SoCalHoops Tournament News

4th Annual adidas Mats' Madness
Tournament Next Weekend--(May 19, 2000)

We just talked with Dennis Magro, who's helping with the pools and seedings at Darren Matsubara's "Mats' Madness" Tournament, the big adidas sponsored tournament which will be taking place over Memorial Day weekend up in Fresno (formerly the adidas Hoop Summit) , and he gave us the tentative pool assignments for the tournament.  This will be a 64 team tournament which will be taking place over the weekend of May 27-29.  The games will start on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. and will continue through the Championship which will be played late Monday afternoon. The first day and a half of competition will be pool play, and then starting a shortly after noon on Sunday, the single-elimination portion of the tournament will get started.

This is going to be a very competitive tournament, and while we haven't seen all of the rosters (yet) we've got some information on a few of them. But before we get to that, here are the tentative pool assignments (remember, these aren't set in concrete, but we don't anticipate any changes unless a team drops out and new teams are added). 

Here's a breakdown of what little we know about some of the top teams:

While this is generally a travel team tournament, there are also a number of local high school teams all playing together.  The Wildcats are from Sunnyside HS in Fresno, which is also going to be the main site this year.  It's a brand new high school and the facilities are supposed to be really nice. Other high school teams will include the Highlanders (McLane HS, Fresno),  the Tigers (Edison Fresno HS), Grizzlies (Fresno Central), the Washington Union Panthers, and the Patriots (Hoover HS Fresno), and the Hustlin Eagles from Clovis West who will have two of the top players in the tournament, Chris Hernandez (6'-2" Jr. PG) and Charlie Rodriguez (6'-8" So. PF) in addition to the other guys who helped Clovis get to the State Finals this past season, and although they're not considered a "seeded" team, this is one team that we'd pick to finish really well, and possibly take it all.

Among the travel teams, EBO is of course the host team, and Mats' will have two teams, "EBO"  and "EBO Alaska".   The EBO team which will feature Jamaal Williams (6'-6" Jr. SF) from Corona Centennial, and some other really excellent players from all over the country.  We would have gotten more info on Mats' own team, but he's busy here in Los Angeles this weekend (and thus hard to track down) and he's here with DeShawn Stevenson,  who is doing some personal workouts with Todd Person at his private training facility, The Metabolic Project, a personal training gym located in Westwood where a lot of the top college and pro players also train. . . In the past week, Todd has also been working out Jason Kapono and Jerome Moiso. . . but we digress.  Basically, Mats will certainly have one of the top teams in the tournament and we''ll find out who's coming in the next few days. Mats will also have an "EBO Alaska" team which will be coached by Carlos Boozer, Sr., and we'd also expect Carlos Jr. as an "assistant coach" since he should be finished with finals at Duke.

Pump N Run will be the "Double Pump All-Stars" in different clothing:  David Gale (6'-0" So. PG) from Buckley, Bakari Altheimer (5'-11" Jr. PG) from St.Elizabeth in Oakland, Torin Beeler (6'-5" Jr. SG/SF) and Marques Crane (6'-5" Jr. SG) from Ocean View, Quinn Hawking (6'-4" Jr. SG) from from El Dorado, Andrew Moore (6'-1" Jr. SG) from Crespi, Scott Borchart (6'-9" Jr. PF) from Chaminade, Dustin Villapigue (6'-9" Jr. PF) from Simi Valley and Jason Carter (6'-9" Jr. PF/C) from Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.  The Cravens won't be playing anywhere this weekend, staying home to study for finals which start the next morning after the tournament ends; Charlie Rodriguez and Chris Hernandez as noted above, are playing in the tournament with the their high school team, the CW Hustlin' Eagles, and Jamaal Williams is playing with Mats and EBO. Rick Rickert and Kevin Fellows will rejoin the Pumps during the summer for the Big Time Tournament. The Pump Arizona All-Stars team with the Fontenets, Jon Wilkens, Mike Stephens, and others will be playing at another tournament on the East Coast and the other Pump team of juniors (with the Cravens, Dennis Lattimore, etc) will get back together in another month after ABCD and Nike Camp.

