Division IIAA poll preseason

Preseason Southern Section D-IIAA Top 20 (as of Nov. 24, 2000)

1	Dominguez	Defending Section champs, defending Southern Region champs, two-time defending State Champs, and defending No. 1 in USA Today's mythical "National Championship" can the Dons do it one more time for Tyson Chandler before he jumps to the NBA? Based on talent on the floor, no doubt still the No. 1 team in the division, with Chandler, Bobby Jones,
2	Redondo	Lost in semifinals to Dominguez 79-61, this could be the year they successfully challenge the Dons, who are in coaching turmoil. Other than losing Andrew Zahn, they return UCLA-bound Dijon Thompson, Adam Zahn, top rising point guard Keith Ellison, Brendan Behan, Trent Turner, big man Paul Meynen (6'-11" Jr C) and Wendell White as well as some new surprises.
3	Inglewood	Lost in semifinals to Brea Olinda, 50-47. Huge influx of transfers will bolster an already athletic team. Doug Thomas from Pasadena and Jason McKinney from Westchester join DeAngelo Collins, Terrell Stovall, Anthony Davis, Earl Felix, Otis Hankins, Roy Baker, an d Teddy Fletcher. Will need to do more than be athletic though and success will happen only if Pat Roy can get his team to play consistently smart.
4	Pasadena	Always well coached, lost Reggie Harmon (13.2 ppg) to graduation and Doug Thomas (12.9 ppg, 8 rpg) who transferred to Inglewood. Dino Wilburn (6'-3" Jr. G) returns (13.9 ppg) as well as Marquez Munn (6'-2" Sr. F), Isreal Miller (6'-4" Sr. F), Johnny Eubanks (6'-3" Sr. G) Ian Solemani (*6'-6" Sr. F) McKensie Clark (6'-6" Jr. C), Travis Bean (6'-4" Jr. F) and Dwuan Rice (5'-8" Jr. PG)
5	Santa Margarita	Lenny Collins, CJ Hubbard, Travis Smith, RJ Socci Adam Tancredi, and ABCD camp-attendee Brandon Rohe, will lead the Eagles this season. Lost in the quarterfinals to Inglewood by one point, 43-42. They play tough and smart.
6	Chaparral	Two of five starters return from a team that went 10-0 in league and 26-4 overall, finishing in the quarterfinals after losing to Brea Olinda. Even though Dan Larsen (6'-1 Sr. G) who averaged 11.7 ppg and can jump out of the gym transferred, Chaparral will be led by 6'2" guard Joe Buller (13.7 PPG) (First Team Div IIAA All CIF and Skyline League MVP) and 6'5" forward Ryan Cooke (10.6 PPG, 9 Rebs) (All Skyline League), as well as David Castilo, Juan Castro, and Allen Craig who all return.
7	Cathedral City	Gerald DeVance, Thomas Shewmake and Paul Heredia lead a group of returning players which should help Cathedral City to make a deeper run in the playoffs than last season
8	Brea Olinda	Finished in the finals of D-IIAA, losing to Dominguez 66-42. This year could be a transition and could go either way unless some young players step up the offense. Team returns Steven Schaefer, Erik Giesler, Landon Lewis, Ryan Moore (16 ppg) and some other rising young players, but will hurt with loss of Chase Ulicny, and Ryan Wilber's 18 ppg and 7 rpg.
9	Compton	Return Darrin Foster (6'-1" Sr. G), Mike Grier (6'-6" Jr. G), and Marcus Williams (5'-11" Sr. G), but that's it form last year's roster. Of course that could be the good news too, since Compton finished 7-5 in league (3rd) and 15-7 overall after losing to Bellflower in the first round of playoffs. New players include Sione Sione (6'-0" Jr.), Allen McMillan (6'-5" So F), Gary Hester (6'-1" Sr. G), Elmer Moore (6'-1" Sr. G), Trayvon Thomas (6'-2" Sr. G), Donte Maddox (5'-10" So. G), and Ronald Ramsey (6'-6" Jr. F)
10	Bellflower	Made it to second round of playoffs, beating Compton in 1st round, and finishing third in league behind Artesia and Mayfair. Should finish at least in the same or higher spot. Graduated virtually all leading scorers, but still return DiLanta Lewis (6'-2" Jr. F), Devontae Battle (6'-1" Jr. G), Kendrick Sanders (6'-2" Jr. F), Jacory Bradford (6'-3" Sr. F). The rest are a mystery.
11	Newport Harbor	Return Aaron Yarnal (16.5 ppg) but lose leading scorer Dustin Illingworth (19.8 ppg). Junior standout Tony Melum (6'-5" Jr. F) returns along with Jordan Spigner, Greg Perrine, and Ryan Cook. Should be good.
