Putting in the work

Through years of hard work and dedication, Post Falls High senior Tanner McCliment-Call has developed into a well-rounded, fundamentally sound basketball player.

For that he can thank his parents, who have also been his coaches as he’s grown up with the sport.

Or he can thank his high school coaches, who have refined his game since taking over the primary coaching role from his parents.

Maybe he can thank his twin sisters, sophomores Tyler and Jacksen McCliment-Call, who have joined him for hours upon hours in the gym.

Or maybe, say his mom and his high school coach, Tanner McCliment-Call can thank himself.

“Tanner’s a gym rat. He’s willing to put in the work, and that’s been the key to his success this year and last year,” said his mother, Regan McCliment-Call. “He’s just a really dedicated basketball player.”

“I knew that Tanner constantly worked on his game on his own time,” Post Falls High boys basketball coach Mike McLean said. “He had a vision for himself and he has worked hard on his craft. That is a real testament to Tanner’s commitment to himself — working constantly in the gym when no one else was there to become the best player he can be and reach his full potential.”

Says Tanner: “My mom is my basketball coach and my dad (Pat Call) is my baseball coach. I wouldn’t be where I’m at without them.”

Tanner McCliment-Call is a 6-foot-1 guard in his second year as a starter at Post Falls (18-5), which is expected to challenge for the title when the state 5A tournament begins Thursday at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa. He is the Trojans’ second-leading scorer (15.2 points per game) and leads the team in assists (2.6 per game). His 3-point shooting percentage (50 percent) is even better than his overall field-goal percentage (48.2), and he’s an 80.1-percent free-throw shooter.

And one other thing: The last name is pronounced McCLYment-Call. The “I” in McCliment is a “hard” I. It’s been mostly mispronounced for years.

SINCE THE time Tanner started playing sports as a youngster, his parents have been his coaches.

Regan McCliment grew up mostly in Tonasket, Wash. She moved back to Spokane for her last two years of high school, and as a junior played on an undefeated state championship girls basketball team at Central Valley, guided by future Coeur d’Alene High girls coach Dale Poffenroth. Regan went on to play at Gonzaga University, and eventually married Pat Call.

Pat Call also grew up in Tonasket, and went on to play baseball at Eastern Oregon in La Grande. The family has lived in Post Falls since Tanner was a little over 1 year old.

Regan and Pat coached Tanner in basketball growing up, for several years on an AAU travel team called North Idaho Steel that included many of the top players from North Idaho and beyond.

“So he had that opportunity to face some really good athletes,” Regan said. “It lit a fire in him and he decided to put in a lot of work in the gym on his own. I can’t stress enough how he embraced that, and went to the gym on his own. He logged all his shots, makes and misses so he knew what he needed to improve on.”

Pat also coaches Tanner in baseball, most recently last season, Pat’s first as head coach of the Prairie Cardinals “AA” American Legion baseball team. Tanner, who plays shortstop and center field, played on the Post Falls Little League all-star team that went to San Bernardino, Calif., in 2012 and was one game away from advancing to the Little League World Series.

He also plays high school baseball, and even played one season of soccer, as a goalkeeper, “because they needed me to,” he said.

“It’s a little more pressure, to be honest,” Tanner said of having his parents also be his coaches. “Usually people say it’s easier for you, because you get more playing time.

“Sometimes that happens, but I also take the most heat. But I get all the props too; I get to listen to everything.

“They know everything that’s going on out there. Some parents don’t understand the game, and if you play bad, they don’t know. But my parents, they know, and I’ll hear about it.”

But Tanner says he likes it that way; it has made him a better player, and has increased his IQ in both sports immensely. Though he admitted there were times, during his growing-up phase, that he was a “brat” when it came to accepting all that coaching from his parents.

“I’d get so mad when I would come home and they would yell at me about something,” he said. “But they would tell me I did something good, but I would get hung up on the fact I did something bad.”

As for Tanner being “bratty,” Regan said she didn’t think he was that bad, and that he’s always been coachable.

“He’s pretty hard on himself,” Regan said. “The thing that we as coaches could get him to learn is, it’s OK to fail. It’s OK to put yourself out there and take some risks. For him, to miss a shot was a big deal when he was younger. But for him to be able to get past that ...

“I think what he took from me and my husband was, he learned how to practice the right way. He’s really focused with his practice time, whether with high school or on his own.”

Tanner can laugh about it now, but he can recall times earlier during high school ball when “McLean’s all mad at me about something, and I’ll go home and my parents would be (angry) with me about the same thing.”

“As he’s gotten older, our role has changed,” Regan said. “When he was in junior high we were still talking to him about the game, and the strategy, and bouncing things off of each other. And now, he’s such a student of the game, and McLean’s done such a great job with him ... we’re not coaching him as much. We’re here as his parents and supporting him. But if he wants our feedback, we’re always open.”

TANNER PLAYED on the Post Falls junior varsity team as a freshman, but was called up to the varsity for the postseason and was on the bench when the Trojans won the state title in 2015.

“When Tanner was a freshman, it was obvious he had a scorer’s mentality and that his skill set would allow him to be a very good offensive threat as he progressed through our program.” McLean said.

As a sophomore on the varsity, Tanner struggled to get playing time on a senior-laden team that eventually lost in a state play-in game.

“Tanner’s sophomore year was a very challenging year for him every day in practice,” McLean said. “Nothing comes easy in our program for any player, and during that sophomore year, I saw the potential in Tanner that led me to believe he would become an all-league type player. What I saw during that year from him in practice was a player who never complained about his situation, challenged himself each day going against older teammates who never game him an inch, and Tanner really developed that grit he plays with today.”

A starter since his junior year, Tanner has helped Post Falls to back-to-back undefeated 5A Inland Empire League titles. In perhaps the Trojans’ toughest league test during that time, his blocked shot at the end of the game saved a one-point win at Lake City earlier this season.

Last year the Trojans made it to state, losing in the third-place game.

As part of his development in high school, Tanner has developed a go-to move, the pull-up jump shot, that is nearly textbook in execution.

“Many high school players can make open 3-point jump shots, but what separates the good high school player from the college-type player is what can they do when defenses take away their primary weapon,” McLean said. “Tanner’s shot fake, one dribble — to create separation — pull-up jump shot is the best I have had here at Post Falls in my 11 years. That skill set is a college-level shot.”

And that has come from years of practice in the gym with his dad, his de facto shooting coach, perfecting the routine.

“His might be a nicer shot than mine,” Tanner admits. “He’s got perfect mechanics. When something’s wrong with my shot, I can look at him and he’ll tell me what the problem is.”

Tanner has attracted recruiting interest from colleges, mostly at the NCAA Division II, NAIA and community college level.

LATELY, MUCH of Tanner’s “gym rat” time is spent with Tyler and Jacksen. They rebound for each other at the gym, or at the park, and play 2-on-1 or 21. Two weekends ago, Tyler and Jacksen McCliment-Call helped the Post Falls girls win the state title in Nampa.

“Part of my success is because I get to play with them all the time,” Tanner said.

“I couldn’t ask for a better role model for his two sisters,” Regan said. “Tanner is a 3.8 student, he doesn’t get into any trouble. They have followed in his path. They’re at the gym, he’s taught Tyler the mid-range (jumper), they work out together. They’re so close. They’re so supportive of him.

“What a great role model he’s been for his sisters, in school and in sports.”