Fatherhood comes first for coach

He’s been there for his daughter, Dezzirae, a standout player on Westmoor, for all of her life. Dezzirae’s mom, Mignon Jackson, was absent during Dezzirae’s childhood, but Jackson has been involved in Dezzirae’s life for the last four years, and attends every Westmoor game. Corey Cafferata knows the biggest impact he can make in life is to be a father first, a coach second.

"During my playing days, if I wanted to shoot jumpers at midnight or 6 a.m., I’d take her with me so I could watch over her,” he said. "I know it was tough for Dezzirae to grow up without a mom, so I had to be the best father I could be. Ultimately, I’ll be most proud of how I raise my kid.”

Along with the rest of the 10 girls on the Westmoor team. Cafferata shuttles his team around in a purple van — you didn’t think it’d be vanilla white, did you? — a purchase he made on his own dime. He proudly says he’s never lost a player to eligibility, and has an answer for critics who question his methods regarding the four transfers he’s had in his four years at Westmoor.

"The day I have to recruit, then that’s the day I shouldn’t be coaching anymore,” Cafferata said. "People on the street stop me a lot and ask me, ‘What do I have to do to get my daughter to play for you?’ I’ll take it as a compliment, but I’ll tell them that if they live in the district, take it up with the principal.”

Cafferata’s main goal is to get his players an education, and if basketball can help facilitate a degree in higher learning, all the better. He drives thousands of miles each summer and during the high school season to get his girls plenty of exposure to increase their chances of landing a scholarship. His starting point guard, Daniela Nopuente, has earned a scholarship to University of the Pacific, and Humboldt State has just offered Claudia Nelson, the Rams’ best defender, a basketball scholarship. In addition, he wants to be there for every one of them, and has helped silence the doubters. In Cafferata’s first year at Westmoor, the Rams stunned everyone with a 12-13 season, advancing to a play-in game in the CCS Division II playoffs. They lost to Woodside on a last-second shot, but a precedent was set.

"I’ll never forget when a teacher on faculty asked me why I was doing this,” Cafferata said. "She told us we were going to get blown out. Not only that, but at the game we get introduced as ‘Westmont.’”

The Rams’ style of play resemble the way NBA teams played in the 1980s — run-and-gun, fast and furious. It was an era when Magic Johnson was running "Showtime,” and it’s no coincidence that Westmoor employs the same high-octane attack. During his playing days, first at Jefferson and Oceana, Cafferata was a flashy scoring point guard, never meeting a shot he didn’t like. He led the North Peninsula League in scoring during his senior year at Oceana in Pacifica, averaging 21 points per game. He went on to play at Sacramento City, Cosumnes River, New College in San Francisco and Race Express, a minor league men’s basketball team. Cafferata admitted he could never stay at one place too long because of an overinflated ego.

"The reason why I moved so much was because I was uncoachable,” he said. "I thought I was better than I was, and blamed the coach before I would blame myself.”

Cafferata still has game, and will go down to Mexico in June to compete in a minor league basketball tournament. No one can question his toughness, either. Cafferata managed to play his junior and senior years of high school not knowing he was a diabetic. During a practice at Skyline College in 1988, he collapsed on the court, and was hospitalized for six days. In the next few weeks, he lost over 20 pounds, his body whittling away. For the rest of his life, he’ll have to take five shots of insulin a day, plus a couple of pills to keep his diabetes under control.

"I know in the long run, diabetes will eventually get me,” he said. "But it hasn’t slowed me down.”

Of that, there is little doubt.

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