. Gordon was one of the more successful and underrated junior college basketball coaches in the country.

Gordon saw in one season what Mountain Pointe might look like this year.

"I am not surprised at all, as he was a very successful head coach in New Jersey," Gordon said. "I learned a ton from Duane from his year at PC, and I am glad we were able to help him get involved with basketball in Arizona.

"He is a very good coach, who has a great understanding of what it takes to be successful."

Bardet, Lemon and Washut all cut their coaching teeth under Todd Fazio, who won a state championship at Scottsdale Desert Mountain and coached at Red Mountain, before stepping down after last season.

Fazio has been watching with pride how all three men have blossomed as head coaches.

On Bardet: "I could tell right off the bat that Cory was in coaching for the long haul," Fazio said. "He did everything that was asked of him and more. As an assistant, Cory was instrumental in our game planning and in-game adjustments. Scouting is something that came very natural to Cory. I really leaned on him for matchups and opponent tendencies. Cory was beyond his years in seeing the game. He is a very organized and cerebral guy, a smart guy that relates well with players and knows how to teach."

CLOSE

Cory Bardet talking about influence Todd Fazio had on him and coaching fraternity

On Lemon: "I actually didn’t have a position for Chris when he asked me about coaching. His passion was palpable and there was no way I wasn’t going to have him be a part of my staff. I’m glad I did. Chris was way beyond his years when it comes to offensive and defensive concepts. One of the smarter guys I have been around in coaching, I don’t think a lot of people see that with him. He’s kind of a free spirit. Chris is an outstanding game planner, great with scouts and preparing his team for the opponent. I relied on him a lot for our in-game substitutions and offensive system. He put a lot in for us. He is great at realizing strengths of players and putting them in positions to succeed. He has great relationships with his guys. They play hard for him."

On Washut: "Zach is a tireless worker. He is a very passionate guy but also very smart and organized. His teams always play extremely hard. He has the ability to get his teams to always play with toughness and together. His teams were always very close-knit. Zach will do a great job at Cactus Shadows. He will have a plan in place and will be relentless with it. He will develop players and build a program with integrity. Cactus Shadows already had some pieces in place and Zach will get the most out of it. It will be fun to watch him grow that program."

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Mountain Pointe

Eason first came to Arizona a few years ago, looking into perhaps coaching at a prep academy. But his heart was into coaching traditional high school basketball. When the Mountain Pointe position opened, he jumped at it.

He said New Jersey basketball is huge and the coaching off the charts. He was impressed by Bobby Hurley Sr., at St. Anthony High and his son, Dan Hurley, now the head coach at Rhode Island.

"I have more talent here than I ever had in New Jersey," Eason said. "Couple that with I'm kind of, 'My way or the highway' type of guy, (the team has taken off).

"They realized early that there's a way to play, that this is our way."

It's about getting in opponents' faces defensively, giving up little floor space, and feasting off turnovers at Mountain Pointe, where Eason might have the best matchup problems for opposing teams than anybody with 6-foot-9 Jalen Graham, 6-7 sophomore big body DeAndre Henry, the 3-point shooting of 6-5 Ryan Pate and the athleticism of 6-4 guard Amarion Cash and the savvy of point guard Khalid Price. The Pride's only loss came in Brophy Prep's first game, on a last-second shot.

"Defense is our staple," Eason said. "We're committed to not giving up 42 feet of the court. We want to run. We're just trying to take it to the basket, get to the free-throw line and score off of turnovers."

Paradise Valley

Bardet, a 2005 Desert Mountain graduate who coached under Fazio, doesn't look much older than his players.

"It helps these kids respect me," Bardet said. "They know I can jump in a drill and still do some stuff."

Bardet knows he was fortunate to step into an already established program built in the 1980s and '90s by Bill Farrell (whom the gym is named after) and continued by Mark MacGowan (a point guard for Farrell in the '80s), who resigned after last year's 18-win season. MacGowan compiled a 366-187 record with one state title in 19 years, after Farrell led the school to 1995 and '97 state championships.

MacGowan has helped make the transition smooth for Bardet, who has been aided by the great play of guard Tashon Brown, who was MVP of the Cactus Shadows tournament the Trojans won. But the Trojans are 18th in power rankings at 5-4.

"We're still not where we want to be and where we want to be in power points," Bardet said. "It's about not getting too high on our tournament titles because, at the end of the day, power points is what we care about."

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Red Mountain

Lemon was a hot coaching name last year when Mesquite went 15-11 a year after winning just three games in Lemon's first season.

Lemon was part of Fazio's staff at Desert Mountain.

"Working for Fazio is no walk in the park," Lemon said. "He likes grinders. What I mean by that is guys willing to work. A reason he relates well with that type of person is because he himself is an extremely hard worker. Fazio knew he didn't have the most talented teams, but he understood the way to have success was to outwork people both on and off the court."

When he was at Desert Mountain, Lemon would try to lighten the mood on Fazio's very intense days by calling him "Tad," because "his alter ego was coming out and that reminded him to keep things light.

"We were a good fit for each other, and I couldn't have asked for a better teacher of the game as I was coming up."

Lemon has one of the state's top five players in senior Timmy Allen, a prolific scorer who can change the game with his defense and rebounding. But the key, he feels, is keeping things loose.

Cactus Shadows

Washut was at Desert Mountain with Fazio (2011-14), Kurt Keener and Chris Saterlie in six seasons, before getting his first head coaching job at Cactus Shadows this year.

"Fazio has such a good basketball mind and sees things a lot of coaches don't," Washut said. "I learned how to think ahead and help put my players in the best positions to be successful under him. He also taught me how to handle the ups and downs of a season and never get to high or low."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.