186-87 GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PREVIEW : PLIGHT TURNS INTO FIGHT : It’s a Conflict of 2 Sports, Not Interest, for Seabrook

Around and around they go . . . and where Robin stops, nobody knows.

Put yourself in Robin Seabrook’s position for a moment. You are a 16-year-old at La Habra High School with Division I potential in basketball and volleyball.

You already are getting letters from schools such as Stanford, UCLA, Oregon State and Michigan. Last year, Arizona State thought you were a senior and wanted to recruit you for basketball. So, your coach and father figure, John Koehler, had to inform them you’re only a sophomore.

Your high school days have been spent dashing up and down the basketball court, then dashing off to volleyball practice. The reverse is true during the high school volleyball season. Oh yes, you must keep up the grades if you want to keep participating. You’ve been able to do that.

A career in law interests you. But the idea of becoming a fashion designer in Paris beckons like a light in the distance.

Robin Seabrook wants to have it all. Now.

Seabrook is happy with the way things have gone so far. She recently was named Most Valuable Player in the Freeway League for volleyball. It looks good next to last year’s league MVP award in basketball.

But there’s one problem during this happy hour. And it has been bubbling underneath the surface and threatens to explode at any time.

Seabrook and Koehler are fighting a tug of war. Seabrook doesn’t want to lose her volleyball skills during basketball season, which means she must continue playing in top-level club competition.

Until this year, Koehler has given her some slack, allowing Seabrook to play club volleyball during basketball season. He never really liked the idea. Now Koehler has asked Seabrook to devote herself to basketball until the season ends.

Koehler says if he finds that Seabrook is playing club volleyball, she’ll be spending more time on the bench than trying to break a full-court press.

Will she or won’t she quit club volleyball?

“No comment,” Seabrook said with a smile.

You’ll notice she didn’t say no.

Around and around they go . . . where they stop nobody knows.

John Koehler doesn’t look like the type to impose his will. He and Seabrook are the closest of friends. They spend a lot of time talking in his office about everything. In fact, they established a ritual last year. Before most games, Seabrook would have dinner with Koehler and his wife at their house. Then, after some homework, they’d go to the game.

In a sense, Koehler is almost a second father to Seabrook. Her father, Roy, died when Robin was in eighth grade. At the time, her older sister, Rochell was playing for Koehler. He established a close friendship with Rochell, and did the same when Robin arrived at La Habra.

So, Koehler’s request doesn’t come from selfishness. He wants the best for her. The coach is the first to say he wants his players to participate in other sports. He encourages it. However, Koehler wants the girls to concentrate on basketball during the season.

But Seabrook’s situation is different. Most athletes would give anything to have her talent. But it is Seabrook’s athletic versatility that could be her downfall.

“This will probably keep going on and on,” Koehler said. “I doubt if she’ll ever reach her full potential in high school because she doesn’t give herself that chance. She can do both well . . . if she could do one at a time. You can be good, but you can’t be at the top of your game if you do both at the same time.

“She’s just a skilled athletic talent in anything she wants to do. I think she could do anything she wanted with a little bit of work. But by doing this, she’ll be the jack of all trades and the master of none. Basketball takes away from volleyball and it’s just the same the other way around.”

Seabrook shows her versatility in basketball. Although she’s 6-feet, Koehler plans to have Seabrook play point guard against the press because of her dribbling skills. Against a man-to-man defense, she’ll play outside.

Last season, she averaged 19.3 points and 17.1 rebounds, a significant improvement from her freshman year when she averaged 12.2 points and 11 rebounds.

“If she’s not the best player in Orange County, she’s right up there,” Koehler said. “The best pure shooter is probably (Carrie) Egan. But they’re both different types of ball players. I’d like to have both on my team.”

The volleyball versus basketball situation arises in any conversation about Seabrook.

She needs to stay away from volleyball during basketball. There’s no telling how good she could be if she did.

It’s a common refrain to the song Koehler has been singing since Seabrook stepped on campus.

Now for Seabrook’s side.

Seabrook doesn’t look or act like an unreasonable teen-ager who would clash with her coach and close friend.

She talks of Koehler with respect. He has taken Seabrook past the basics her father started to teach her in fourth grade.

But she doesn’t share Koehler’s view about sticking to one sport at a time.

“I feel I’m giving the team 100%,” she said. “I’ve left volleyball tournaments early, even before championship games, just to come home to practice. I’ve never missed a practice. I’d never put it (basketball) second during the season. I don’t think it’s affecting the way I play.”

Someday, somewhere, Seabrook will have to make the choice. Most top-flight Division I schools wouldn’t let an athlete play both sports. Even if a school did relent, the schedules conflict for a short time.

Deep down, she knows she could be a better player if she stuck by Koehler’s rules.

“I think if I went to one sport I could get better,” Seabrook said. “It would be a really hard thing to do. I’m the kind of person who wants to be the best I can. I don’t want to specialize. I know in college I won’t be able to do both.”

Koehler doesn’t want to force Seabrook to specialize. He simply wants her complete devotion to basketball between November and March.

And, there’s another factor that tips the scales in his favor--Seabrook’s teammates. Koehler worries about what would happen if Seabrook were injured during a club volleyball match.

“We have a chance to win the league and do well in CIF,” he said. “If she plays it (volleyball) and gets hurt, it lets down her team. The club volleyball team can just pick up another player. I can’t do that. While they might not get someone quite as good as Robin, they can get someone just a little bit under her level. I can’t do that, there’s nobody else left in school.”

The problem hasn’t caused a large rift on the team. Seabrook hasn’t been confronted by any of her teammates. But Koehler says some players have expressed their concern to him.

So, what happens next in this tug of wills?

“If she’s playing club volleyball, I’ll be able to tell,” Koehler said. “If she takes 45 minutes to find her touch in practice, I’ll know what’s going on.”

As for Seabrook . . . she doesn’t like to talk about her plans.

“I’m the kind of person who likes to take risks,” she said.

Around and around they go . . . and where she stops, nobody knows.