With Wooten, Manteca hoops ready to take flight

It began on social media, cropping up as a clever hashtag. Soon, it became a part of the chatter in the crowd, pinned to every applause or boo.

Even the coach was guilty of perpetuating the underlying theme to Manteca High School’s 2014-15 boys basketball season.

“Free Kenny Wooten,” went the discreet and not-so-discreet dialogue among Buffaloes fans.

Wooten is the skywalking 6-foot-8 incoming senior who sat out his junior season after transferring from Stagg, where he helped the Delta Kings to the 2013-14 Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs.

Well, one of the section’s most intriguing prospects finally has been freed from his bonds and allowed to patrol the sky for the Buffaloes.

The new narrative on the oldest campus in Manteca: Fly, Kenny, fly.

Upon Wooten’s arrival, the Buffaloes’ ambitions surpassed mere playoff appearances. Combined with then-sophomore Tydus Verhoeven, a 6-7 combo guard, and rising 6-9 center Anand Hundal, Manteca dared to dream bigger.

But Wooten, a 210-pound forward who plays above the rim, was grounded for the 2014-15 season by the section. He became an ornamental piece at the end of the bench, often wearing a green warmup and forlorn expression.

The school said only that Wooten sat for “transfer reasons.” The section has three infractions that will result in a season-long punishment, according to director of communications Will DeBoard: lying on transfer forms, a move that is athletically motivated or undue influence. Wooten and Verhoeven are cousins and have played on the same AAU team the last two summers.

Watching was hard for Wooten, especially as Verhoeven and Hundal kept the Buffaloes in the hunt for Valley Oak League and section crowns.

“Going into league, we thought we’d have him,” Manteca coach Brett Lewis said. “It was heartbreaking to have what happened happen at the last second. We thought he was going to be a breath of fresh air for us.

“It was hard to tell him he wasn’t going to play. Seeing him tear up, knowing he wouldn’t play all year. ... We all saw the hurt and rallied around him.”

The Buffaloes reached the Division III semifinals, where they were outgunned by VOL foe Weston Ranch (coached by former Beyer standout Chris Teevan). Manteca clinched a berth in the CIF Northern California Regional tournament, but with Hundal slowed by injury, the Buffaloes faded in a loss at North Section power Foothill of Palo Cedro✔.

With Wooten now eligible, the Buffaloes’ potential was on display this summer, even as Wooten and Verhoeven – teammates on Dream Vision, a Southern California AAU team – missed half the summer schedule.

Manteca won 23 of its 27 competitions, capped by a perfect run through the Tahoe Summer Tournament last weekend. The tournament featured Galena of Reno, a Nevada state Division I semifinalist, and Dublin, a veteran squad that qualified for NorCals last season.

The Buffaloes also split with Modesto Christian during the Modesto Junior College Summer League, which included Enochs, Kimball, Modesto, Oakdale, Patterson, Ripon and Turlock, among others.

“Both of those games were very fun to just sit back and watch,” Lewis said of their brushes with private school power Modesto Christian. “They are a great program that is well coached, and for us to be able to compete with them is a huge honor for me and our program.”

The Buffaloes’ only losses were to Modesto Christian, West of Tracy, St. Vincent-St. Patrick of Vallejo and West Reading, an academy from Pennsylvania.

Manteca went unbeaten at the Pitman tournament and shook off losses to St. Vincent-St. Patrick and West Reading to finish 3-2 at the University of the Pacific Team Camp.

One of the Buffaloes’ wins at Pacific came against De La Salle, a NorCal Division I semifinalist last season.

“We had huge wins,” Lewis said. “De La Salle was probably our biggest of the year. They had 10 to 15 legit players.”

Manteca has long embraced the role of No. 1 contender to Sierra’s reign in the VOL. The four-time defending champion Timberwolves are coming off a historic season. They won 30 games for the first time in school history, clinched the program’s first section title and reached the NorCal semifinals.

But there is a confidence growing across town.

The Buffaloes return four of their five starters from a team that went 22-8 in Lewis’ first season on the bench: Verhoeven, Hundal and guards Frankie Lopez and Tyler Graves-Kelso. Wooten completes the lineup the way a cherry tops a sundae. He gives Lewis another scorer and rebounder on the low block, one whose wiggle, athleticism and creativity should marry well with Hundal’s deliberate, traditional post play.

Imagine this: defending Hundal’s hook and up-and-under and midway jumper, then guarding a forward with wing ability and rocket boosters in the soles of his sneakers.

Lewis said Wooten has at least seven dunks this summer that “would have been ‘SportsCenter’ Top 10 plays.”

Wooten might be Manteca’s best defender, which says a lot considering his post mate, Hundal, was second in the state in blocked shots (5.5). Wooten’s length allows him to contest shots anywhere in the halfcourt; it also allows the Buffaloes’ guards to gamble along the perimeter.

“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself,” Lewis said. “The VOL is going to be tough, as always. But with our size, we have ambitions of getting to the top.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "With Wooten, Manteca hoops ready to take flight."