By Lee Davis
This will probably surprise some people, but Jack Kline’s goals for his senior season do not include another state basketball championship for the Mountain Brook Spartans.
You couldn’t blame him if it did. After all, Kline was a key component in Spartan drives to the state championship in 2013 and 2014, followed by a runner-up finish in 2015.
Instead, Kline adheres to the philosophy of Mountain Brook coach Bucky McMillan that goals have more to do with how a team plays than what trophy it earns at the end of the season.
“Our goals are the same every year,” Kline said when contacted just days before the Spartans’ opener against Northridge last week. “We want to be the hardest-working team and the most unselfish team. It’s all about giving 100 percent all the time. If we do that, the games will take care of themselves.”
Kline should understand McMillan’s approach as well as anyone. The hard-driving 6-4, 230-pound forward averaged 12 points and eight rebounds per game last season in helping his team to an unprecedented run of success. He’s almost certain to break the school record for the most career wins of any individual player to ever wear the green and gold.
“It’s such an honor to be part of this program,” Kline said. “Coach McMillan is a coach like no other. I’ve been privileged to be able to make a contribution to what has happened here.”
Mountain Brook will have a new look in the upcoming season. The Spartans return only four seniors. “We’re going to be relying on a lot of young guys,” Kline said. “They are young but very talented. We are probably going to get progressively better as the season goes along.”
As one of the few upperclassmen on the Mountain Brook roster, Kline sees a different role for himself in 2015-16.
“Since we’re such a young team, it’s up to me and the other seniors to play more of a leadership role,” he said. “We’ve been in the program for four years and learned a lot from the guys who came before us. Now it’s time for us to step up and be leaders.”
An important part of leadership is performing at the highest level when the game is on the line. And nobody in Alabama high school basketball in recent years has done that any better than Kline. For example, he scored 23 points with nine rebounds in the Spartans’ tense 72-69 win over Theodore in the Class 7A semi-finals last season. The victory put Mountain Brook in the finals for the third consecutive season.
McMillan is probably Kline’s biggest fan.
“Jack is a warrior,” the coach said. “He is one of the very best basketball players to ever play for Mountain Brook, but he’s in a league of his own as a competitor. As a coach, you don’t necessarily play your best basketball players when a game is on the line – you play your best competitors. Fortunately for us, Jack is a great player, a great competitor and a great leader.”
In basketball, it’s always easy to get caught up in individual statistics such as scoring and rebounding, but there’s another number that more accurately reflects Kline’s value to the Spartans.
His varsity debut came as a freshman on Nov. 13, 2012, in Mountain Brook’s 74-65 win over Leeds. Kline’s game statistics were hardly overwhelming that night– no points and one rebound – but they began a legacy that continues more than three years later. He enters his senior year with 91 career wins at Mountain Brook under his belt, including two state championship rings.
And who would dare bet against the Spartans winning their third title in four years in 2015-16?
“Jack is probably going to go down as the winningest player in Mountain Brook history,” McMillan said. “And that statistic means more than points or rebounds or anything else. He is simply a winner.”
Kline’s attributes – both tangible and intangible – have drawn the attention of college coaches. Last week, he signed a basketball letter of intent with the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
With his college choice made, Kline is ready to focus on this final year of high school. And despite all the victories and championships already on his resume, he knows the road ahead won’t be easy.
“We’re a young team, so there will be growing pains,” Kline warned. “We’ll be sloppy at times and there will be a lot to learn. But if we just keep working with our style of play and remember the things that have made Mountain Brook basketball great – hard work and being unselfish – we’ll be fine.”
So take that to the bank. With Jack Kline’s knack for winning, he is in a position to know.
