SoCalHoops Tournament & Recruiting News

8th Annual Fullcourt Press Fall Hoops
Classic Set For Sept. 8-10--(Aug. 4, 2000)

What:	8th Annual Fullcourt Press Fall Hoops Classic
Where:	Lynwood HS
When:	September 8-10, 2000
Who:	36 Top Teams
	NCAA Certified Event

We received an e-mail from Dinos Trigonis a couple of days ago about the 8th Annual Fall Hoops Classic, which is, as it reads, an annual fall hoops tournament which kicks off the NCAA Fall open evaluation period here in SoCal.  There will be a couple of other events, including a tournament sponsored by EBO and Darren Matsubara up in Fresno, and the Fall Premier Tournament at Cal State Dominguez Hills hosted by the Pumps, but the Fullcourt Press Fall Hoops Classic gets things rolling first, and if this year's event is anything like last year's, this will be a great tournament.    Last year it marked the debut of Dijon Thompson, who had been playing locally for several years, but who literally exploded during the tournament, attracting the attention of literally every high-major program on the West Coast, including coaches from UCLA, USC, and every other Pac-10 program, and like last year, there's likely to be someone who will also blow up at this tournament and establish a big reputation among the coaches and get highly recruited as a result.   And even if that doesn't happen, this is a fun tournament in it's own right, just for the competition and high level of basketball played.

This year the tournament has been moved from Long Beach City College to Lynwood HS, and given the condition of the three courts at Lynwood, the covered parking, the ease of freeway access and closer proximity to Los Angeles (where most of the teams and players will travel from, or to if they are out from of town),  we can't say we'll miss the two old barns at Long Beach CC.  Well, maybe a little bit. . .

Some of the top teams attending will be, in no particular order, defending Champion Belmont Shore;  The Hood (aka Dominguez); Compton Magic; LA Rockfish; EBO-EA Sports; 805 Basketball; Bay Area Ballers; Next Level; the Las Vegas Stars; Arizona Slam; Top Prospects; BWBA; West Coast Academy; North Riverside; and many of the other teams you've come to expect seeing in these local exposure tournaments. Some of the top players in the West will be in attendance and this will be yet another opportunity for college coaches to check out some of the uncommitted seniors before the fall signing period, as well as some of the talented rising underclass prospects. 

We're not exactly certain who all will be on many of the teams, but some of the top players we would expect to see on some of these teams should include (by class, and alphabetically) some or all of the following guys:

Last year, Belmont Shore, led by Missouri signees and tourney co-MVPs Travon Bryant (2000 McDonald’s All-American) and Wesley Stokes knocked off DeShawn Stevenson (Utah Jazz’s 2000 NBA First Round Draft Pick) in the championship game. Other 1999 all-tourney selections included Tyson Chandler (Compton Dominguez HS), Josh Childress (Lakewood Mayfair HS), Jameel Pugh (UMass), Andrew Zahn (Arizona), Austin Ainge (BYU), Nick Booker (Davidson) and Dommanic Ingerson (Santa Barbara HS), Past tourney MVP’s have included Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics) and Rashard Lewis (Seattle Supersonics).

For more information on this event, call Dinos Trigonis at (562) 984-8355 or (310) 669-2307 or log-on at www.fullctpress.com

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