Meet Kenny Hatch

Another golden oldie and still a worthwhile read - KM

Neither Kenny Hatch's middle name or nickname is Sisyphus even though much of his hoops life resembles a perpetual scenario of dribbling a basketball uphill. From his days as a 4-foot-11 freshman at St. Ignatius (SI) until his success at Cañada College, forsaking the game he cherishes would have been the easier route but such was never a consideration despite the numerous rejections and naysayers.

St. Ignatius

At 4-foot-11 and 97 pounds and after seven years of playing Pop Warner football, Hatch tried out for the freshman football team at SI. "I was cut and warned that I would get hurt." Undeterred, he then threw his energy into a basketball tryout. "I made the freshman B team. We had a good season and I had fun."

The time to try out for the St. Ignatius summer league team came late in the school year. "I got cut. Again, I was told I was too small. It was heartbreaking and I cried on the way home."

Devastated at being turned away again, Hatch decided to transfer and "go play somewhere else." That turned out to be Jefferson High in Daly City. "Jefferson is where I had spent most of my childhood because that is where I played Pop Warner football, and I knew my best friends were there, that’s why I decided to go there. I grew to 5-foot-1 and made the JV basketball team." He also played football and ran track. "They gave me the opportunity to play the sports I loved."

Growth in Size and Athletic Ability

Late in the year at Jefferson, "I started to grow a bit." Sprouting up to full-fledged 5-foot-6, "I also began to develop athletically." But missing the academic challenge, Hatch transferred back to St. Ignatius despite his athletic history there.

"I tried out for the summer league varsity team but they cut me. They told me I could play JV as a junior and I didn't hesitate, I said ‘yes.' I had to go to the JV tryouts for the next week and I did well -- I was the most capable player on the floor." But Hatch was soon cut from the summer league junior varsity squad. "This part did not make sense to me because I knew the JV team needed a point guard. After the season was over that year, the head coach of the JV team told me that they could have used me during the season and regretted I wasn’t on the team."

Re-assessing his hoops future and swallowing his pride, Hatch spent his junior year as the varsity team manager, "keeping stats, shooting game film and getting the guys water. It was difficult to put my ego aside."

But as he recalled, "that's when it clicked. I had to give them no reason not to be on the team as a senior. I spent every day at the Olympic Club working out for two or three hours in an empty gym. I worked out all year. I was more prepared. I had been waiting for summer league tryouts, and knew that I was ready. But I got cut again."

Then Hatch received a call one afternoon while at home that summer. It was Tim Reardon, the SI varsity coach. "He needed players for a tournament in Marin. I remember driving so fast across the bridge because I was excited and that’s how I finally made the team."

The Outcome?

"I worked my butt off in practice and I played good minutes each game as a senior. I actually started a few games that year, and earned the Coaches’ Award which is given to the player that works the hardest throughout the year. I averaged 2.2 points per game or something like that. But it felt good that I had finally been apart of the team."

Kansas Not Calling

"My dream was to play in college as a walk-on at Kansas." So Hatch departed for Lawrence, KS determined to convince Coach Bill Self to offer him a spot on the Jayhawk roster. The reality: "I couldn't get a call back from anyone. I spent the whole year playing on a club team in Lawrence. We were really good, winning tournaments at the University of Nebraska, and North Carolina State. But I knew that I was too young to be playing club basketball and a good friend of mine, Doug Compton, and I talked about how I should go back to California and play junior college ball. I had another friend of mine, Jason Garcia, playing at Cañada at the time, who helped me orchestrate the whole thing. He got me in contact with Coach Stanley."

So in December, "I decided I really wanted to play." Hatch finished out the academic year at Kansas and returned home. He selected Cañada College as the place to begin fulfilling his basketball destiny.

Cañada Hoops

"I actually had to pay for the summer basketball class, just so that I could tryout at Cañada." Summer workouts began and a point guard from San Diego played in front of Hatch, and with direct honesty, Hatch said, "he was better than me." Then Cañada Coach Matt Stanley left for the same job at Foothill College and Mike Reynoso, Stanley's assistant, became the head coach. Also, the point guard who was limiting Hatch's playing time followed Stanley to Los Altos Hills. "This opened up the starting spot for me which was a great opportunity."

"We went 5-22 and it was one of the hardest years of my life. I didn't understand the game well and I wasn't very smart. Coach Reynoso challenged me to get me better." Hatch started 17 of 27 games that year for the Colts and averaged 10.5 points an outing during 2013-14 season play.

One thought was constantly on Hatch's mind in the off-season: "I need to get a scholarship." Otherwise, his college-playing days would be coming to an end. "I just stayed in the gym. I had built close relationships with Israel Hakim, Rohndell Goodwin, and Crisshawn Clark. Everyday, these guys would challenge me physically and mentally to keep improving on different aspects of my game. We would spend hours playing 1 on 1, arguing over every play because we care about this game. Without those guys, I would not be where I am today. It was the most challenging off-season -- guys were passing out during conditioning. I just kept thinking that this guy (Coach Reynoso) will help me get a scholarship."