805 is another of the top teams in the tournament, George Albanez' team, and this time he'll be bringing two squads.  We're not sure who will be on the #2 team, but the #1 squad that he had at the Pump Spring Tournament last month featured top recruits like Dommanic Ingerson (6'-3" Jr. G ) from Santa Barbara, Armando Surratt (5'-11" So. PG) from Oakland Tech, Trey Putnam (6'-7" Jr. SF ) from Santa Barbara, David Romero (6'-3 Jr. F) from Arroyo Grande, Asher Kuperman (5'-11" So. PG) San Marcos, James Akinjo (6'-5" Jr. PG) from Oakland McClymonds, Joel Smith (6'-5" So. F) from Lompoc, Matt McKinney (6'-8" So. F) from   Santa Ynez, and Adam Allegro (6'-5" Jr. F ) from Agoura

Rockfish 1 should have the usual suspects, Nick Curtis (6’-8" Jr. PF), Solomon Brown (6’-1" Jr. PG), Anthony Davis (6’-5" Jr. SG/SF), Tim Drisdom (6’-3" So. PG) Jermaine Harper (6’-3 " Jr. SG),  Rory O’Neil (6’-10" Jr. C), Julian Sensley (6’-9" Jr. PF), Josh Dunaj (6’-0 Jr. SG/PG), Donald Wilson (6’-3" So. SG) and maybe one or two others. While the other Rockfish teams have all been designated using numbers (e.g., 2-5), they will likely have names such as "Marlins" or "Orcas" or "Dolphins" etc, and we don't yet know which team will get plugged in where on the pool chart, and likewise, we really have no idea how the Rockfish guys will split up the rest of their 4 teams, but we'll be talking to Mark and Dave in the next few days.  Among the players we would expect to see though on one or another Rockfish teams would be (and this is not meant to be comprehensive or complete) would be Khalif Ford (6’-0" Fr. G),  Kevin Stacey (6’-3" So. SG), Damon Jenkins (6’-3" Jr. SG), Kevin Gardner (6’-7" So. F), Marko Mihailovic (6’-5" Jr. F), Rasheed Oliver (6’-7" Jr. F),  David Patten (6’-8" So. F), J.P. Elliot (6’-8" Jr. F) Wes Wardrop (6’-3" Jr. G),  Will Sheslow (6'-1" So. PG/SG), Tito Hill (6’-4" Jr. SG), Nashid Beard (6’-7" Jr. F), Michael Wilds (6’-7" Jr. PF), Ellis Walker (6’-7" Jr. F), Jonathan Todd (6’-8" So. F), John Liam Stapleton (6’-2" Fr. SG), Peter McCaslin (6’-1" Jr. PG/SG), Brandon Robinson (6’-4" Jr. SG), Bryant Markson (6’-6" So. F),  David Newkirk (6’-5" Jr. F), Darryl Pegram (6’-8" Jr. F), Robert Locke (6'-0" Fr. PG),  Sean Cole (6'-7" Jr. PF), Derek Jones (6'-6" Jr. F), Derrick Williams (6'-2" Fr. SG), Kenny D’oyen (5’-9" Jr. PG),  Jimmy Goffredo (6’-0" Fr. SG), James Jenkins (6’-7" Jr. F), and probably some that we've missed. 

