SoCalHoops Recruiting News

  SoCal Notes: Visits, Official, Unofficial,
Transfers, Tourneys & More--(Oct. 12, 2000)

Here's a bunch of random stuff & some notes, including some stuff we learned from other sites:

Nick Curtis Taking More Official Visits:   Nick Curtis (6'-8" Sr. PF) from Oxnard is reportedly going to take two official visits in the next two weekends:  According to Recruiting USA Nick, who apparently didn't visit Cal last weekend as we had thought, will take a visit there (unofficial) this weekend. Next weekend he will visit SMU on an official (i.e., expenses paid) visit, and the following weekend after that (October 27) he'll take a visit to Washington State.    Nick has already visited USF and as one of the better big men in the senior class still on the board (i.e., uncommitted), is attracting more attention every week.

Burns Burns Boise. . . Not Committed Yet?  Here's another one from Recruiting USA:  Justin Burns (6'-7" Sr. SG/SF), cousin of Jason Carter (6'-9" Sr. PF), both of whom attend Bishop Gorman, has reportedly not committed to Boise State as was rumored.  According to R-USA, Justin is planning to take an official visit to UCSB this weekend.  The R-USA folks speculate that his visit to the Gauchos might be the result of his friendship with Pete Padgett, the new assistant coach at Santa Barbara who took over for Jon Wheeler (who himself returned to Cal, taking over for Scott Beeton, who got the Albany head coaching job. . . ).  Padgett was, up until a few weeks ago, the head coach for Reno HS, one of the perennial cross-state rivals of Bishop Gorman.

Transfers:  All Aboard. . . .  Brandon Robinson (6'-5" Sr. SG) from Sylmar HS, has transferred to Chatsworth HS. . . Antonio Griffin (6'-6" Sr. SF/PF) from Arizona, who played with Anthony Ray's "Arizona Slam" team with the very talented Brian Freeny (6'-8" Jr. PF) has transferred to Compton Centennial (according to Recruiting USA).  We spoke with Freeny at the Fullcourt Press Fall Tournament at Lynwood HS in early September, and he told us that he will stay in Arizona this year, but will likely transfer to Compton Centennial himself for his senior season. . . .  Montclair Prep of Van Nuys must hold this year's record for the number of tall transfers.  First the Mounties picked up two players from New York two seasons ago, Derek Daniels (6'-8" Jr. F), who, at 275 lbs, is also turning out to be an impressive tight end on the Montclair football team, and they picked up Tony McFadden (6'-5" Sr. SG), an athletic leaper and slasher. Then over the summer, Montclair picked up transfer Sebastian Anderle (6'-11" Jr. C), a wiry big man, and then we learn that they've also picked up three more transfers, all of them foreign students, including Marko Bozovic (6'-9" Jr. G/F), and Slobodan Cvijovic (6'-4" So. SG), as well as Louh Blase' (6'-11" Jr. C) from somewhere in Africa.  We're not sure if his name is pronounced the way it looks, but we'll find out shortly if he's really blase' or not.  Whatever, it looks like first year coach Tyrone Fuller will have a full cupboard when the season gets underway in less than a month (teams are permitted to practice starting November 11).

Junior Unofficial Visit:  David Gale (6'-0" Jr. PG) from Sherman Oaks Buckley, who is attracting attention from a number of schools, including Oregon State, Washington State, Stanford, Oregon, Wyoming, Northridge, Fullerton, and several others, will take an unofficial visit this weekend to Northwestern University where he will meet with new Wildcats Coach Bill Carmody and his new assistant coaches, an all-Princeton staff, which includes Paul Lee (Princeton 1982-86), Craig Robinson (Princeton 1979-83), and Mitch Henderson (1994-98).  Gale, a solid point guard, was an All-CIF Division V-AA player as a sophomore,  averaging 6.3 assists per game. He played this past summer and fall with Pump N Run / Double Pump All Stars.  

