With stout preparation, freshman sees success
Santa Anas brilliant
high school career
prepared him for
quick success at Elon
Alex Simon
» Sports Editor
|®le>(Simon99
^^Elon University men’s basket-
^ ball coach Matt Matheny finished
: his interviews after the team’s Jan.
9 loss to
H o f s t r a
University
just more
than 20
utes after
the game
ended.
Matheny
walked out
: of the interview room and was
: greeted by one of his team manag-
1 ers catching shots and passing to an
: Elon player, still wearing his game
shorts and undershirt.
" Freshman guard Steven Santa
- Ana was back shooting, focusing
. particularly on the corner in front
- of the Elon bench. Santa Ana missed
^two shots late in the game against
' Hofstra from that corner, both of
which would have pulled Elon tied
Ito or ahead of the Pride. Taking
[those late-game, high-pressure
ishots brought a smile to Matheny’s
! face — even if he missed them.
“You love it,” Matheny said.
“When he took the shots in the
corner, I was thrilled — not at all
I surprised, because he’s confident —
* because I know he’s taken that shot
( hundreds of thousands of times.
We know how hard he works, and
I when a guy works that hard, you
i give him a lot of freedom.”
feanta Ana only scored four
^ points against Hofstra, down from
fi hisiback-to-back career-high nights
against Drexel University (18
points Jan. 2) and James Madison
Un^ersity (19 points Jan. 7), both
wins. The shots after the game
come out of a deep-rooted compet
itive nature that drives Santa Ana.
Turns
JACK HARTMANN | Staff Photographer
Elon freshman guard Steven Santa Ana drives to the hoop against Hofstra University Jan. 9. Santa Ana scored a career-high 19 points Jan. 7 at James Madison University.
“I don’t know if the shots come
out of a love of basketball or the
hate to lose,” Santa Ana said. “I
don’t like to lose at all. I want to
do everything I can to make sure
me and my team don’t lose. That
means getting up extra shots to
compete at the highest level.”
Spotted early by a familiar face
Santa Ana played for Ardrey
Kell High School in Charlotte, but
his talent was evident before he
even got to high school.
Ardrey Kell coach Mike Craft
said he first heard about Santa Ana
from a familiar figure.
“Coach [Bob] McKillop at
Davidson [College], a la Coach
Matheny who was on staff at
Davidson when Steven was in sev
enth grade,” Craft said. “Coach
McKillop texted me after a camp
ALEX SIMON j Sports Editor
Santa Ana prepares to shoot 20 minutes after Elon's 80-76 loss to Hofstra Jan. 9.
and said, ‘Steven Santa Ana is going
to be a nice player for you at Ardrey
Kell.’ And he was only in seventh
grade.”
Craft then saw Santa Ana him
self in eighth grade and immediate
ly recognized his ability, bringing
him onto the varsity squad as soon
as he got to the school. Santa Ana
became a starter midway through
the season, with one game in partic
ular standing out to Craft.
“He scored the last nine points
in a game, and he hit a 3-pointer
with two seconds left to win the
game in a Christmas tournament
at Bojangles Coliseum,” Craft said.
“We had been down six points and
he scored three the old-fashioned
way, hit a three, and somehow we
got the ball back, and he hit a three
in the corner to win the game.
Kinda knew then that he was spe
cial.”
Blossoming into a high school star
Santa Ana missed one game
throughout his four years at Ardrey
Kell, even though Craft said he tried
to play in that one game as well.
After riding the ups and downs
of being a freshman on varsity,
Santa Ana shined his sophomore
year, averaging 18.4 points and
6.5 rebounds per ganie. He was
named Player of the Year in the 4A
Southwestern Conference in 2013.
Craft recognized multiple traits
in Santa Ana that made him stand
out from the beginning.
“Physically, he had a lot of grow
ing to do, but skill-wise, playing
hard, and his sixth sense about
basketball — his basketball IQ is
through the roof — and his com
petitiveness is something I don’t
think I’ve ever seen in a kid, and
I’ve been coaching 26 years,” Craft
said.
Santa Ana continued to play
well his junior year, averaging 17.5
points per game and placing second
in Player of the Year voting. He was
named to the All-District and All-
Conference teams.
Last game leaves lingering pain
The three years of quality play
led to the best season in school
history in his senior year, as Ardrey
KeU went 28-2 on the way to a state
championship game appearance. In
Santa Ana’s four years at the school
heading into the final game, the
Knights had won 84 games.
Against Garnet Magnet at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill’s Dean Smith Center,
Santa Ana played the game of his
life, scoring 33 points in the sec
ond half en route to a 44-point
performance, breaking the record
for most points in a state title
game.
“Everything that he got was in
the flow in the game and within our
system,” Craft said. “I didn’t realize
that he had 44 — I knew he had a
bunch, but I didn’t know it was 44.”
Santa Ana shot 13-26 from the
field (5-13 from deep) and 13-15
from the free throw line, but don’t
remind him about his strong indi
vidual performance.
All he cares about is the result
of the game, which was a 70-64 loss
for the Knights.
“The team lost,” Santa Ana said.
“At the end of the day, I don’t have
a ring and it’s an ‘L’ in the books, so
... that’s it.”
Deciding on Elon
Despite the sour ending, Santa
Ana’s was named All-State, All-
District, All-Conference and 4A
Southwestern Conference Player of
the Year. Craft doesn’t hold back
when talking about his departed
star.
“Best player we’ve ever had,”
Craft said. “He’s a Knight. He’s a
Knight forever.”
Santa Ana committed to Elon in
September 2014, before his senior
season. For the coach who recog
nized Santa Ana’s talent all the way
back in seventh grade, the process
of getting Santa Ana to Elon was
enjoyable.
“It was fun to recruit Steven and
to watch him in his high school
career,” Matheny said. “His team
was expected to be very good — and
they played in a lot of big games
— and to watch him play in those
big games and perform well or to
perform adequately and willingly
was enjoyable. I knew he would
bring that type of confidence and
aggressive mentality to Elon.”
Matheny was in attendance at
the state championship game and
saw the culmination of the recruit
ing process unfold in the final high
school game.
“It was great to be there when
he has a game like that on such a
big stage,” Matheny said. “We had
already signed him and we knew he
was coming here, so we had confi
dence in his talent. But as we got to
know him, we found out that he fits
here. He’s an Elon man. He’s a good
person first.”
Santa Ana got to play his first
collegiate game for Elon in his
hometown, playing 12 minutes for
Elon at the University of North
Carolina at Charlotte.
“I had a lot of people in there,”
Santa Ana said. “I had a little extra
nerves — first college game, not
knowing what to expect on top of
playing back in the hometown.”
Santa Ana didn’t score in the
game, one of only two such games
this season. He’s averaging 9.1
points per game through 19 games,
and the total has steadily risen
during conference play. This comes
as no surprise at all to those who see
him most often, like Matheny.
“He works — the more you
work, the harder you work, the
more confidence you get,” Matheny
said. “He’s in the gym all the time,
even after games. He works hard,
and as a result, he’s very confident.”