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Two-sport star reportedly unhappy with new offense 

Three weeks after declaring intentions to transfer to St. Mary’s and days after his first experience playing with his new basketball teammates, DeMarcus Nelson decided earlier this week not to attend the Berkeley school. 

According to St. Mary’s assistant coach Mark Olivier, the sudden switch surprised the St. Mary’s staff. 

“To be very honest, when I heard it surprised the hell out of me,” said Olivier, who also coaches the Oakland Soldiers, Nelson’s summer team. “But you have to send the kid where he’s going to be happy.” 

It is unclear whether Nelson will head back to Vallejo High, or if he will be looking at other schools. Calls to the Nelson family home yesterday were not returned. 

Nelson, who will be a sophomore next year, was expected to bring a shot of athleticism to both the football and basketball squads at St. Mary’s. He was the Cal-Hi Sports freshman of the year in basketball last season, and was expected to slide into the vacant small forward spot for the Panthers. Nelson was also the favorite to win the starting quarterback slot in the fall. 

But St. Mary’s head basketball coach Jose Caraballo said his team will be just as good without Nelson. 

“It would have been nice to have him, but we’ll do just as well without him,” Caraballo said. “My kids have been through the wars, and they know how to play. It’s not like we can’t win without him.” 

A source close to the St. Mary’s program said Nelson felt he wasn’t going to get enough shots with the Panthers next season. He played with St. Mary’s at the Cal Basketball Team Camp last weekend for the first time, and apparently felt he was being shut out of the offense in the Friday night game against De La Salle.  

Nelson reportedly has a friendly relationship with St. Mary’s senior guards DeShawn Freeman and John Sharper, who also play for the Oakland Soldiers. But Freeman and Sharper are the keys to the Panther offensive and defensive plans, and apparently Nelson wasn’t confident he would become an equal partner. 

But after the Friday morning game, a win over Modesto Christian, Nelson said he was just fine with his role on the team. 

“I can do other things than shoot and score. I can pass, I can rebound, I can defend. So it’s not a real big adjustment for me,” Nelson said. 

Comments like that make the move hard to figure out for Caraballo. 

“It kind of contradicts everything he said before, doesn’t it?” he said. 

The Panthers won the Division IV state championship last season, and will move up to Division I next year.