"It's always that balance:" Three Homestead basketball dads are fathers first, but they also played at high levels

MEQUON (WITI) -- You may have, at one point, seen a parent get a little too excited at his son or daughter's high school basketball game -- but what if you're a father who played the game at a high level? How do you balance being a parent and a coach?

"That bond between father and son -- being able to talk about things, being able to talk about the basketball and the respect that they have for each other, and the sheer joy that they have for watching their sons play is just unbelievable," Homestead High School basketball coach Kevin McKenna said.

McKenna is in a unique situation. He has three players on the roster whose fathers played major college basketball. One even played in the NBA.

"He wants me to be better than him, so I guess that's an advantage. Everything that he does, he like, passes it on to me -- and whatever he didn't do, he wants me to do as a player," Jaylen Key said.

Key, a Homestead Highlanders senior is one of the finest high school players in the state. He's landed a scholarship at Northern Illinois. His father is Damon Key -- the former Marquette University standout who helped lead his team to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 1994.

"I've always been 'if you don't want to play, don't play.' You have to really love the game, and I think he really does," Damon Key said.

"I grew up with a ball -- right away. I still remember me down in the basement working on my jab steps and the left hand. I definitely grew up, but it was never forced upon me. I just loved the game," Homestead senior guard Cam Marotta said.

Marotta also plays football for Homestead. At a shade or two under six feet tall, he doesn't stand as tall as his 6'7" father Marc. Marc Marotta was a fine player at Marquette in the early 1980s -- drafted by the New York Knicks before opting to study law at Harvard. Cam Marotta is following in Dad's footsteps -- but blazing his own trail as a walk-on for Marquette.

"He is very much his own person. He's self-motivated. He wants to be good. He accepts constructive criticism. He relishes it," Marc Marotta saiid.

"It's definitely an advantage, because I automatically know more than most players because my dad played at this high level," Homestead freshman Greg Foster Jr. said.

Foster Jr. is just a freshman, but he works out with the varsity team and shows glimpses of growing into the type of player that lifted his 6'11" father Greg to a solid career at UCLA and UTEP. He enjoyed a 13-year career in the NBA. The elder Foster is a Bucks assistant for Head Coach Jason Kidd.

"The biggest part of that for me is staying out of the way. I had two other daughters that played collegiately, played volleyball and I probably drove them crazy. I didn't do that with this kid. I think the guys here at Homestead are doing a great job with him," Foster said.

What's wonderful about these dads is their self-control. They aren't overbearing, but like all loving fathers, their hearts desire is to be there for their sons, both on and off the court.

"I have to be a father and a basketball coach. I can't talk to him about basketball all the time, because when there's something important in his life, when is he going to come talk to me? I don't want it to be 15 years from now where he comes to me and says 'hey Dad, maybe I should have listened to you.' I want to say 'hey, if you are having any problems, come talk to me because I might be able to help you with it,'" Damon Key said.

"It's always that balance. How hard do you push? Because all youngsters need a little bit of pushing, and you don't want to go over the top. The most important thing is what kind of person he becomes, and I do think that his experience in football and basketball have really enhanced the person that he is," Marc Marotta said.

"That's their journey, and my job as a parent is to support that, and when they need my help -- give it to them but don't be fooled. I push him a little. Who am I ,or any other parent for that matter to ruin that process? Try not to play God, and just let the process unfold," Greg Foster said.

"They need to appreciate what the fathers have done -- what they're doing for them and just the bond that they have. There's not a lot of kids that never experience that," Coach McKenna said.

In addition to these basketball fathers, Chris Grimm is on the Homestead coaching staff. He played on Marquette's Final Four team in 2003.