player notes 1/23/01

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SoCalHoops High School News

SoCal Player Notes, Tidbits,
Comings & Goings--(Jan. 23, 2001)

Beeler & Crane Continue To Get It Done: The LA Times today noted that Torrin Beeler and Marques Crane are both starting to heat up, and together, are one of the most potent scoring teams in the Southern Section. In Ben Bolch's Prep column, it was noted that "Ocean View has a solid tandem act with Torin Beeler and Marques Crane. Each turned in spectacular performances in Golden West League games last week. Beeler missed a quadruple-double by two assists Wednesday in a 74-42 victory over Saddleback, totaling 20 points, 20 rebounds, 10 steals and eight assists. Crane had an equally spectacular game Friday in a 75-65 victory over Tustin, single-handedly erasing a four-point deficit by scoring all 23 points for the Seahawks in the fourth quarter. Crane finished with 40 points, the third-highest total in Coach Jim Harris' 28 years at the school."

More Iti: Steve Fryer's column last week in the Orange County Register reported that Martin Iti has now verbally committed to USC. We have no doubt that Martin has been offered by the Trojans, but it's a little hard to verify whether this is a real commitment or something that's as elusive as Iti himself. First, USC can't comment on it under NCAA rules, so there's no way to really tell without talking to Martin about it, and he's not saying. The actual word about the commitment comes, according to Fryer's column, from Ron Lais, who himself is sort of an enigma, and his relationship with Iti isn't exactly on solid footing either right now. He's reported to have filed a petition for guardianship and has also allegedly lodged complaints against Iti's current guardian (and Lais' former client when Lais was practicing law), Courtney Rosegreen. It's a tangled web, but one day it may all be straightened out. For now though, about the only thing that remains certain is that Iti is enrolled at Villa Park where he is ineligible to play ball this season.

Clayton Breaks Record: In the same LA Times prep column which reported the Beeler & Crane story (and the Ty-rell Brown story below), the paper also noted that "Magnolia junior Geoffrey Clayton broke the school record for career points Wednesday in a victory over Valencia. Clayton's 15 points gave him 1,346. Former UC Irvine guard Zamiro Bennem set the previous record of 1,343 from 1996-98."

Goings: Ty-rell Brown Gone--The LA Times reports that "Ty-rell Brown, a senior forward for Santa Ana, was removed from the team last week after an incident during a game against Ocean View the week before, said Santa Ana Coach Adrian Gomez. Gomez said Brown came off the bench and tried to join an on-court scuffle between opposing players on Jan. 12. Brown played two games after coming back from a broken foot suffered in the second game, scoring five points".

Sheslow Leaves Chaminade: The Valley Edition of the LA Times confirmed publicly this morning what we've known about for a while but held off reporting out of respect for a student's privacy. . . The paper reported today that Will Sheslow (6'-1" Jr. PG/SG) has left the Chaminade team. What the paper didn't note is that Will has also left the school and transferred to Granada Hills. He will not play the remainder of the season (although he certainly could help GH right now). Sheslow was a two-year starter at Montclair Prep and transferred to Chaminade over the summer, but received limited playing time in coach Jeff Young's current depth chart. Sheslow will continue to participate in the Rockfish Spring League and may consider enrolling at an east coast prep school next year.