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S U N DAY, A PR I L 11, 2 0 21
From homeless shelter to collegiate glory
NEWS-PRESS SPECIAL REPORT
Locals deliberate U.S. infrastructure proposal
Dr. Peter Rupert, director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project, said the American Jobs Plan could have some unintended consequences.
Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on infrastructure legislation. The second part will be published Monday, and will feature local reaction on the potential changes in the U.S. Senate.
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Rep. Salud Carabajal, D-Santa Barbara, said the American Jobs Plan is “a long overdue and historic investment to rebuild infrastructure, handle the climate crisis and create good-paying jobs.”
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
COURTESY PHOTO
Shantay Legans, a former Dos Pueblos High star, is now one of college basketball’s fastest-rising coaches at the University of Portland.
By MARK PATTON NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER
T
he basketball promise of Shantay Legans caught the eye of a News-Press journalist more than 32 years
ago. “Look at him,” Susan Legans told the reporter as her beaming son launched a basketball through a hoop. “He’s always cheerful.” Shantay was 6, his mom was on probation from a drug possession charge, and the basketball court had been set up at a shelter near downtown Santa Barbara. The reporter was there to chronicle the plight of the homeless, but he couldn’t help but marvel at the spunky kid. “He thinks life is wonderful,” Susan said through a hopeful smile. Life did turn out wonderful, her son will tell you, because of a dutiful mother who turned her life around and a bevy of mentors. Their guidance the last three decades led Legans to the University of Portland last week to be introduced as the Pilots’ new head basketball coach. “I put them through so much, and they stuck by my side,” he said. Legans, who was rated as one of the nation’s top point guards when he played for Dos Pueblos High School in the late 1990s, is now considered to be among college basketball’s top young coaches. ESPN ranked him No. 11 for those under the age of 40. He will turn 40 in July. Portland’s job offer came after he had coached Eastern Washington to its second-straight Big Sky Conference championship last month. The Eagles even came close to upsetting third-seeded Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
Shantay Legans, who was rated as one of the nation’s top point guards when he played for Dos Pueblos High School in the late 1990s, is now considered to be among college basketball’s top young coaches. “The University of Portland got a home run in this hire — in terms of work ethic, in terms of knowledge, in terms of teaching and motivating,” said Ben Howland, another Goleta native who now coaches at Mississippi State. “But most of all, Shantay is a great example of what ministers want as a mentor for young people and young athletes. “It’s a phenomenal story, what he’s accomplished in his life so far.” Legans’ odyssey from Santa Barbara’s Transition House to Portland’s Chiles Center covered a lot of rough road. He developed a hard edge as a young boy when his father left the family. “I’ve done some crazy things, I’ve done some dumb things,” he said. Legans got kicked out of the Boys Clubs on both the Eastside and Westside, and then even from the club in Carpinteria. The Goleta Boys Club was his last chance. Sal Rodriguez, the club’s director at the time, clearly remembers the first time Legans’ grandfather brought him to the facility. “Shantay was in the third grade, probably,” he said. “He was handling the ball and talking all this smack and stuff … and even in third grade he was pretty good. “His granddad picked him up later that evening and I told him, ‘Hey, this kid is going to be a good basketball player.’ He said, ‘How
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tournament.” Susan Legans also asked the Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America to provide a mentor for her son. They matched him with Ray Lopes, a UCSB assistant coach at the time. The strong male influences soon had an effect on the precocious youngster. “I calmed down when I realized that it wasn’t the way to act,” Legans said. He wound up earning a basketball scholarship to the University of California, averaging 10.4 points and 4.4 assists per game over a span of three years. He led the Golden Bears to a pair of NCAA Tournaments, advancing them to the second round in 2002. They were knocked out by Howland’s third-seeded Pittsburgh team. “He kicked my butt,” Legans said with a laugh. “I’m still mad at him for that.” His teammates called him “crazy” when he transferred to Fresno State the following year. Lopes had just become the Bulldogs’ head coach. “I wanted to play for my mentor,” Legans explained. He averaged 15 points and 5.6 assists for Fresno, earned a bachelor’s degree, and spent the next few years playing professional basketball in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. But when his playing days ended, Legans headed right back Please see legans on A5
Second District supervisor Gregg Hart also supports the president’s plan, and said he is “very pleased to see federal infrastructure investment is finally getting the attention it requires.”
his support of the plan in a statement to the News-Press, calling it “a long overdue and historic investment to rebuild infrastructure, handle the climate crisis and create goodpaying jobs.” “I have been advocating for more investments in our Please see plan on A6
Foothills Forever campaign faces deadline By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Today is the Foothills Forever campaign’s last day to meet another milestone that would bring them one step closer to raising $18 million to purchase the San Marcos Foothills West Mesa. The campaign met the March 25 milestone of $5 million, and now must show $5 million Monday in pledges and gifts. As of Saturday, the campaign has raised a total of $5,798,073. “The campaign — to raise this much money this quickly — requires a significant gift to
be able to move forward,” said Peter Schuyler, a leader on the campaign’s lead gifts committee. Members of Foothills Forever hope to buy the property to prevent eight multi-million dollar homes with large lots to be built on it. If they meet Monday’s deadline, an additional $8 million after that must be deposited into escrow by June 1. Some of the supporters of the movement include the Santa Barbara Foundation, Santa Barbara Audubon Society, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, More Mesa Preservation Please see deadline on A7
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do you know?’ And I said, ‘Believe me, I know … This kid is good, even this young.’” Others only saw the bad in Shantay. Several demanded that he be banned from their club. “They’re saying, ‘This kid is a bad influence on my kid,’” Rodriguez said. “All I told them was, ‘Kids like Shantay are what we’re here for.’” Rodriguez was not only there for Legans, he was everywhere for him. He even took him on family trips to such places as the Grand Canyon. “He spent a lot of time at my house, and he and my son are good friends,” he said. “He was a good kid, really. I had to protect him … His mouth would get him into trouble sometimes.” Basketball, he figured, would help Legans find his way. Rodriguez eventually formed an all-star team and took it to tournaments throughout the West. “We’re beating this team from inner-city L.A., and Shantay is talking smack the whole time,” Rodriguez recalled. “One of our players — Danny Grace — finally comes up and says, ‘Coach, please tell Shantay to shut up because these guys are going to beat us up afterwards.’” Rodriguez eventually issued an ultimatum to Legans’ mother. “I told her, ‘Shantay is out of control … If you don’t come to the rest of the tournaments, I’m not taking him with me,’” he said. “And so she went to every single
The United States ranks 13th in the world in overall infrastructure according to a World Economic Forum report in 2019, and California ranks 31st out of the 50 states according to U.S. News and World Report. To address the infrastructure needs of the country, President Joe Biden unveiled a sweeping $2 trillion infrastructure proposal called the American Jobs Plan. The package would provide, in billions: $400 for home and community care, $213 for affordable housing, $174 for electric vehicles, $115 for roads and bridges, $100 for high-speed broadband, $100 for school construction, $100 for power grid/clean energy, $85 for public transit and $80 for railways, according to a graphic from the White House. The proposal also includes a 28% corporate tax rate, a 7% increase from the tax cuts of 2017. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, announced
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