James Slade: Playing it Close to Home

Published on Sep 17 2026

When James Slade made his collegiate decision after high school to attend College of the Redwoods, it wasn’t on a whim.

It wasn’t a fluke.

It wasn’t a last-minute decision.

It was intentional.

James, a Scotia kid, had already spent three years playing basketball for Justin Mora at Ferndale High School. Mora, a legendary former Fortuna Husky himself from the Class of 1995, would eventually become the head coach at College of the Redwoods.

So, when it came time for James to decide where he would play after high school, having Mora at CR made the decision a whole lot easier.

“I trusted him a lot and that was one of the biggest reasons why I chose CR,” James said. “Another reason was being able to play in front of my family. My family is very important to me, so being able to play in front of them for a few more years meant a lot to me.”

James arrived on campus in 2011 confident that he could compete at the next level but still knew he had something to prove. And while basketball was a big part of his life and his CR story, it wasn’t the only sport he played.

Not only did he play point guard and forward, but he was also the punter/kicker for the football team, and a pitcher for the baseball team.

An impressive feat for any collegiate athlete.

But some of his favorite memories aren’t about points scored or games won.

They’re about human connection.

Because the relationships that James made and maintained during his CR career as a three-sport collegiate athlete, have stood the test of time.

Beau Gastineau, a teammate, James connected with during his CR years, would eventually stand beside him as the best man at his wedding.

Jon Losa, a friend from before college, joined him in representing their little hometown of Ferndale at the college level.

And then there were coaches, trainers, and staff.

Justin Mora. Barry Mendenhall. Gordie Hunt. Nate Kees. Bob Brown. Tino Romero. Myke Magdaleno. Joe Hash. Theresa Sisson.

James remembers each one of them.

When James chose CR, staying close to home was important to him. It still was.  But a few years later, he was ready to see what came next.

After drawing interest from four-year programs, James chose Sonoma State University.

Leaving his family and Humboldt was hard.

But maybe that was also part of the process.

“I wanted to stay and play in front of my family and HSU, but I also wanted to grow up and start to do things on my own,” he said.

By then, he was ready.

And James is the first to say CR helped him get there.

“I was not ready to play for a four year right out of high school,” he said. “If it was not for CR and all of the support I had, I wouldn’t have been able to make it to Sonoma State.”

Years later, James is no longer the kid walking onto the CR campus finding his place here in  college athletics.

Now he’s the head basketball coach at Rancho Cotate High School.

And he’s a teacher.

Still, pieces of CR have followed him. They always do, don’t they?

He runs some of the same drills Barry Mendenhall once taught.

He still uses plays Justin Mora ran.

He teaches his own athletes about accountability and holding one another to a standard, lessons he learned from the coaches and mentors who once held him to one.