Winning basketball championships in the Tatum family has become commonplace in recent years.
Last June, former Chaminade College Prep All-American Jayson Tatum led the Boston Celtics to its record 18th National Basketball Association championship.
His father, Justin Tatum, is now also a professional sports champion. The elder Tatum coached the Illawarra Hawks to the championship of the National Basketball League, the top professional league in Australia.
The Hawks defeated Melbourne United 114-104 in the fifth and deciding game of the best of five NBL championship series. Among the most excited fans was of course Jayson, who sent a taped video message to his father before the deciding fifth game for his team to watch. Jayson and his Celtics teammates also watched the game.
Tatum was a successful high school coach in St. Louis before moving to Australia. He led Soldan to a state championship in 2012 and CBC to state championships in 2014 and 2022. After the 2023 season, he ventured to the “Land Down Under” to begin his professional career.
He was an assistant coach for the Hawks last season when he was promoted to the top spot after a 2-7 start. Tatum immediately turned the Hawks around and led them to the NBL playoffs.
In his first full season at the helm, Tatum led the Hawks to the best record in the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, and eventually the championship.
Lorenzo Brinkley to Lutheran North
Lorenzo Brinkley was tabbed as the new head football coach at Lutheran North. Brinkley replaces Kyle Wagner, who left to become an assistant coach at Sacramento State after leading the Crusaders to the Class 4 state championship.
Brinkley is a veteran coach who has spent many years on the sidelines as a head coach and assistant coach. He was an offensive coordinator for Kirkwood High for two state championship teams under two different head coaches. He was also a head coach at Beaumont and Hazelwood East during his career.
Earl’s World
Incarnate Word Academy girls’ basketball standout Nevaeh Caffey was named Miss Show Me Basketball in the state of Missouri. The 5’10” senior guard averaged 17 points a game to lead the Red Knights to the Class 6 state championship. She is headed to the University of Indiana…Sophomore Scottie Adkinson of Webster Groves was selected as the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Missouri. The 6’3” Adkinson averaged 24 points in leading the Statesmen to the Class 5 state championship…The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament resumes this weekend with the Final Four in San Antonio. It’s Duke vs. Houston and Florida vs. Auburn. There is a familiar face on the Duke sidelines in Blue Devils assistant coach Chris Carrawell. He is the top assistant for head coach John Scheyer. Carrawell was a former star player at Cardinal Ritter who was a standout player at Duke from 1997-2000. Carrawell served as head coach on January 4 when Scheyer was ill and coached the Blue Devils to a win at SMU…Paige Bueckers and UCONN topped USC on Monday night to reach the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Final Four. USC’s injured JuJu Watkins did not play in the game which could have set a women’s college basketball viewership record…Coach Niele Ivey, a St. Louis native, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost to Big 12 power TCU in a Sweet 16 game…After injuring his ankle and missing a game at Phoenix, Jayson Tatum returned on Saturday to score 29 points and lead the Boston Celtics over San Antonio 121-111.