Prep talk: Coaches Anthony Atkins and Devah Thomas, former roommates, face off in Division 8 semis

It’s quite a weekend for Salesian coach Anthony Atkins and St. Pius X-St. Matthias coach Devah Thomas.

Their football teams meet in the Division 8 semifinals on Friday at Salesian. Both were assistant coaches at Salesian from 2011 to 2016, then went to PMA as assistants. Atkins became head coach at Salesian in 2019 and Thomas took over at PMA in 2021.

“That’s my brother,” Thomas said when asked about the matchup.

They used to be roommates and still text and talk football all the time. They run some of the same plays.

“It’s crazy and wild,” Atkins said.

And there’s this: Former Salesian players Deommodore Lenoir and Keisean Nixon are facing off on Sunday when the San Francisco 49ers play the Green Bay Packers. Atkins said he’s flying to Green Bay this weekend to watch.

They’ve built successful private school football programs while helping each other along the way.

There were lots of salutes for former Santa Margarita basketball coach Jerry DeBusk, who the school announced died earlier this week. He coached the NBA’s Klay Thompson. Thompson’s father, Mychal, said on X: “He was a great man and great coach…He coached players the RIGHT way.”...

Jason and Jarron Collins were Harvard-Westlake’s first great basketball players during the 1990s before moving on to Stanford and the NBA. Now Jarron’s daughter, Alessandra, is a sophomore playing for the Wolverines. He has another daughter in the eighth grade and a son in the sixth grade, with all expected to follow Alessandra. Their grandmother, Portia, told me years ago the key to success in the family: “Genes and greens.”