Meet coach in charge of Sierra Canyons social media superstars
Andre Chevalier is the high school basketball coach of Sierra Canyon, a small private school in Chatsworth, Calif. In the last few years, the school has gained popularity across the world since the addition of Lebron James‘ son, Bronny James. Chevalier joined the And 1 podcast to discuss how he keeps a level head for himself and his superstar players.
Sierra Canyon basketball holds the crown for social media following. This past season four of Sierra Canyons’ players had a combined following of almost 2 million followers on social media accounts.
With such a star-studded team and huge fan base, the multimedia platform Uninterrupted asked Chevalier if they could film a season-long documentary on the team. This allowed a camera crew to have full access to the players’ every move. Chevalier welcomed the attention because he knows today’s era of players like visibility.
Even though the gym is small, it gets packed with celebrities. Kanye West, Drake, Michael B. Jordan, and even the Kardashians have all been noted to sit court-side for a Sierra Canyon game.
“A lot of times I don’t know who is even in the crowd,” Chevalier said. “We invite the cameras and the celebrities on purpose to gain notoriety, but honestly, I never thought I would get to this level of popularity.”
Coaching superstars
Andre Chevalier’s first coaching stint was at Cleveland High School where he coached future NBA Champion Nick Young. It was here where he was first able to coach a high school superstar and also deal with a huge personality and ego.
“Nick was the best pure shooter I have ever coached,” Chevalier said. “He made it look so easy. Nick also had such a big personality off the court that none of my players have today. He prepared me to coach these big-name guys because I’ve seen it all before.”
In the Last 10 years, Chevalier has coached over 15 Division I athletes and a handful of draft picks. In 2018, he was coaching Cassius Stanley, the NBA dunk contest participant. In 2019, he was coaching both Lebron James and Dwayne Wade’s sons.
Zaire Williams, who was just drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies, was on his 2019 team as well. He currently has the No. 6 ranked player in the 2022 class in Amari Bailey. Bonny James is currently in his junior year for the Trailblazers.
Reflection on last season
The last season for Sierra Canyon did not go as planned. Chance Westry surprisingly transferred out of the school for personal reasons. Also, Bronny James tore his meniscus in the summer leading up to the season only allowing him to play the last three games in the season.
Much of the weight was on Bailey and Ramel Lloyd Jr.’s shoulders. This year the Trailblazers hope to get back to the State championship as their worldwide fans route for them along the way.