Cañada finished 24-7 in the 2014-15 season with Hatch starting 30 games and averaging 8.3 points plus 4.0 assists. "We were one shot away from the conference championship and we went to the Final Four in Los Angeles." Cañada's impressive playoff run concluded when the Colts fell 75-68 to eventual state champion Saddleback College.

In that game, Hatch made what turned out to be the play of his basketball life to date. "I had just turned the ball over, so I knew I had to get the ball back. It was at mid-court where I tipped the ball away from their point guard. I dove on the ball, got fouled and hit the free throws. (Texas A&M International) Coach (Bryan) Weakley was in the stands watching the game. Later, he told me that play convinced him to offer me a scholarship because he wanted guys who hustled."

On to Texas A&M International (TAMIU)

"So I got my scholarship." He headed off to Laredo Texas, located on the border with Mexico, to play four-year ball NCAA Division II college basketball.

"It was a huge challenge both in my basketball life and personally. I was expecting to come in and get straight to work, possibly earn a starting spot, and put up big numbers. I was very wrong. At TAMIU, it was about team. Everything was about how to build a strong team, and for me as a point guard, how to lead a team. Coach Weakley and Coach Taylor challenged me everyday and exploited every single one of my weakness, until I turned them into strengths. It was the reality of being comfortable, with being uncomfortable, and allowing myself to be coached, even when I was being stubborn. With the help of my former teammates Anthony Alston, Denzel Bellot, and Jake Eynon, I was able to grow as a player and as a man. Those three guys helped me stay motivated in times where it seemed I could do no right. I will be forever thankful for my time in Laredo."

Did he succeed?

In Hatch's senior year, the Dustdevils won the Heartland Conference championship despite being on a team picked to finish 7th in the pre-season league poll -- "our rings are coming." He started every game, but two, scoring 8.8 points a contest alongside 3.2 assists and a team-high 51 steals, which led the Heartland Conference.

España

"I knew that I wanted to play basketball professionally. I spent most of the spring and summer emailing European teams and trying to network to find the right opportunity to play. I was initially looking to play in England, and had signed a contract with a team down in South England. I actually spent some time out there this summer, in June, and was excited to start the year off in there. Days after I initially signed the contract, I received an email that said the Head Coach just received news that another Point Guard had become available, and that they will no longer be needing my services for the upcoming year. It was nothing I hadn’t heard before, so I got on the plane home and started to look for my next opportunity to play."

"It wasn’t looking good for my dream of playing professionally, and summer seemed to becoming to a close. My dad actually sent me an email about this camp in Girona, Spain. The camp was basically an exposure game, and I thought that this could be a great opportunity. Basically, the camp is for one month, and in that time, you play games against other Spanish teams, in front of Spanish Coaches, and if they like you, they will invite you on a tryout to their team. If the team likes what they see during the week-long tryout, they will offer you a contract for the year. And if you do not earn a tryout or contract, you go home. So I packed my bags and bought a one-way ticket to Spain, confident that I wasn’t coming home, and told my mom that I will be signing a contract. After being at the camp for 6 days, I was invited to a tryout in Gijon, Spain. I had to first take the train to Barcelona, which was like 40 minutes. And from Barcelona, I had to take the train to Gijon, which was 11 hours. I arrived in Gijon on Friday Night, at midnight. I spent Saturday walking around the city, and a brief practice in the evening, because I was going to be playing with the team in a friendly game on Sunday Night. I was thinking to myself, when I get out there on Sunday, I’m not gonna give them any reason why they shouldn’t sign me. I think I finished the game with close to 30 points and 7 or 8 assists. The next day, the coach said that they want to offer me a contract. I immediately texted my family the good news, and they were so excited for me."

Rather than settling on a good run and separating from basketball, Hatch recently signed a contract with the Gijon Basket 2015 team based in Gijon, Spain. "Right now we're practicing four days a week for the upcoming season. I lucked out because I understand Spanish and I speak a bit too" as spending those two years in Laredo provided a valuable if unexpected payoff.

Hatch kept his academics in order despite whatever was happening with him in basketball. He utilized the litany of 'we won't beneeding your services' as fuel to intensify inner fire and he never blamed or lashed out at anyone, simply accepting his 'disinvitations' as challenges to work even harder.

Advice and Future Plans

His advice to high schoolers and junior college ballers:  "I would say don't let someone talk you out of your goals and make sure you are working hard every day. Try your hardest with no excuses. Get past the doubts in your head and you'll reap the benefits down the road."

About his plans for 10 or 15 years from now, Hatch said, "I want to still be playing basketball. I have a passion to play this game. I want to build a brand of my own and develop players. My way of influencing people is through this sport."

Lastly, he offered, "there is no way I do this without the support of my parents and my three sisters—the majority of credit I give to them. I doubted myself tons of times but I credit them for understanding the bigger picture.  I'm still in the process of writing my story."

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Hatch is currently back in the Bay Area working in basketball training and skills development.