Belmont Shore will be bringing two teams, an "East" and "West" team. Neither of them will be the "Belmont Shore" team coached by Dinos Trigonis, with guys like Dijon Thompson, who instead will be back at the Bob Gibbons Tournament which is running the same weekend. The Belmont Shore West team will mostly be guys from in and around the San Fernando Valley, coached by Ruben Sanchez, Sr. and Rob Icart, and they'll feature Kenny Hauser (6'-5" Jr. SF) from North Hollywood, Tom Herring (an 8th grader from Monrovia), Matt Llewellyn (6'-2" So. SG) from Loyola, Mike Luderer (6'-4" Jr. SG) from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Tyler Newton (6'-9" Jr. F) from Burbank Burroughs, Cody Pearson (6'-4" Jr. SG) from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Ruben Sanchez (6'-0" Jr. PG) from Notre Dame, Matt Wallman (6'-7" Jr. F) from Moorpark, and Omar Wilkes (6'-2" Fr. SG) from Loyola. The Belmont Shore East Team will be the guys from Upland HS:  Kevyn White (6'-0" Jr. PG), Sheldon Pace (5'-10" Jr. PG), Jesse Pruitt (6'-1" Jr. SG), Jason Harris (6'-4" Jr. SG/SF), Brett Williams (6'-3" Jr. SG),  Tye-Juan Hatter (6'-5" So. SG/SF), Prentice Harris (6'-1" Jr. SG), (Kirk Snyder 6'-5" Jr. F), Lionel Davis  (6'-6" Jr. F/C), and Julius Coleman.

IEBP  will be Keith Howards' guys, and while we don't know which of them will be on the 1 or the 2 team, you can expect to see guys like Shaddean Aaron (6’-5" So. SF),  Chris Adams (6'-6" Jr. F), Chris Brazelton (6’-3" Jr. G), Bryan Burrell (5’-11" Fr. G), Talani Calhoun (5’10" So. G), Rummel Clark (6’-3" So. G), Gerald DeVance (5’-7" Jr. PG), Daniel Doss (6’-5" So. F), Chris Duffy (6'-7" Jr. F), Johnny Dukes (6’-6" So. F), Kenneth Frazier (6’-4" So. SG/SF), Michael Frazier (6’-3" Jr. G), Jason Greenlee (6’-0" Jr. PG), Paul Heredia (6’-5" Jr. SF) Bakari Heru (6’-0" Jr. G), Marvin Lea (6’-2" So. G), Cory McJimson  (6’-5" So. F), Sean Marshall (6’-4" Fr. SF), Kris Maxey (6’-2" Jr. SG), Donovan Morris (6’-3" So. SG), Sali Vance (6’-7" Jr. F), Aaron Williams (6’-1" Jr. G),  Jackson Wood (6’-7" Jr. F), and Josh Zazulia (6’-1" So. G).

The Alleycats Red and White teams should be basically the same Alleycats teams which were coached by Anthony Williams at the Pump Spring tournament, and so you should see on th eRed team Bodeke Traylor  (6'-1" Sr. G/F), Jarrha Bolden (6'-2" Jr. G), Robert Ortiz (6'-0" Jr. PG), Randy Bland (6'-4" Jr. G), DJ Brown (6'-6" Jr. F), Ben Wohlfeil (6'-0" So. PG/SG), Rashawn Allen   (5'-10" Jr. G), Ronald Coleman (6'-7" Jr. F/C), and Jason Holmes (6'-8" F).  The Alleycats White should have Shaun Davis (5'-7" Fr. PG) from Lincoln Prep, Dominic McGuire (6'-3" Fr. PG/SG) from Lincoln Prep, Jody Poole (5'-11" So. PG)  from University, Jake Wohlfeil (6'-1" Fr. G) from El Cajon Christian, Rommel Marentez (5'-8" So. PG) from St. Augustine, Joree Murrillo (6'-2" So. PG) from Horizon, Mike Axelson (6'-3" So. G) from Coronado, Nathan Carter (6'-4" So. G/F) from Lincoln Prep, and Wai John Wai (6'-3" F) from El Cajon Christian.   While Keith Sconiers (6'-7" Sr. F) from Fresno Washington Union played with them at the Pump tourament, we'd look for him to be back playing with Vonn Webb who will be coaching the Panthers in this tournament. 

