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by Paul Teetor
Despite swirling rumors to the contrary, Mira Costa boys basketball coach Neal Perlmutter insists he has no intention – or desire – to move up in the coaching hierarchy, either to a bigger high school program or even to a college program.
“I’m happy right where I am,” Perlmutter told All Ball on Sunday night. “I love living here in this community, I love working with the kids in the program, and I love that we’ve been able to make Costa relevant in the high school basketball world.”
That was his mandate when he was hired seven years ago: to revive a moribund program, to win a Bay League championship – he’s already won three – to win a CIF title, and to win a state title.
This year he came oh-so-close to pulling off the championship trifecta, all in one year: Costa shared the Bay League title with neighboring powerhouse Redondo, came within three heart-breaking points of winning the school’s first ever Division 1 CIF championship, and came within six gritty points of advancing to the regional final against Sierra Canyon.
Mira Costa’s Eneasi Piuleini and Redondo’s Devin Wright duel at the net in the post-season CIF State playoffs on Saturday, March 8. Redondo prevailed 72 to 66. Photos by Ray Vidal
That’s impressive resume for any coach, and it was achieved in the midst of adversity, some expected – during his first two years his team had no home while the school’s $38 million athletic complex was being built — and some completely unexpected, like the Covid-19 pandemic that severely impacted his third and fourth year.
Now that Costa’s current season ended Saturday night with a 72-66 loss to Redondo in the CIF regional semifinals, some Costa sources say that Perlmutter may be looking to move up. Not only because he has achieved his basic mandate – make Costa’s hoops program just as relevant year in and year out as its volleyball, football and water polo programs are – but because seven of his top eight players are graduating and next season may be a down year for the program.
But Perlmutter says there no truth to the rumors and that he is not going to follow the pattern he set at West, where he took that program from the outhouse to the penthouse – in that case a CIF title — in just two short years before applying for and getting the Costa coaching job. That was the main bullet point on his resume, and it got him the job ahead of many more experienced candidates.
Sunday night Perlmutter took the time to reflect on the season in which the Mustangs posted the best record in school history – 31-5 – and yet experienced tremendous disappointment in losing to Los Alamitos 63-60 in the CIF Division One Final, and again a week later in losing to Redondo 72-66 in the CIF State regional semifinal.
But the CIF loss is the one that really stings.
“It definitely hurt a lot to play on that stage in front of a big crowd and lose by such a close score,” he said. “It was the opportunity of a lifetime for the seniors, but we didn’t play our best game. We turned the ball over 21 times and you’re not going to win a close, hard-fought game like that one was with all those turnovers. What really hurts is that it was one of our weakest performances of the entire season.”
Known for his intensity on the sidelines – he usually goes through several bottles of water per game and lost his voice for a couple of days in the midst of the playoffs – he acknowledged the opportunity lost but looked forward with optimism.
“That was our best shot at a CIF title, so far,” he said. “But there will be plenty of chances in the future.”
He said a CIF title is still possible next year because of two factors: first, he and his staff have worked hard to develop a steady pipeline of good, fundamentally sound players, and that the new CIF rules for selecting which teams enter the playoffs in which division will be based strictly on the current year’s record, rather than on past years as it used to be.
“It used to be weighted 75 percent on the previous year’s record and 25 percent on the team’s record of two years prior,” he said. “Now it’s based on the current year alone. So we might not be in Division one next year.”
Of his top eight players, only sophomore wing Paxx Bell is coming back next year, but Bell got better and better as the year went on and came off the bench to spark Costa in the CIF semifinal win over Santa Barbara with two key three-pointers and a rebound stick-back early in the game.
Other players likely to have a key role next season, Perlmutter said, include post player Luke Lowell, wing player Sheamus Mcgerr, and a pair of quicksilver guards in Jaylen Maxwell and Royce Reilly.
“They will put in a lot of time in the off season working on their skills, and they’ll play a lot of games in spring, summer and fall ball,” he said. “By the time next season comes around they’ll be ready to compete in the Bay League.”
Also helping to ease the pain of reaching the mountain top only to stumble on the final step has been the community’s reaction.
“People stop me and the players all the time to congratulate us for making Mira Costa a basketball school, for making the Mira Costa basketball program relevant once again,” he said. “That means more to us than any individual game or any team honor. That is why we play the game – to make our community proud.”
And that is also why he is not going anywhere.
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