Making their mark: Andrew Ekmark, Brock Gardner emerging from small-school hoops programs
They could have gone to big schools, flourished on the basketball court, written their tickets to college.
But Andrew Ekmark and Brock Gardner kept it small, attending schools that felt more like extended families, thriving in classrooms and still getting college looks.
Ekmark, a 6-foot-2 senior point guard at Division IV Phoenix Country Day School, was accepted into Stanford, where coach Johnny Dawkins has offered him a spot to play.
Gardner, a 6-7 wing at Chandler Tri-City Christian Academy -- a Canyon Athletic Association member -- signed with Liberty University, an NCAA Division I school in Lynchburg, Va.
They played club ball together for the Warriors against some of the best prospects in the nation in AAU spring and summer tournaments. And held their own.
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"For a kid at a small school to make it D-I, you need a great work ethic, quality coaching and to play elite competition in the offseason," said James Brown, who, along with his brother, Paul, lead the Tri-City Christian basketball program. "These guys work relentlessly year-round on their game.
"In high school and club, they are with coaches who have played for successful college coaches and they go up against tougher competition nationally during club season. Being at a small school, talented players like these guys have to play varsity as a freshman and compete against upperclassmen which helps their development. They also are No. 1 on the scouting report and face a variety of defenses designed to specifically stop them without the supporting cast around to rely on. It takes a plan with the right people to make it happen, but, ultimately, it is the player's desire and work ethic that gets them to the D-I level, not the size of the school they attend."
There are 111 high school students at Tri-City Christian, where Gardner leads a 17-0 team that has won two CAA championships during his four-year varsity career. He averages 24.9 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.8 blocks. And he's not the only Tri-City player who was recruited by Division I colleges. Junior forward Nigel Shadd (6-9, 220 pounds) is considered a mid-major college prospect. He is averaging 20.1 points, 14.2 rebounds and 3.8 blocks.
Gardner, who has been at Tri-City since the fourth grade, could have followed the same path as his sister, Macey Gardner, who was a top volleyball player at big public school Gilbert High, before signing with Arizona State, where she became the school's all-time kills leader.
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"At a smaller high school, it allows you to be a playmaker and it allows me to learn good leadership traits," Gardner said. "You may not get the best competition every night, but, with charter schools being on the rise, the competition is getting better."
Ekmark has spent all of his educational life at PCDS, a pre-K through 12 private school. In the last year, more than $16 million was pumped into the athletic department from private donors to build a big aquatics complex and gymnasium.
The gym opened this season, and the team has shined, posting a 21-4 record, winning its last 13 games. It is hoping to capture its first state title since A.J. Hess led it to a 20-5 record in 2012. Hess used that to springboard his basketball career to Southern Utah, where he averaged 11.7 points last season.
Ekmark's father, Curtis, guided Phoenix St. Mary's girls basketball dynasty, while Andrew's big sister, Courtney, led the team to three consecutive big-school state championships in 2011, '12 and '13. She now plays for unbeaten Connecticut.
Ekmark leads a loaded senior class, averaging 24.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists.
He considered attending a smaller college where he would have an easier time getting on the court.
"I had that conversation with my parents," Ekmark said. "I have to do what is best for me. I'm looking at things down the road, not just in basketball. But it doesn't mean I can't make it on the court."
Ekmark's work ethic has his coach, Shane Lewis, sold.
He saw it in Hess a few years ago. Hess is the school's all-time leading scorer. Ekmark is second.
"He has two 6-7 cousins, so I don't think you've seen him stop growing," Lewis said. "He gets to 6-4, 6-5, with his work ethic, who knows. Even if he doesn't really play, the experience he'll have there, the academics, that's huge. But ever seeing the court at Stanford? I wouldn't bet against it."
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Ekmark, whose father is an attorney, wants to carve his own path either in engineering or business.
Academically, he's ahead of most in his class throughout the country. He said he might take an academic scholarship in his first year at Stanford while redshirting on the basketball team.
"I mean, it's obviously very tough," Ekmark said. "I'll need to put on weight and I'll probably redshirt my first year, go to summer school, gain some credits, play with the team.
"They were helpful at Stanford, the players, the coaches. They're great people. They're high-class guys, high-class coaches."
He might have had a perfect score on his SAT, if he hadn't run out of time on the science portion of the college-entrance test.
"I don't know what the question was," Ekmark said. "I didn't have time to read it."
Gardner, a 3.5 GPA student, had several Division I college basketball opportunities. He chose Liberty because of its aviation school.
Gardner weighed the pros and cons of playing at a small high school. At the end, he didn't want to get lost in the crowd, be swayed by bad influences.
He keeps his network of friends close with people who have goals that will them far in life.
He never worried about getting lost in the recruiting crowd.
"On the club side, you become more of a role player," Gardner said. "Most of the recruiting happens on the club side, as well. So as long as you are putting in the work in the offseason and high school season and you are able to showcase your talent in the spring and summer for club, you don't need to be at a big high school to get noticed. Just different ways to get there."
Reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-460-1710. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.