field goal

Ninth and final in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Gabriel Goroyan, Westlake kicker.

Gabriel Goroyan, a senior kicker at Westlake High with a 4.77 grade-point average, revealed stunning news during an interview.

“I’m OK with being normal,” he said.

That goes against everything previously known about kickers. They’re almost always surfer dudes with the fearless spirit of a pole vaulter and the willingness to experiment. If anyone were going to volunteer for a mission to Mars, it would be a kicker.

“I would like to think I’m not one of the weirder personalities,” Goroyan said.

He is like most kickers — a former soccer player. He began in eighth grade when he was still playing soccer but beginning to like kicking.

At a camp, when he made a 54-yard field goal in a competition, that’s the moment he realized, “I can do this.”

“I started taking it more serious,” he said. “I was hungry for that No. 1 spot.”

He enters his senior season as No. 1 at his position in the Southland and committed to Stanford. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder makes booming kickoffs, was 50 of 51 on PATs last season and made seven field goals. He also averaged 40.3 yards on punts. He kicks balls with his left foot, which requires long snappers to make an adjustment and change blocking schemes because most kickers use their right foot.

He’s never received a grade other than A on his report card at Westlake. His father is Armenian and his mother Bulgarian. He has an 8 handicap in golf and can drive a ball 300 yards from the tee, so if you need a ringer for a charity tournament, Goroyan will play the role.

He has figured out the mental requirements needed to deal with the highs and lows of being a kicker.

“A lot of it is staying calm and not getting too hyped up and too energized,” he said. “l feel a good kicker is able to come back from a miss and a lot of it is being yourself. You have to know not to overthink things and be able to go back to your normal mental state and not get trapped in a cycle of you’re not good enough. A lot of it is trusting yourself.”

He stands on the sideline waiting for his moment. You’ll never see him asking coach Rick Clausen to put him in for a field goal.

“I let them tell me,” he said.

It’s all about preparation and routine. His soccer background has provided him the tools to succeed.

“Train like a sprinter,” he said. ”That’s where the leg speed comes from. It’s not about having to squat 500 pounds but more being able to run and have fast legs. That’s where the power comes.”

As for dealing with pressure, Goroyan said camp competitions such as “last man standing,” where you have to make a kick to stay in the competition, provides preparation for a game-winning field-goal attempt that he has yet to experience.

He’s already demonstrated that he’s different — otherwise known as normal. When he made that 54-yard field goal, the longest of his career, in eighth grade, he did not scream.

“I gave a quiet clap and ran to get my ball,” he said.

Kickers to watch

Noah Ahari, Chino Hills, 6-2, 155, Sr. Made nine of 10 field goals last season

Peter Batsaras, Cypress, 5-10, 170, Sr. A summer of success sets the stage for big senior season

Ayden Brannum, Fontana, 6-3, 190, Sr. Averaged 48 yards on punts and made 47-yard field goal

Colin Elia, Temecula Valley, 6-0, 160, Sr. Made 10 of 11 field goals as a junior

Gabriel Goroyan, Westlake, 5-11, 180, Sr. Stanford commit has worked relentlessly on mastering his technique

Jackson Hauducoeur, Upland, 5-6, 140, Sr. All-CIF kicker made eight of 10 field goals

Ethan Miller, San Clemente, 6-2, 175, Jr. Made nine fields, cool under pressure

Jerry Shifman, Mater Dei, 5-10, 165, Jr. Had nine field goals, with a long of 43 yards

Carter Sobel, Sierra Canyon, 5-9, 160, Sr. Strong on kickoffs and made nine field goals

Caleb Sylvia, Mission Viejo, 5-10, 190, Sr. Had 49-yard field goal last season

LeBron James is continuing his record-setting NBA career, but he won’t do it with the Lakers.

The 41-year-old superstar has informed the Lakers he intends to sign with a different team as an unrestricted free agent, The Times confirmed Tuesday. After eight seasons, James felt it was best to part ways with the Lakers, according to people familiar with the situation not authorized to discuss it publicly.

James’ tenure with the Lakers was his longest continuous stint with any franchise during his illustrious career. He led the team to its 17th NBA championship in 2020, broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record while wearing the purple and gold and set the league record for seasons played, reaching 23 unprecedented years.

His record-extending 24th season will now be elsewhere.

The Golden State Warriors were reported as a potential option after Draymond Green opted out of his contract Monday, potentially freeing enough cap space to add James. He made $52.6 million last season but could sign for a pay cut to join fellow superstar Stephen Curry.

“LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in history,” Lakers governor Jeanie Buss said in a statement posted on social media. “We will always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers — including the title he led us to in 2020 under the toughest imaginable circumstances and the countless records he broke in purple and gold. We wish him all the best in the future, both on the court and off. He will always be a cherished part of the Lakers family.”

James averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game last season for the Lakers while claiming a slew of NBA records, including marks for games played, all-time wins and field goals made. Despite his age James was still considered one of the top free agents in a relatively pedestrian class.

James earned his record 22nd All-Star appearance last season, maintained his streak of averaging more than 20 points per game every season of his career and willed a shorthanded Lakers team past the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs last season.

But he also gave up ground in his decades-long bout with Father Time.

James missed the first 14 games of the season while dealing with a right sciatic nerve problem, marking the first time in his career that he wasn’t ready to suit up for the season opener. His 15.3 field goal attempts per game was a career low, and he was ineligible for end-of-season awards because he missed 22 regular-season games, ending his streak of 21 years with All-NBA honors.

The Lakers needed James to reach the second round of the Western Conference playoffs last season — when the team was without star Luka Doncic for the entire postseason — but the NBA’s all-time leading scorer was set to take a supporting role within the franchise.

Doncic, 27, remains the top priority for the Lakers. Doncic signed a three-year, $165-million contract extension last summer. The Lakers also agreed to a four-year, $185-million max deal to keep Austin Reaves, who opted out of his contract to become a free agent.

Lakers stars LeBron James and Luka Doncic high-five after Doncic scored on a crucial three-point shot in overtime against the Knicks at Crypto.com Arena in March.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

With eight players from last year’s roster entering unrestricted free agency or holding player options, the Lakers were in position to completely remake their roster around Doncic two offseasons after the Slovenian superstar landed in the Lakers’ laps in a mind-blowing trade with the Dallas Mavericks for Anthony Davis.

President of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said after the season that the roster would be “retrofitted” around Doncic, meaning the Lakers wanted to target athletic, defensive-minded wings, knock-down shooters and a rim-running center.