Oakland Soliders I & II are basically Calvin Andrews' Oakland Slam N Jam teams, and likewise, we don't really know who is playing for Nelson Washington on the Bay Area Ballers teams because we haven't seen their rosters. We do know that West Coast Academy is from the Long Beach area and will feature a couple of the better LB Poly and Compton players, and Camp Exposure is run by Ace Daniels, but again, we haven't seen any rosters.  no rosters yet.

The LA Palladins (which is supposed to be coached by former Rockfish coach Eric Hardin) will probably have Doug Thomas (6'-7" Jr. F) from Pasadena and a few other guys from Pasadena and Muir, but Will Sheslow (6'-1" So. PG/SG) who played with them in the Slam N Jam spring league, has rejoined Rockfish and will be with them in Fresno.

No Limits is basically the guys from Victor Valley, and we'd epect to see Josh Dillon (5'-10" So. PG), Mike Thompson (6'-3"   So. F), Matt Barron (*5'-7" Jr. PG), Jason Collins (6'-0" So. G), Daniel Robinson (6'-3" So. F), Ronald Chavez (6'-0" Jr. G), Kevin Dillon (6'-0" Jr. PG), Joe Holly (6'-0" So. G), Mike Haley (6'-6" So .F) and Mike Maloney (6'-0" So. G).

The Next Level #1 and #2 teams are coached by Steve Cotton and should have pretty much the same rosters they had at the Pump Spring tournament:     Next Level 1 should have Hassan Houston (6'-3" Jr. G/F) from Yerba Buena,  Andrew Costello (5'-10" Jr. G) from Valley Christian, Brandon Worthy (6'-2" So.SG) from Archbishop Mitty, Jayson Obazuaye (6'-3" So. G) from Andrew Hill, Joe Calderan (65'-8" So. G) from Valley Christian, Anthony Williams (6'-5" So. F) from Oak Grove, Glen Turner (6'-8" So. C) from WC Overfelt, Steve White (6'-7" Jr. F/C) from Del Mar, Jason Norman, (6'-3" Jr. G) from Bellarmine Prep, and Daniel Logan (6'-6" Jr. C) from St. Lawrence. 

The Next Level 2 team will likely have John Montgomery (5'-10" So. G) from St. Francis, Steven Cotton (6'-2" So. G) from Archbishop Mitty, Marlon Nunley (6'-0" So. G) from Oak Grove, Brandon Sligh (6'-4" So. SG/SF) from Mitty, Rogdrick Craig (6'-3" 8th grade SG/SF) from Corte Madera, Marcus Martinez (6'-0" So. G) from Bellarmine Prep, Derek Alcantara (6'-0" So. G) from Andrew Hill, Aquil Hall-Bey (6'-5" So. F) from Oak Grove, Caleb Pitts (6'-05" Jr. F) from Westmont, and Armon Marchaune (6'-7" Jr. F) from Mitty. 

These are just some of the teams we know about,but there are many that we don't really know anything at all about, including teams like the San Francisco Heat, Folsom Pit Bulls, Carls Jr. Superstars (who are from the 805 area code), the two Hoopridas teams, the two Lodi teams,  Capitol Crew (a team from Sacramento),  Renegades (another Sacramento team), North Riverside, SSA #1 and SSA #2, the two Amer-I-Can teams, Cal/NY, Modesto Slam N Jam (which we understand is lots of gusy from Modesto Christian and Calvary Temple), NorCal Elite Silicon Valley Blue Chips (a team from San Jose), the Roughriders (from Sacramento), the Oakland Hotshots, BBP (another Sacramento team), Mo-Town Magic (Modesto, San Jose), and CBA (Leonard Brown).  We'll have a lot more on these teams and selected players during the coming week before the tournament, including schedules and a complete list of the sites which will be hosting the tournament.

See you there. 

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