Brice Fantazia leads MJC men's basketball to a historic season
Brice Fantazia might be the busiest head coach in California basketball. He's leading the Modesto Junior College men's basketball team to its best season in over 30 years, leading the Modesto Christian boys basketball team to a perfect 12-0 Tri-City Athletic League title and handling athletic director responsibilities.
The Modesto Christian Crusaders on Wednesday sealed their third straight outright undefeated Tri-City Athletic League title and are unbeaten against Sac-Joaquin Section opponents this season. On Thursday, it was the Pirates' turn. Led by 21 points from Malachi Miller (Central Catholic) and Daniel Huerta (St. Mary's), the Crusaders beat American River College 115-78, locking up at least a share of the Big 8 Conference title. It is their first conference title since 1990-91 when they went 8-0 in the Central Valley Conference. It's all in a day's work for Fantazia. And those days are packed.
At 8 a.m., it's Modesto Christian athletic director duties. At noon, it's off to MJC for practice. He gets there for players' pre-practice shooting before they're all on the court for the 12:45-to-2:30 p.m. practice. He's there for the post-practice film session or workout, then it's back to Modesto Christian for practice. He goes home after that, only to leave the house again to watch his son or daughter at their sports game. His day ends with more film and stats before bed.