ANAHEIM – Get in trouble or play basketball.
Those were the choices Savanna senior Michael Enis had growing up in Compton.
He was kept away from trouble by his father, who taught him how to hold his own against older kids in recreational and YMCA leagues. Enis wasn’t a natural, by any means, but basketball quickly became a love, a way of life.
“I had to work on basketball,” he said. “But it was something I always loved to do.”
Enis often struggled with grades, however, and his father regularly threatened to take basketball away if those grades didn’t improve. Enis always did just enough to keep his father happy and be able to continue playing.
“For me, taking basketball away, that would be like taking away everything,” he said.
Enis’ family moved to Anaheim his eighth-grade year, and he played freshman ball at Savanna in 2012.
He goofed around in class as a sophomore and his grades suffered. Enis was cut from the Rebels junior varsity team that winter, missing the entire season.
“That was the worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life, man,” he said. “I disappointed my team. I disappointed myself, disappointed my parents, my family. I let a lot of people down. It was horrible.”
Enis concentrated wholly on school that year. He quit talking in class, quit being the center of attention. He attended tutoring sessions. He asked former teammates for help. He stayed up late doing homework, studying. His GPA rose to a 3.0 by the end of the school year, and first-year Savanna coach John Konrad let Enis try out for varsity as a junior.
He made the team.
“For coach to let me come back, that was a blessing,” said Enis, who now has a 3.5 GPA.
Enis is a score-first point guard. His 3-point shot could use some work (he’s shooting 25 percent this season from that distance), but he shoots exceptionally well from 15-18 feet, and he regularly gets to the basket.
He is fearless driving to the basket, a compact guard unafraid of contact, with the body control and strength to finish through it. He’s been getting to the rim since grade school, when he’d throw his body into grown men’s chests playing in Compton.
“They don’t care if you’re little; they don’t call fouls out there,” he joked.
Savanna’s offense purrs with Enis balancing his roles within it. He’s a willing passer, and the gravitational pull he has on a defense leaves shooters open on the perimeter.
Konrad said Enis improved defensively in the offseason. Enis is long for a 5-foot-10 guard, and quick enough to be in two places at one time. Deflections at the top of a zone and steals in man-to-man defense lead to fast-break opportunities, and Enis swipes his share of lazy passes.
“He’s their (go-to) guy,” said Yorba Linda coach Jason Pietsch, whose Mustangs lost to Savanna, 67-63, earlier this season. “He has confidence, and he has an ability to drive, create his own shot and shoot it from anywhere on the floor. He’s as good a guard as we’ve faced this season.”
Enis felt that last year he tried to make too much of an imprint on games. He said he often did too much with the ball in his hands, forcing action that resulted in turnovers and poor shot selections.
He’s beginning to let the game come to him now, and he thanks his teammates for calming him down during games. He’s playing more relaxed than ever, and it shows in his demeanor.
Basketball is much easier when played under control, he said. As a result, Enis is averaging 22 points per game this season, among the top four in Orange County.
“Normally, kids don’t live up to their full potential,” Konrad said, “but Michael fights for everything he gets.”
Santa Ana College, Irvine Valley College and a handful of Division III universities have contacted Konrad regarding his prized point guard. Enis is holding out for a call from a Division I or II program. He’s OK with waiting. He’s only recently landed on their radars.
In the meantime, Enis plays the game he loves, and that likely saved him in more ways than one.
“Basketball is my outlet,” he said. “If I’m not doing anything, instead of going to parties, I go to the gym and work out. Instead of doing something stupid with my friends, I go to the gym and work out.
“Basketball’s something I love to do. I’m born to play, and I thank God for that talent.”
Contact the writer: bwhitehead@ocregister.com
