Charleston – James Monroe head boys basketball coach Matt Sauvage has given his team plenty of advice this season.
One of his main messages to his young men has been to take the season one game at a time and most off all, enjoy the journey.
Sauvage has also practiced what he has preached this year.
Now his team sits one day away from its biggest prize of the season, a Class A state championship but at a time when coaches and players would be uptight or nervous, the sixth-year head coach is still heeding his own advice.
“We have preached to these boys all year long that there is more to life than basketball,” Sauvage said. “I would have been proud of these boys even if they had lost in sectionals. The rest of this is like bonus presents so to speak.”
“Win, lose, or draw Saturday, we are going to give it everything we have,” Sauvage continued. “If it is not good enough on Saturday, so be it. If it is, we will take the championship home. Ten years from now they will still have the memories of the state tournament. The state championship will be nice, but it is not life or death. We will give 100 percent and lay all our cards on the table to see how they turn out.”
Adding a unique touch to the journey this season has been the fact that Sauvage has made the trip with his son, Shad Sauvage.
“I will be honest, it’s special. A lot of these boys have became my sons, so to speak, but when it’s actually your son, that’s special,” Sauvage said. “On the court, I separate the two. I really do. Actually I am probably harder on him than the rest of them on the court. For him to make it to the state championship whether I was the coach or not, I couldn’t be more proud of him. I am proud of him not only because of basketball, but also because of the man that he is.”
Sauvage never planned to coach his son in high school. His plan was to coach Shad in middle school and become a spectator during his high school days.
That was not quite how it worked out.
“After his sixth grade year, the (high school) coach took a job at the Board office. The principal at the time, Lisa Mustain, called and said she needed to meet with me. I was thinking, oh no. It took about two months to convince me to take the job,” Sauvage said. “I think I saw four games total his seventh and eighth grade years. I hated that, but I get to see him everyday now. It has definitely been worth it.”
When Shad made his way to high school, there was an adjustment period for the elder Sauvage.
“I am hard on him in practice, but I learned during his freshman year, that I had to separate daddy and coach. That was a hard learning experience for me,” Sauvage said. “I was coming home, still being hard on him. Then I realized as dad, you can’t do that. I had to separate the two. So, at practice, I am hard on him, but when we step off the court, I am dad again. We don’t really talk much off the court about schemes and how he played. I just want to be the supporting dad after that.”
While some players lament have their dad as their coach, Shad Sauvage is not among that group.
“It has been great. He never really criticizes me. He just tells me I played a good game. If I do something bad, like I shot bad tonight, but in the locker room he told me my defense was good and you did everything else good” Shad Sauvage said after the semifinal win over St. Joe Thursday. “He is always praising me. I kinda get mad at myself, but he has my back and tells me I did good and that makes it better.”
While Shad Sauvage has played both baseball and basketball, he chose hoops over hardball as he got into high school where he became one of the state’s most deadly threats from deep.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I just loved playing it. I realized I was better at basketball, so I focused on basketball. I just have a love for the game,” Shad Sauvage said. “I just always wanted to be the best at whatever I do. It really just comes down to wanting it. You have to want to be a good basketball player. You have to want to shoot the ball good. It takes a lot of reps.”
Sauvage is efficient from all points on the 3-point line, but he is especially effective from points that typically only NBA players shoot.
“Actually it was my freshman year. I was the same height I am now, but I a lot more skinny. I couldn’t really go in the paint, so I decided why not shoot it a little deeper,” Shad Sauvage said. “I just kept going deeper and deeper. I got confidence shooting it out there, so that is why I do it. At first, in practice, (dad) asked me why I was shooting out there. Then he realized I was making them and it was like, shoot ’em, shoot ’em.”
Sauvage’s long range shooting ability has been a key factor in the Mavericks’ run to the championship game Saturday.
“It means everything to me to be in the state championship game right now. Me and the whole team have worked really hard the past four years to get here. It has been a battle. It’s just crazy,” Shad Sauvage said. “Ever since (dad) has been coaching me, the main goal has been to win a state championship. We have made so many memories like this, but to win a state championship with him would be a memory I could never forget.”
No one wants to see James Monroe win a state title more than coach Matt Sauvage, especially for his players and his son. However, dad’s best advice to his son goes beyond what happens on the court.
“I told him all this year, don’t let basketball define you. You can continue to be good at basketball, but don’t let it define you,” Sauvage said. “You be the young man you need to be. I feel like has taken that to heart this year.”
An experience this week at the state tournament has shown that Shad has heeded dad’s advice.
“Out on the court (Thursday), a gentlemen was walking off that was helping the boys with the basketballs. He pulled me aside and said he he heard that (No.) 1 was my son. I told him he was,” Sauvage said. “He asked me to do him a favor and thank Shad. He said Shad was one of the few people this whole tournament that has come over to hug our kids and give then high-fives for getting the basketballs for us. That is something simple, but as a dad, it means the world. Just to know I have a good young man on my hands.”
