Hall of Famers ran on this old surface, their Converse shoes squeaking and stopping, and they fired shots at the rims that have found a new home in this bandbox of a gymnasium.

Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Rick Barry, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor – greats from a rustic NBA era – played on this hardwood and aimed at these hoops that the Warriors used for years in the 1960s.

The antique floor and baskets are now property of Valley Christian Academy, a K-12 school tucked away in a Roseville back alley, which is fitting for a small-school Division V program. Valley Christian bought the court and hoops 17 years ago at a Bay Area storage facility.

"It's a cozy old school here, and the floor and baskets are perfect for us," Valley Christian boys coach Brad Gunter said, pointing out the perks. "Dead spots everywhere, too. We know how to use them."

Valley Christian is an example of how far D-V athletics have come. Twenty years ago, D-V hoops was mostly played outdoors, on the blacktop, with fold-out seats and flip charts used as a scoreboard. Umbrellas were always nearby.

"Very true, and sometimes you had rainouts," Gunter said. "With a K-12 school, you might have a fourth-grade point guard passing to a senior post. No one took us seriously."

D-V is a great deal more legitimate now. The high school enrollments are in the 200s – sometimes much less – but the quest for titles is as broad as the larger schools.

Gunter grew up at Valley Christian. He has coached championship basketball and baseball teams for 16 seasons. His father, Brad Sr., is the school's pastor.

Valley Christian is 19-6 and ranks first in the state in scoring behind 6-foot-3 guard Jason Gish. The Lions have won 16 consecutive games since falling to the region's even smaller power - D-VI Victory Christian of Carmichael.

Victory Christian's girls team is also a force, led by Molly Huffman, the daughter of former Sacramento State coach Sue Huffman.

Gunter used his face to motivate his team. The former Sierra College and semipro pitcher used to sport a reddish goatee that was so long, he could part it and wrap it around his ears. He sheared it in half after the Lions' last loss. His players vow to have someone take it all off if there's another loss. Gunter, of course, embraces his goatee the way the players do their storied floor.

New job for Rolin

Andrew Rolin from Cordova has impressed as a football recruiter and assistant coach at the University of San Diego. Known as "Donk" – he kicked wildly in his sleep as a kid, hence the nickname of "Donkey," shortened to Donk – Rolin has been hired as an offensive assistant at Washington. If he could get scores of recruits to nonscholarship San Diego, imagine what he can do for the Huskies.

Rolin's playing days started with the youth football Orangevale Huskies, named after the Washington Huskies.

How's that for karma?

Around the horn

• Former major leaguer Larry Bowa told Sac State baseball players during a fundraiser he was overwhelmed in his first professional game, striking out four times as a minor leaguer. After telling his manager it would be wise to ship him back to Sacramento, Bowa was reminded that the pitcher he faced – a prospect named Nolan Ryan – was highly touted.

• Jermaine Dye will become the first Cosumnes River College man to be inducted into the California Community College Sports Hall of Fame on April 4. He played baseball in 1993 for CRC and went on to become the MVP of the 2005 World Series with the Chicago White Sox.

• Former major league grinder F.P. Santangelo, who played at Oak Ridge High and Sacramento City College, threw out the first pitch for Sac State on Friday against Cal State Northridge. Santangelo is a color commentator for the Washington Nationals.

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