SBLive Sports, Southern Section collaborate on 'Southern Section Sitdown,' with Tarek Fattal
LOS ALAMITOS, CALIFORNIA — The CIF's Southern Section covers one of the largest, most progressive and fertile high school sports communities in the nation.
With 556 schools, in the heart of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, the section has produced some of the country's greatest athletes.
During its 100-year anniversary celebration in 2013, the Southern Section released its 100 greatest athletes. Among them were Jackie Robinson, Billy Jean King, Tiger Woods, Reggie Miller, Cheryl Miller, Ronnie Lott, Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi, Marion Jones, Anthony Munoz, Allyson Felix, Tony Gwynn and Ted Williams.
Over the last decade, countless other former Southern Section products have emerged, including 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young, MLB All-Stars Freddie Freeman, Gerrit Cole, Christian Yelich and Nolan Arenado, along with All-NBA standouts Kahwi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, James Hardin, Paul George, Jrue Holiday, and DeMar DeRozan.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. Among those talents are amazing teams led by accomplished coaches which have led to remarkable games and ultimately championship events.
To help shine a spotlight on all of it, the Southern Section announced Monday its collaboration with SBLive Sports to release "Southern Section Sitdown," a new show featuring many of the most important athletes, coaches, administrators, alumni and media members surrounding the games today.
Hosted by SBLive's Tarek Fattal, one of the preeminent writers and voices in the space, the show will hit on a variety of topics, from transfer talk to by-law breakdowns to playoff previews to fun facts and much more.
SBLive Sports' Tarek Fattal (left) sits down with Southern Section assistant commissioner Thom Simmons for an episode to be released Oct. 26.
Episode one, featuring St. John Bosco football coach Jason Negro, is set to release Thursday, Oct. 19, on the CIF-SS YouTube (@cifss) and its website, as well as here on SBLiveSports.
Negro and his Braves are coming off a stirring 28-0 win Friday over Mater Dei, the then unanimous national No. 1 team in the country.
Southern Section Sitdown schedule (Thursday releases)
Oct. 19 — St. John Bosco football coach Jason Negro
Oct. 26 — Southern Section assistant commissioner Thom Simmons
Nov. 2 — Orange County Register sports guru Steve Fryer
Fattal with longtime Orange County Register scribe and celebrity Steve Fryer
Nov. 9 — California's all-time boys basketball win coaching leader Gary McKnight, of Mater Dei
Gary McKnight (right) has gone 1,243-134 during his tenure since 1983, according to Cal-Hi Sports.
Nov. 16 — Boys basketball coach David Rebibo of defending CIF State Open Division champion Harvard-Westlake
David Rebibo starts his eighth season at Harvard-Westlake in 2023-24. He's gone 195-54 in that time, including 34-2 last season.
SBLive Sports is an official digital content partner of the CIF and a member of the Sports Illustrated Media Network.
