THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Bryce Stockton making a name. Jon Stockton? Well …

First, the news.

Last summer, before his senior year at Coeur d’Alene High, pitcher Bryce Stockton committed to play baseball at Tacoma Community College.

He signed with TCC in October.

“With all the people in the transfer portal, it’s such a hot mess,” his dad, Jon Stockton said. “JUCO is just going to be an easier route for these high school kids.”

They always say to sign with the school, not the coach. But let’s be real, the coaches are the ones who develop the relationships with the players.

After Bryce, an all-state selection for the Vikings this spring, had signed, the pitching coach left.

Then in June, the head coach got on a Zoom meeting and told all his recruits he was leaving.

So Bryce kept his college options open.

After he hit a personal-best 92 mph on the gun at a tournament in Seattle, he tweeted out that information.

Apparently a coach from Sacramento State, noticed.

The Hornets, Jon said, were looking for one arm — a high school pitcher, not a JUCO pitcher. More than 1,500 players, Bryce included, contacted the Sac State coaches.

The Hornets did some research, flew Bryce and his parents to Sacramento for a visit, then offered him a scholarship, which he accepted.

So, thanks to Twitter, Bryce went from the NWAC to an NCAA Division I school, a baseball member of the Western Athletic Conference.

“It was a true blessing for sure,” Jon Stockton said.

JON STOCKTON.

When some folks hear that name on the other end of the phone, they might not know that it’s Jon Stockton, California-raised, and a North Idaho resident since March 2020, and not John Stockton, of Spokane and Gonzaga and Utah Jazz fame.

“It’s real easy to get a dinner reservation up here,” Jon said with a laugh. “Golf tee times, no problem.”

But when Jon shows up at the restaurant or the course, and workers realize it’s not John?

“That’s not my fault,” said Jon, 48. “There have been several times I’ve called to make reservations, they never ask, ‘Is this the real John Stockton?’ I’m not going to lie … I just give them my name.”

In 1999, when Jon Stockton was living in Sacramento, the Kings were an up-and-coming team, with Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic and others. John Stockton and the Jazz were in town for a playoff game, and Jon and his friend had tickets under the basket, a couple rows up.

The Kings were ahead in the waning seconds when John Stockton took a pass from Karl Malone and hit a jumper at the buzzer to win the game.

“Sports Illustrated got a picture of (the shot), of him (John) in the air, and everyone in the stands, behind, watching,” Jon recalled. “And if you look just to the right of him, you can see me, side-by-side. He’s in the air, and I’m in Sports Illustrated. He broke my heart, but … I have it (the photo) framed in my office.”

JON AND his family — wife Shayna, daughter Bayleigh, now attending North Idaho College, Bryce, and MJ, who will be in fifth grade — moved to North Idaho late in Bryce’s freshman year of high school.

(No, MJ is not named after you-know-who — he’s named Michael Jon, after his grandfather and his father).

In addition to his “normal job,” Jon also coaches some youth baseball, and volunteers with the Coeur d’Alene High baseball team.

In September, he plans to open an indoor baseball/softball training facility in Hayden. When the owner of Premier Sports Center in Post Falls closed his business, Jon bought the equipment in the building from him, purchased a building in Hayden, and plans to complement the existing equipment with what he calls “state-of-the-art technology” to measure launch angles, spin rates and other analytics.

ONE MORE story.

“It was probably in 2004, or 2005, and my friends and I wanted to play Pebble Beach,” said Jon, who plays regularly at Avondale Golf Club, and is in the men’s club. “But back then, Pebble Beach was pretty hard to get on; you typically have to stay the night.

“I just called one day … ‘My friends and I would like to come and play, is there any way you can get us on, without having to stay at the resort?’”

“‘Well, typically no,’” Jon was told, “but there is this week before the AT&T pro-am (in February), if you have your NCGA (Northern California Golf Association) card, we might be able to get you on. We’ll take down your name and number and call you back if we can.’

“So I gave them my name, and they gave me a tee time right away,” he said. “I told them my name was Jon Stockton and they said ‘Well, Mr. Stockton, we can get you on at 9:15.’

“And I said, ‘That sounds great. See you Saturday.’

“So I showed up, and they were expecting (John) Stockton to walk in. And of course, it was me.”

And then what happened?

“I got to go play golf,” Jon said. “I never said I was; I just gave them my name.”

TO HIS knowledge, Jon Stockton’s family is not related to any of the other sports-playing Stocktons in the area you may have read about.

And no, Jon Stockton has not met John Stockton.

Yet.

“But I do have a few things for him to sign if I ever do,” Jon said. “The Sports Illustrated frame … and I have one of his jerseys on my wall, because I really just loved watching him play basketball, even though he broke my heart.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.