REGION — Volleyball on Moonlight Beach and a heavy meal from Mr. Taco means “home” to San Marcos native Kody Clouet.
Carlsbad’s Tony Duckett is less picky when finding a bit of sandy coastline, but his dining preference is the In-N-Out on Avenida Encinas after a high school football game.
Six-foot-five-inch guards with treasure troves of North County high school basketball accolades, Clouet and Duckett became Toreros this year at the University of San Diego.
Clouet, a graduate transfer and the 2018 Avocado League Most Valuable Player at San Marcos High School, has logged over 30 minutes per contest through the first two games of the men’s basketball season.
“It’s cool to see how I’ve come full circle,” Clouet told The Coast News minutes before a weight room session. “Playing for a school that I grew up wanting to be at — where the CIF Finals were held at the Jenny Craig Pavilion — It’s a dream and a goal to play in your hometown and be around family and friends.”
A true freshman, Duckett — twice named to the All-Coastal League first team at Carlsbad — has yet to debut for the Toreros.
“I was between USD and Florida State,” Duckett said. “I just felt the coaching staff really cared about me as a person beyond basketball. If basketball doesn’t work out, they will still look out for me. I felt a big connection.”
As new additions, Clouet and Duckett join fellow North County senior guard Dominic Muncy of Cathedral Catholic as the Toreros’ homegrown triumvirate.
With the team’s top four scorers from last season leaving via the transfer portal, Clouet, who spent the previous two years at Division II Southeastern Oklahoma State, averaging double-figure points per game, is likely to make an immediate impact in head coach Steve Lavin’s offense.
“Even though I haven’t been here very long I know I’ve already grown as a person and a player,” Clouet said. “I’m excited to see what I can prove and what this team can prove to people in San Diego, the West Coast Conference and beyond that.”
The Toreros finished 18-15, good for a fifth-place finish in the West Coast Conference last season.
“Everybody talks about how we lost a lot in the portal this past year, but I think we have really been working on becoming a team and playing as a team and that’s how we are going to thrive,” Clouet said. “I really do have high expectations. We have a lot of young guys but there is talent. We are going to turn some heads, and we have a good schedule to do that with.”
Clouet spent an injury-plagued first two seasons of college basketball at San Diego Miramar College and the now-shuttered University of Saint Katherine in San Marcos.
“He has shed so much body fat,” said Chris Partida, a graduate assistant during Clouet’s lone season at USK. “His neck and midsection is totally night and day. He was a little chubby at USK. Now he looks like a D-I basketball player. His one-one moves and lateral defensive movements have gotten so much better.”
Off the court, Clouet’s growth is what comes as the bigger surprise to Partida.
“[Former USK center] Jacob Durham and I introduced Kody to what ‘trolling’ is,” Partida remembered. “We would scream obscenities in his ear; we didn’t care that he was our best player, we would mess with him so much because he was bit awkward. That he is now at USD blows our minds. He’s become more personable.”
For Duckett, only months removed from Coastal League games, the transition to basketball at the Division I level has been a bit more intensive.
“It’s a lot more details,” Duckett said. “In high school you can just play, and your talent will show. You have to pay attention to more at this level. I already knew the coaches were going to get on me if I mess up but that’s the coaching I like.”
Duckett has lofty expectations for himself, coming off a San Diego Section Open Division Championship and high-scoring senior year at Carlsbad High.
“I want to be freshman of the year – all-conference freshman,” he said. “I want to make a little name for myself. Most importantly I want to help the team go far. I think we are going to shock some people. We are ranked low and don’t have any big names but the way that we practice you can see we play really well together, and all of our pieces are complementary.”
Lancers head coach Clark Allard sees his former player ready to contribute now.
“Tony’s a professional scorer,” Allard said. “It doesn’t matter who lines up against him, he can go get you a bucket. If he gets enough minutes he could average double figures. Coach Lavin is a great coach, if he sees a spot for him right away, he could be successful.”
A few miles south of where they played high school ball, Clouet and Duckett look back on their high school coaches as catalysts to their development on the court.
“At San Marcos High School, we were always one of the top teams,” Clouet said. “Coach Dante [Carey] is a great coach and he is still doing great things over there.”
“Carlsbad High School was a great experience that I wouldn’t trade out for anything,” Duckett said. “There’s a lot of moments that I miss and want to relive. Clark [Allard] was a great coach; he gave me a lot of freedom. He’s going to help Carlsbad do great things.”
