genung signs with Air Force

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Redlands' Danny Genung
Signs With Air Force--(Apr. 27, 2000)

We received an e-mail from Randy Genung, who happens to be not only the boys' varsity head coach at Redlands, but also the father of Danny Genung (6'-7" Sr. PF/SF) who was the leading scorer this year in San Bernardino County, averaging about 25 ppg, has signed with the Air Force Academy. Genung also played with BWBA last summer and fall on their travel teams, and he's a skillful low post player. The Redlands Daily Facts (one of the local papers affiliated with the Daily New, Long Beach Press-Telegram, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, and the Pasadena Star-News) had a nice feature on Danny's signing. Here are some excerpts (Note, they got the headline wrong, and unless Randy has decided to enlist in the military, we assume that he'll continue to coach at Redlands, at least until Alex Graham (7'-0" Jr. C) makes up his mind about where he'll attend college :^). Here are some excerpts from the story:

Randy Genung signs with Air Force Academy

BASKETBALL: Genung's days at Redlands, balanced by both basketball and
bookwork, will land him a five-year stay in Colorado.

By OBREY BROWN
Sports Editor

REDLANDS - Danny Genung huddled in with some of the closest people in his life, along with one of the most powerful men in the country on Tuesday. This was a special occasion. Jerry Lewis, the Republican congressman whose local office is at the corner of Tennessee and Brookside, extended his hand to Redlands High School's senior. Said Lewis: "He'll make a great contribution to the country."

Genung committed himself to the Air Force Academy, which will be a major lifestyle change once boot camp begins at the
Colorado Springs campus on June 28. "The appointment," said Genung, who carries a 22.6-point scoring average and a 4.06 grade point average into his June graduation, "came right around Christmas time." There were other offers, including a chance to play at the University of Redlands. But the local campus wasn't about to finance Genung's education which, at Air Force, could run up to a half-million dollars.

[Wow. . . we've heard about those inflated military prices for things like airplanes, and even those little hammers, those $5,000 ashtrays, and $600 toilet seats that our government pays military contractors . . . but $500,000 for a college education? Man. . . ., we're in the wrong business. . . ]

Just as appealing, perhaps, were numbers like 55 percent of Academy cadets leave with a Master's degree, or 45 percent who earn a doctorate's degree. "I have two years," says Genung, the son of longtime basketball coach Randy Genung, and Cindy Genung, "to decide what I'll major in. Everyone graduates with a (Bachelor of Science)."

As for the basketball side of life, Genung will be joining a team that has plenty of returning starters, a new coach (onetime six-year Princeton University assistant) and a 4,400-seat arena. "When I'm up there," says Genung, whose Redlands team finished dead last in the Citrus Belt League, "I'm probably going to be a role player. I had a lot of fun doing that when I was a sophomore."

Genung didn't stack the deck with easy classes, mostly Advanced Placement courses. He won't be the only RHS graduate who will leave Redlands for a strong academic-athletic environment in the college ranks. Some 18 area cadet hopefuls, including five from Redlands, were interviewed for their appointments through Lewis' office. Out of 47,000 applicants throughout the nation, only 1,250 received the nod.

Danny Genung says basketball may have played a strong part in that decision. "They recruited me to play there," he said. "The grades helped get me there." Surrounded by friends, family, school officials, including RHS principal Bob Denham, Genung inked the Air Force Academy commitment paper, making his future official.

He chatted with Lewis, who credited Genung's parents for their part in Danny's education. "Anybody who does well enough," said Lewis, "and has demonstrated this kind of academic excellenece, you know their parents have done something right." The congressman cited a study. "Most important," said Lewis, "was that the child's mother's attitude toward education was important." Cadets are required to take 19-21 units, rise at 6 a.m., and the campus activities aren't made any easier if the students happen to be athletes. "He could've taken the easy way out," says Cindy Genung.

Having passed several A.P. courses, which could have put him halfway through his sophomore year at many colleges, Air Force has no such shortcuts. "It's a price you've got to pay," said Genung. "The No. 1 reason that I'm going there is that everybody cares. There's not a weak link up there."

There's a strong tie to the military in Genung's family background. Leal Genung is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and Robert Harr served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

As for basketball, Genung's next move on the court will come on May 13 at Los Angeles Southwest College. He will be playing in the Scholastic Hoops Jam 2000, an all-star game between Southern and Los Angeles City sections. The 6-foot-6 Genung will be part of a game that includes several All-CIF and L.A. Section all-league players. The teams will be coached by Crenshaw's Willie West and Long Beach Poly's Ron Palmer.

A little over one month later, Genung will belong to the Air Force. "His attitude," says Lewis, "tells me he'll go far beyond his five years. He'll walk in here and be a general someday."