A year ago, Spencer Ford was a promising basketball player who
was struggling academically, prompting concerns from his parents
that he might not be able to get into college.
Gilroy – A year ago, Spencer Ford was a promising basketball player who was struggling academically, prompting concerns from his parents that he might not be able to get into college.
But a change of scenery brought added maturity, and the move paid off for the 6-foot-10 Gilroy High senior as he signed his national letter-of-intent to attend University of California, Santa Barbara.
“It’s every basketball player’s dream to sign a Division I scholarship,” said Ford, who received a full ride and plans to major in pre-med. “Santa Barbara was the right fit for me. I really liked the campus and coaches.”
Ford transferred to Gilroy from Milpitas High along with junior Lorenzo Dobson. Javin Charlot also joined the Mustangs for his senior season after transferring from Oak Grove. Those moves prompted controversy as rumors swirled about possible recruiting violations and forced an investigation by the Central Coast Section before the trio was cleared to play.
But for the Ford family, sending their son to a school 40 miles away was not about basketball. While he has potential in the sport, spending up to two hours a day driving his son to and from Gilroy was something Jonathan Ford did because he knew his son needed a change.
“He needed the change to re-invent himself,” Jonathan said of Spencer, who improved his GPA from 2.0 to 3.0 during his year at Gilroy. “It turned out to be real exciting. He’s on his way.”
Ford becomes the first Mustang basketball player in 18 years to sign a Division I scholarship directly out of high school. The last one was Scott Ksellsvig (class of 1989), who went to Cal Poly San Luis Obsipo.
“This is a big day for Gilroy basketball and the Gilroy community,” coach Bud Ogden said. “(UCSB) couldn’t get a better person. He’s got tremendous upside. I’m not sure anyone knows how good he can be.”
While a future in basketball would be terrific, Spencer has his mind set just as much on earning a degree and says he’d like to be a pediatrician.
“It doesn’t matter that I got a scholarship if I don’t get my degree,” he said.
Both Spencer and his parents give much credit to the support staff he’s had athletically and academically, and that was evidenced by the many teachers who came to be a part of the signing ceremony.
“This has taken a lot of work,” Jonathan said. “There’s an African proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a man.’ And you can see how many people are here today that have helped him.”
Jonathan also credits Spencer’s AAU coach, Kort Jensen, for his dedication to helping his son succeed.
“That man’s helped send out 100 letters to colleges,” Jonathan said of Jense, who was present for the signing.
In addition to UCSB, Ford attracted interested from a number of schools, including Texas A&M, Arizona, Gonzaga, Fresno State, Xavier, Sacramento State and Rhode Island.
His family is happy about his selection, which keeps him close enough to home to make trips down for his game.
“We wanted to keep him close to home and it all worked out,” Jonathan said.
UCSB went 18-11 last season and fell in the quarterfinals of the Big West Conference tournament. With only two seniors departing, the Gauchos figured to be among the conference favorites next season.
Ford has received a training regimen and diet instructions from UCSB and hopes to add a little muscle to his already solid frame. And while is dorm will be about 15-20 feet from the beach, he insists that won’t be a distraction.
“The weight rooms are going to call me a lot more than the beach,” he said.
