SoCalHoops Showcase News

Big Showdown: Nike Extravaganza V
This Weekend At Pyramid--(Jan. 31, 1999)

Welcome back to the Nike Extravaganza V, one of the best and biggest, and certainly the last stop on the schedule before the playoffs for many of the top teams in SoCal,  NorCal, Vegas, and of course, "The Big Showdown" between the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 teams, Oak Hill v. Dominguez. 

While there will be excellent matchups throughout the day, the headline event will take place at 9:00 p.m. when local power Dominguez, the current No. 2 ranked team in the country (according to USA Today) will take on the No. 1 team, Oak Hill from Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, for what is billed as the fictional (but very entertaining) "National HS Championship".  If you've seen Dominguez play Oak Hill in previous tournaments or showcase events, such as last year's Nike Extravaganza IV at Cal State Fullerton, or the Nike Extravaganza III at the Bren Center, then you'll be in for a huge surprise and some greatly entertaining basketball. Oak Hill is a team that has to be seen to be believed, especially if they have even a 10th of the talent they've had in past years.  And they do.

Oak Hill is, for all intents and purposes, just a high school. It is a boarding school, and in that respect it's different, but the student population, while smaller than any public school, consists only of 9th through 12th graders.   No, they don't take 5th year seniors, and they don't take "post-grad" prep students.  It's a four-year, "traditional" high school, at least from a class and grade enrollment point of view. 

That's the educational model:  Four year college preparatory program.  But when it comes to basketball, that's where the similarities with "ordinary" schools end:   The "Gold Team", one of two varsity basketball teams fielded by the school, simply bears no resemblance to your "normal" or "ordinary" local high school basketball team.    This is a team which routinely has six or seven high-major D-I prospects on it, every year, year in and year out.  Like Jerry Stackhouse, Dee Tolliver, Kevin Lyde, Steve Blake. . . or even John Humphries, the human-highlight reel.  If you like high-flying dunks, great ball handling and exciting quickness, then you've got to see Oak Hill. . .

Oak Hill and Dominguez have already played once this season at the Iolani Classic, a cliffhanger game that Oak Hill won. . .in fact in their last three meetings, Oak Hill has beaten Dominguez, but they've all been close games, and this could be the one that Russell Otis and his team manage to take from Steve Smith and his guys.

We'll be doing individual player profiles for the Oak Hill team each day this week, but in the meantime, some of the names will and should be familiar to those who follow the game:  Wilbur Allen (6'-3" Jr. SG), Rashaad Carruth (6'-2" Jr. SG), Abdou Diame (6'-9" Sr. PF/C) who has signed with Auburn, Byron Mitchell (6'-7" Sr. F), Chris Neal (6'-0" Sr. SG), Luke Whitehead (6'-6" Sr. SF/SG) from San Francisco St. Ignatius, Sagana Diop, Cliff Hawkins, Chris Williams, Dave Holmes, and more. . . There are at least 6 current high Division I prospects/signees on this team, and they're currently (20-1)---yes USA Today is a little behind (they have them at 17-1). . .  Steve Smith has assembled an all-star cast and this should be a great game.

Here are the matchups and the schedule for the entire day:

So get ready for some great basketball action, another full weekend schedule.  The Pyramid is a great venue to see these games, but remember, even there the seating is limited so plan to get there early and stay all day. . . This is an event you don't want to miss.

See you there.

 
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