Not enough players, Desert Academy boy’s basketball had to forfeit a game, something head coach Ernie Rodriguez isn’t accustomed to

After years and years of coaching, Rodriguez has nowrun into a dilemma of putting a full lineup together

By Arnie Leshin

In his many years as a head coach, Ernie Rodriguez can’t recall ever calling in a forfeit. Until now.

But that’s the situation he finds himself in. His Desert Academy boy’s basketball team did not have enough players for Tuesday’s non district game at Santa Fe Prep, and when you can’t play the game, you can only do the next thing, and that’s to call the other school and take a 2-0 forfeit loss.

“They called here a couple of hours before tip-off,” said Santa Fe Prep Athletic Director Todd Kurth, “and said they only had four players and had to forfeit. I don’t think we covered the spread with Vegas.”

For Kurth, it was his home game and left him to report, “No game today.”
For Rodriguez, it was a disappointment. He’s been coaching long enough to know that the game is played on the court, not on the phone.

Today, his 0-12 Wildcats are scheduled to play host to District 3-3A opponent Academy of Technology and The Classics at Larson gymnasium, and he’s crossing his fingers.

“We actually had eight players,” he said, “but injuries, illnesses, and other pre-made plans became a problem. So when I counted only four players, I had to make the call. Of course the players were as disappointed as I was, but it’s something that happens.”

Coaching is a family thing for Rodriguez brothers Ernie, David and Mark. Ernie coached football and basketball for a dozen years at Santa Fe Indian School, coached boy’s basketball at West Las Vegas for two seasons, and is in his fifth year at Desert Academy. David coached boy’s basketball at Santa Fe High for two decades, and now he’s in his first year in that role at St. Michael’s.

And speaking of Santa Fe Prep, the youngest brother, Mark, is in his initial campaign of coaching its girl’s basketball team, which, too, has a limited roster and hasn’t won in six starts. The good news is that Mark promoted his program enough to gather in a present cast of 10 Griffins.

The only thing is, there is a ruling that says newcomers have to put in a certain amount of practice time, so that’s what they are concentrating on now. Even David had a problem having to wait until the Horsemen football players finished their season and then had to adopt to basketball. At least he has a full varsity roster now.

But Ernie doesn’t. He said he has no idea how many of his players will show up today. He’s had problems like this before with the Wildcats, as in having a shortened lineup and having players in foul trouble late in the game. He’s had 3-4 players on the court working double time.

But he’s never been 0-12. And counting a loss in last season’s final game, the number is 13. But he’s not a loser, much more of a respected winner.

The team went 15-12 last year. The season before, it was 17-13 and earned a berth in the state tournament. In the 2015 season, the team was 9-15 after a good start that became a poor finish.

And in his first season there, Desert was 17-11. If not for this season, his overall record would be 58-49 with the Wildcats. Instead, it now stands at 58-61.

His best player, 6-foot-4 John Rigatti, graduated last year after four seasons on the roster. This roster that began with eight players has one senior, one sophomore, four freshmen, and two 8th graders.

And some decent size, especially for a 3A program. There’s 6-1 senior Damon Browne, 6-1 freshman Oliver Elsbrook, 5-11 freshman Liam Downs, 5-11 sophomore Daniel Utter, 5-10 8th grader Cameron Motola, 5-9 freshman Edgar Hernandez, 5-8 eighth grader Cyrus Curtis, and 5-7 freshman Simon Valenzuela.

But it’s difficult to coach a team when you sometimes don’t have enough players on hand to practice. But when you coach for as long as Ernie has, you have to take it in stride and hope enough players show up, which he will know later today.

This does not only relate to basketball. One year when Frank Lucero was Monte del Sol’s athletic director and head baseball coach, he several times had to report “No game today,” If he didn’t have enough players.