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GREENSBORO — A year after starting Northern Guilford's boys basketball program from scratch, coach Stan Kowalewski has put together one of the best 3-A teams in the state. The Nighthawks enter Saturday's championship game against Gastonia Forestview with a 29-3 record and a 20-game winning streak — all without a single senior on the roster.

But Northern's swift success hasn't come without barbs of criticism from some coaches and fans who say Kowalewski has used his connections with a local Amateur Athletic Union basketball program to aggressively funnel Guilford County's best talent to his program.

At least 10 of the 16 players on Northern Guilford's roster also play for the Greensboro-based North Carolina Gaters, the state's largest AAU basketball program. Kowalewski is vice president of the Gaters and one of the program's coaches.

Kowalewski this week denied recruiting players or their parents to move into Northern's school district — which would be a violation of N.C. High School Athletic Association rules.

Nevertheless, the president of the North Carolina Gaters last year asked Kowalewski to step down as coach of two of the program's high school-age basketball teams to try and avoid future accusations.

Kowalewski said he agreed to step down "to do everything possible to dampen the perception people have of me with Gater players."

That perception began shortly after Kowalewski left High Point Central in 2007 to start Northern's program:

l Jonathan Frye, a freshman who played for Kowalewski at High Point Central and a member of the Gaters, followed his coach to Northern.

l Jacob Lawson, another Gaters player and a prospect who was ranked as one of the nation's best middle school players, showed up at Northern Guilford as a freshman in August 2007. At the time, Lawson's family lived in Caswell County, which would have made Lawson ineligible to attend Northern.

A few days before the start of school, Lawson's father, Louis, was hired by Northern Guilford as a custodian, according to Guilford County School records. Children of parents who work at a Guilford County school can attend that school regardless of where they live.

Northern principal Joe Yeager said Louis Lawson was hired based on his experience — Lawson was a school custodian in Caswell County.

"Do people really think I would hire someone to take care of a $42 million school because his son can play basketball?" asked Yeager, who said he learned Lawson's son was a basketball player during the job interview.

The Lawson family has since moved within the school's boundaries, Yeager said.

l In August, Kowalewski's 19-and-under Gaters team won a national AAU tournament in Orlando, Fla. Four days after returning home and just days before the start of the 2008-09 school year, Christian McCain, one of the Gaters' players, transferred from Page to Northern Guilford.

Tim Frye, Jonathan Frye's father, said his family moved into Northern Guilford's boundaries for academic and basketball reasons. Valerie McCain, Christian McCain's mother, said her family moved for academic reasons. Louis Lawson declined to comment.

Northern athletics director Derrell Force said all but two of Northern Guilford's players live within the school's boundaries — a fact supported by a Guilford County Schools investigation last year stemming from similar complaints. He said two players have received special assignment to attend Northern from the school system.

Guilford County athletics director Leigh Hebbard said the school system investigates legitimate claims of recruiting. He declined to discuss last year's investigation because it occurred before he assumed his current position.

Yeager said he supports Kowalewski. It's typical for families to move into a district, he said, when a new school is built. "That goes for athletics and academics," he added. "You never hear about the freshman moving in to take calculus classes."

Page coach Robert Kent, himself a Gaters coach during the summer, said he believes all of Northern's players are eligible. He said it's hard to comprehend, however, that McCain, his former player, and so many other elite Gaters players moved into Northern Guilford's district without prodding.

"Without a doubt someone, somewhere got to (McCain) and gave him options," Kent said. "That has to have happened. How else does a kid find out he can play somewhere else?"

That's simple, said Billy Britt, president of the Gaters. Britt said AAU players — especially elite AAU players — have historically shopped their talent around.

"Kids are going to do things to benefit themselves," Britt said. "(In Northern Guilford) you've got a brand-new school with an excellent coach. That's pretty attractive to players."

This isn't the first time Kowalewski has come under scrutiny. In September, Kowalewski filed a defamation suit against Northwest Guilford athletics director John Hughes, after Hughes sent an e-mail to his principal about rumors of recruiting at Northern.

The suit was settled out of court and terms of the settlement were sealed. Kowalewski and Hughes both said they were happy with the outcome.

Kowalewski said he feels bad for his players who have to deal with anything but the excitement leading up to the school's first championship game. He said his players have heard chants throughout the regular season and playoffs and read Internet posts from fans accusing the team of wrongdoing. "They're determined not to let this bother them," he said.

"It's a shame other coaches and schools have spent so much time complaining and worrying about this," Kowalewski added. "If they spent as much time working and developing their players as we have, maybe they would be playing this week and not us. Instead they want to spend more time whining and complaining."

 Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com