December Tournament News:  Dinos Trigonis reminds us at his Fullcourt Press website that the Second Annual Rim Rattler Holiday Hoops Invitational has been relocated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to the Long Beach State Pyramid and will be held on December 18-22. This 20 team event might be the best local tourney this season as the field includes local powers like Long Beach Poly, Compton Centennial, Lakewood Mayfair, Santa Barbara, Inglewood and Long Beach Jordan as well as national powers like defending champion Miami Senior (Miami FL), Mt. Zion (Durham NC), Rice (New York NY), Southern Lab (Baton Rouge LA), Springarn (Washington DC), St. Albans (Washington DC) and Miami Christian (Miami FL). . . .Sounds like a fine replacement for the "Best in the West" which is evidently now defunct, given the fiasco at Artesia last year and the loss of the Long Beach Press-Telegram several years ago as a name sponsor of the tournament.

  Ivies Are Staying Interested:  Andrew Moore (6'-2" Sr. SG) from Crespi in Encino, is continuing to attract the attention of the Ivy League schools.  Andrew, a teammate of Burns and Carter this past summer on the Pump N Run / Double Pump All Stars teams, took a visit to Penn this past summer, and several other Ivies are also showing interest, as are a number of smaller D-I schools.   Andrew is a deadly accurate outside shooter, with a quick release and able to spot up or shoot off a screen.  As a junior, Moore was a second-team All-CIF Division IV player, and in 21 games last season, scored 381 points, for an average of 18.1 ppg.

Dupree To Visit USC This Weekend:  According to Clark Francis at the Hoop Scoop:  "It has not officially been announced yet, but it likely will be after 6'6 Jerry Dupree from San Bernandino (JC) CA makes his official visit to USC for Midnight Madness this weekend. And Dupree appears to be exactly what the doctor ordered, because he will give the Trojans the superstar they need to continue to compete with the big boys (Arizona, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon) in the tough Pac-10 Conference.  Dupree doesn't rank among the top wing forwards in the nation by Rick Ball in Sporting News Pre-Season Yearbook, but several people who have seen him play tell us that he might be the best junior college wing forward in the nation. "He's like Scottie Pippen," says our West Coast Editor Dinos Trigonis. "He can play the one, two, or three spot and he's more athletic than Jeff Trapagnier." And that's quite a statement when you remember that Trapagnier, who is currently a senior at USC, high jumps 7'1 and is currently the subject of an ESPN segment, which features him as the best athlete in college basketball. This comes as no surprise, because we knew that Dupree, who was at Southern Idaho (JC) ID last year, grew up in the Los Angeles area and, as a result, as always wanted to go to USC. This will move USC's recruiting class, which also includes 6'10 Rory O'Neil from Ridgecrest (Burroughs) CA, 6'2 Errick Craven from Torrance (Bishop Montgomery) CA , and 6'2 Derrick Craven from Torrance (Bishop Montgomery) CA, into the #9 spot nationally, behind Missouri and ahead of Clemson, on our list of the Top 20 Recruiting Classes To Date. And just as important, this will allow the USC coaching staff to get a head start on recruiting for next year, because when Dupree makes it official this weekend, he will be getting their 4th and final scholarship.

Brennan Martin Commits Again:   Yet another tidbit from Recruiting USA, we learn that Brennan Martin (6'-6" Postgrad SG) has committed to Villanova.   Brennan originally was recruited out of high school by Texas A&M, but either (a) didn't qualify, or (b) at the urging of the coaches at Texas A&M, decided to attend prep school for a year.  Whatever the reasoning or reason, Brennan obviously didn't sign with Texas A&M, or if he did, never enrolled (and the fact that we haven't heard anything about a qualified release from an NLI, likely means he didn't qualify).    We saw Brennan at the Pump Fall Tournament, at which time we spoke with his coach, Keith Howard of IEBP, and with his father, and both of them at that time told us that Brennan would reopen his recruitment and not enroll at Texas A&M.  Brennan is currently attending Hargrave Military Academy, a school which has one of the better prep school basketball programs and which is known for placing players into D-I programs.   Brennan is a smoot-shooting player with a high, quick and accurate release.

 
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