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SAN JOSE — Archbishop Mitty celebrates its heroes. On the gym wall, poster-sized images of past Monarchs greats — Brandi Chastain, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Danielle Robinson, Mitch Haniger and Aaron Gordon — are there for all to see.
Friday night, one of those images came to life.
Aaron Gordon, still only 24, was back in the gym where it all began, where the now Orlando Magic star electrified crowds and deflated opponents with posterizing dunks, jaw-dropping blocks and complete and utter dominance that added to the school’s championship banner collection in the rafters.
Mitty gave back Friday, retiring AG’s high school number 32 during a ceremony at halftime of the school’s blowout victory over St. Ignatius.
Gordon and the Magic, many of whom joined their teammate for his special night, are in the Bay Area to play the Warriors on Saturday.
“What’s going on y’all,” Gordon said as the packed student section erupted. “I cannot say thank you enough for everybody that came out. My teammates. My coaching staff. It means so much to see you guys out here. It’s pretty special. More special than getting my jersey retired is the community that Mitty provided. I remember running around here at 9 years old.”
The crowd chanted Gordon’s name when he entered the gym during warmups and ignited the current players to score the first 24 points, which included a Nigel Burris dunk that lifted Gordon from his seat.
Mitty won 85-39.
“I told my friend, Mike Mitchell, that I was going to get a dunk,” Burris said. “I saw Aaron. I was laughing a little bit. He’s an inspiration at this school.”
The memories Gordon created during a historic four-year high school run don’t need to be refreshed for those who were there to witness those days.
They are unforgettable.
JT Hanley, who helped coordinate media interviews during the Gordon era, used to have an office just a few feet from the gym floor. Commuting from his home in Oakland, Hanley would arrive for work early to beat the rush.
But he couldn’t beat Gordon.
“Aaron was in here, in the gym, doing work on his own practically every morning his entire time here,” said Hanley, the school’s longtime girls soccer coach. “A lot of times he was working literally just with a ball, doing his own thing. Those are the things that I feel blessed to have been able to see because the talent is obvious, right?”
The talent sent Mitty soaring to the top. The Monarchs won Division II state championships when Gordon was a sophomore and a junior, then were the runners-up to Mater Dei in the inaugural Open Division state final when Gordon was a senior.
Along the way, Gordon was named the state’s Mr. Basketball by Cal-Hi Sports in his final two high school seasons and broke Central Coast Section career scoring and rebounding records.
He recently was named player of the decade by this news organization.
“You don’t need to be a basketball expert to see his technical ability and his intelligence and his athleticism,” Hanley said. “But the thing that very few people know is how hard that kid was grinding when he was here. He could have just turned up and stayed in shape and still been the best player in the section and been a big-time recruit and got his ticket punched.
“But he’s one of the two or three hardest working athletes that I’ve ever been around in my 25 years in high school. And I think that everything he’s gotten — the accolades Friday night, all the success he had here, the scholarship, making it to the league, everything that’s happened to him — has a been byproduct of the fact that he works exceedingly hard.”
Tim Kennedy had a bird’s eye view of the Gordon years, as the head coach who kept the team pointed in the right direction.
Now in his 12th season, Kennedy said, laughing, “I was a much better coach when I coached Aaron Gordon.”
Mitty remains one of the area’s top programs, but the Gordon years were a sight to behold. Not only were Gordon’s dunks YouTube sensations, but he did it while playing in the framework of a team — a team that had bigger goals than its superstar bringing crowds to their feet with highlight-reel moments.
“You look back on it with fond memories because just the way he carried himself and what he could do to a team, the way he carried himself in practice,” Kennedy said. “It’s definitely fun to look back on.”
Gordon has given back since leaving the University of Arizona after one season and being drafted No. 4 overall by the Magic in the 2014 NBA draft.
During one of his youth camps at Mitty a few years ago, he preached his love for basketball, adding, “I hope to see some of these kids in the pros. I really do. I hope basketball can take them as far as it’s taken me.”
Basketball propelled Gordon to the top, a penthouse view well above the rim.
Friday, at the high school where his older siblings, brother Drew and sister Elisabeth, starred before him, AG became the program’s first player to have his jersey retired.
“It’s just a beautiful thing to come full circle and come back to my high school,” Gordon said, acknowledging the high school coaches who helped him develop. “It’s a community that has shown me so much love. I cannot say thank you enough. It’s an honor. It’s a privilege. It’s very, very special.”