12	Paso Robles	Ended the season ranked in the SCIBCA poll at No. 18, but didn't qualify for the playoffs, finishing 4th in a 6 team league and with only 9 overall wins. Only three players graduated from that team, so it's a bit of the good new/bad news thing, in that just about everyone is back. Five league titles in the 90's, with the last in 98, this could be a better year for the Bearcats.
13	Agoura	Naval Academy signee Adam Allegro, who missed most of last season with an ankle injury, will lead a revitalized Agoura squad, along with leading scorer and 805 club teammate Johnny Gray. On the rise.
14	Moorpark	Lost leading scorer Todd Tomlinson (Naval Prep Academy), but still have some good size with 6'-5" Greg Estandia and Joey Tormos, as well as 6'-3" Andrew Carter and 6'-4" Ron Russ. An unknown quantity since most of the offense went through Tomlinson lsat year. Daniel Bednar (coach's son) transferred from Moorpark to play with friends. Interesting.
15	Littlerock	Lost guard Frank Robinson (11.6 ppg) who attempted to transfer to Chatsworth and is now ineligible, Gene Myvett who graduated (25 ppg), and return largely supporting cast from last season. Will be down from last year.
16	Foothill	Returns Chad Bigler (18.4 ppg) Brett Bigler, Kyle Evans, Bob Hamer, Alex McCauley and Josh Scott. Lost in first round to West Torrance 57-56. down
17	Norte Vista	Lost Keaire Mims (17 ppg, 8 rpg) and Henry Mims (7 ppg, 7 rpg) to graduation, but return another two leading scorers in Wendell Horn (16 ppg) and John Hanley (13 ppg) as well as most of last year's juniors (now seniors) including Jamaal Askings, Jermaine Horn, Darnell Grigsby, and Dustin Edwards. Steady. Finished second last year in league behind Elsinore, at 8-2 and 15-10 overall. Tough league with Bloomington, Temescal Canyon as well. Lost to Dominguez by 36 in second round last year.
18	Canyon/A	Key players will likely be Derron Putnam, Christian Amador, Matt Baranick, Brett Bye, Jason Taylor, Robert Miller, James Lattos, Darryl Parker, Joe Zimmerman, and Tabius Simpson, a 6'-5" SG/SF transfer from Villa Park.
19	La Serna	Return Jason Koza, a solid combo guard, as well as Joey Duran, Anthony Martinez and post-man Chirs Saunders. --down from last year though with the loss of 8 seniors from last year's Del Rio League champ who finished 25-1, 10-0.
20T	Valencia (P)	Only lost two players from team that finished 3rd in Orange League at 6-4 (behind Brea Olinda and Magnolia), and at 12-14 lost in second round of playoffs to Chaparral. Three starters return, including Hugo Hernandez, Keinan Briggs, Emmanuel Ortega (14.8 ppg) . Deep bench, should finish at least second this season, and could run through Sweet 16.
20T	Los Amigos	Return leading scorers Peter Vu (6'-0" Sr. G/F) 17 ppg and 9 prg, along with Jackson Nanthauong (5'-9" Sr. G) 10 ppg.
20T	Rim of the World	Another team that finished fourth in a 6 team league and didn't get 10 wins last year, the Fighting Scots are determined to make the playoffs, and they return all leading scorers, including Mike George (6'-0" Sr. G) 13.2 ppg, Scott Creswell (6'-3" Sr. F) 14.2 ppg, Jon Jurado (5'-8" Jr. G) 13.1 ppg, and Noah Urbina (6'-1" Sr. F) 11.2 ppg. Lose only David Van Patten (6'-4" C) among the starters who averaged 8 ppg. and 6 rpg, but Cresswell led with 8 rpg as a junior. On the rise.
20T	Westlake	Finished in dead last in 99-00 in Marmonte League play, then went to the playoffs under the 10-win rule, lost to Inglewood by 9 in the first round. This year should be better. To quote Eric Sondhiemer in the LA Times (11/24/00) "Westlake has the size and depth to be a dangerous team in the Marmonte League. Guards Kole Anderson and Adam Mazarei combine with 6-5 Deven Entrikin, 6-7 Eric Weidner and 6-6 Crespi transfer Brandon Duplessie to make the Warriors a team to watch."

Preseason Southern Section Other Promising Possibilities (In alphabetical order)		Cypress, Gahr, Moorpark, South Torrance, Temescal Canyon, West Torrance