“The Greatest Team That Never Happened”

Yes, we all know about the Industry teams to follow in mid-2012, 2013 and in 2014. However, a common question that is asked is what happened to the team before Varsity.

Following the 2011 run, Coach Troy was at it again, but this time Coach Troy wanted to take Industry on the road once again. This time around, Beverly found a tournament in Palm Springs known as the Duel In The Desert. With the financial support of the City of Industry Youth Activities League, Team Industry had two months to prepare for the big tournament. Now the only thing was can Industry recruit the players it needed to capture Championship number two.

Right out the gate Team Industry welcomed back four of its nine players from 2011. However, as the tournament drew near, Industry needed more players. Suddenly Industry would soon be represented by players from Bishop Amat, Bonita and Glendora. Not to mention, several of those players were from old rivals Inside Moves and HeadStart from the previous year. With the right pieces, Industry was looking like a perennial powerhouse in the making.

With twelve players deep, Team Industry also welcomed back Ron Atmore who volunteered his time to help out at Team Industry practices. With four practices in, Team Industry looked very solid as the road to the Duel In The Desert drew near.

However, with two weeks left until the Duel In The Desert something happened…..players started disappearing. Due to other commitments with other travel teams or school, players started dropping out. What started off as twelve players went to four within a span of three weeks. Team Industry would later drop out of the Duel In The Desert and cancelled their spring season altogether.

Now what needs to be addressed is what makes this team the greatest team that never happened. Of the twelve players this team had, all twelve ended up either practicing or playing with their perspective varsity teams their Freshmen year. So if you put two and two together, Team Industry would’ve had the entire Class of 2015 thus making Industry a force to be reckoned with for the next three years.

Even though it seemed like it was all for nothing, this team made everyone sit back and think. This team made you think the question what if. What if this team happened? How far would we have gone in Palm Springs? Would we have won the Duel In The Desert? How far would we have gone in defending our crown in the Nothin’ But Net Spring League. How many new players would Team Industry have acquired along the road? Better yet, how many championships could this team have won in the span of three years? I guess we’ll never know, but what we do know is in mid-August, the landscape of Team Industry Basketball completely changed. Team Industry made the transition from Freshman Team to Varsity Team and it all started with a phone call.

To Be Continued…….

Next Entry: “Welcome To Varsity (2012)”