3 ex-Vaqueros inducted into SB Court of Champions

Frank Carbajal, Jim Eyen and Gerry Karczewski were inducted into the Santa Barbara Court of Champions on Sunday night at Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort. The Court of Champions is a Hall of Fame for basketball players, coaches, executives and community leaders.

Carbajal spent 10 years as SBCC's head basketball coach, compiling a 195-115 record in 10 seasons from 1978-88. He guided the Vaqueros to four WSC championships and two runner-up finishes. He won 21 or more games seven times and coached five All-Americans. They reached the State final in 1983-84 and finished third in 1985-86.

Carbajal coached two future NBA players -- Ron Anderson and Chris McNealy -- during his Vaquero tenure.

Jim Eyen was Carbajal's assistant coach from 1979-82, helping the Vaqueros to three straight playoff appearances. They had the state's No. 1-ranked defense in two of those seasons.

Eyen went on to be the head coach at Dos Pueblos High, an assistant under Jerry Pimm at his alma mater UCSB and then joined the L.A. Clippers as an assistant in 1988-89. He's been an NBA assistant ever since, coaching the Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, Trail Blazers and Kings.

He returned to the Clippers in 2003-04 and joined the Sacramento Kings in 2009 as the top assistant. Last year, he came back to the Lakers when Byron Scott was named head coach.

Karczewski was a star guard on the 1980 and 1981 Running Royals teams at San Marcos High, going 50-2 in two seasons. He played two years at SBCC under Carbajal and went 47-12, helping the Vaqueros win a WSC title in 1983.

In his sophomore year, Karczewski was the WSC MVP, first-team All-State and a Junior College All-American. He went on to play at St. Mary's and is now a lawyer, working as the legal director for Extreme Networks, Inc.

Karczewski praised his four coaches, who are all in the Court of Champions – Maury Halleck of San Marcos, Carbajal and Eyen of SBCC and Sal Rodriguez of the Boys & Girls Club.

Seventeen people were inducted into the Court of Champions on Sunday.

Ben Howland, who played for the Vaqueros from 1976-78, was a member of last year's inaugural COC class. Howland spent 10 years as men's basketball coach at UCLA (2004-13), leading the Bruins to three straight Final Fours, and is currently the head coach at Mississippi State.