watson and fresno state and other tidbits

socalogo.gif (8739 bytes)
SoCalHoops Recruiting News

CJ Watson Waffling?..
& Other Fresno State Tidbits--(Aug. 31, 2001)

CJ Watson (6'-2" Sr. PG) from Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas, who played with Pump N Run this year, took a visit last weekend to Tennessee and one day after returning home, gave Volunteers coach Buzz Peterson a verbal commitment that CJ would join the Vols next fall....right? Well, that's what CJ told everyone this past week. Ok, so far, so good.

And then news began to leak out of Vegas that CJ was still interested in taking a few more "official visits" (the NCAA allows a prospect to take 5 fully paid-for trips to schools that are recruiting him). Prior to Tennessee, CJ had those five visits all planned out, and one of them was a visit which had been arranged for this weekend (over Labor Day) to Fresno State. But with the verbal commitment to Tennessee having been made, the trips to other schools are off.....right? Wrong.

According to a published report in the Las Vegas Sun, and another in the Fresno Bee yesterday by Eric Prisbell, CJ Watson is still headed to Fresno today to start his official weekend visit to the Bulldogs. So what gives? Is he or isn't he committed. According to the stories we've read, CJ is still committed to the Vols, but he's "taking a look" around to see what the other schools have to offer. Hmmmm. Ok.

We'll be the first to say that we can't figure out what CJ is doing, but if Coach Peterson is comfortable with a player committing and then taking an official visit to another school, and CJ is comfortable with it, and the Fresno State Bulldogs are also comfortable giving away one of their official visits to a player who has publicly said he's not coming, then who are we to argue with it. We've reposted the articles from the Bee and the Sun below in case you're having trouble getting to them directly.

In other news related to Fresno State, we missed some of the other news that Eric Prisbell had last week in his column in the Bee, and some of it is quite interesting. We'll break it down topic by topic, player by player:

Omar Weaver-- According to Prisbell, Weaver (6'-7" PF) who attended Compton Centennial for his senior year two seasons ago, who attended College of the Sequoias under former head coach George Tarkanian (who moved to Southern Nevada Community College, a JUCO located right next door to Green Valley HS in Henderson, Nev) is still interested in the Bulldogs. With George leaving Sequoias, Weaver has transferred to Riverside City College.

Terri Miller-- According to Prisbell:

"Terri Miller has ended his Fresno State career without stepping on the court. The former Fresno City standout wanted two years of eligibility; he only had one remaining at Division 1. So Miller, 24, still nursing a knee injury, left Fresno State and is expected to attend Division 2 Cal State-Bakersfield. "He wouldn't have healed until February," Tarkanian said."

Nate Daniels-- Prisbell says he's learned that Daniels will leave FSU and will attend a JUCO in San Diego as a result of being homesick much of his redshirt year at Fresno State.

DeAngelo Collins-- Prisbell also writes that his sources are telling him that if DeAngelo Collins (6'-9" Sr. PF) decides to attend college (which is a longshot at this point) that the Bulldogs are a possibility. While Prisbell notes that "Fresno State's Noel Felix and Teddy Fletcher are former teammates of Collins at Inglewood," that's only partially correct, since Felix had already graduated by the time Collins made the transfer to the 'Wood.

Andre Freeman: According to Eric Prisbell, the former Montclair Prep (Van Nuys, CA) player is expected to walk on at Fresno State. Here's what Eric wrote in the Bee:

"The point guard leaves, and replacements seemingly line up at Jerry Tarkanian's doorstep. Andre Freeman is expected to walk on at Fresno State when he becomes eligible after the fall semester, and his outspoken father says Freeman is ready to take over for the dismissed Tito Maddox. "He's the best-kept secret," said Andre Freeman Sr., who added his son once made 48 of 50 3-point shots. Freeman said his honor-student son did not take a core science course at Montclair Prep and therefore was ineligible last season. How good is Freeman? That remains to be seen, but the elder Freeman said Wednesday that his son "destroyed" Maddox in spring pickup games and played well against Arizona guard Jason Gardner. "My son has more moves than Rafer Alston, with the speed of Allen Iverson."

And finally, returning to C.J. Watson's recruitment, here are the two stories from the Bee and the Las Vegas Sun mentioned above (which can also be accessed directly at each respective papers' sites through the links below) :

Recruit Hasn't Slipped 'Dogs Yet
Point guard prospect to visit this weekend,
but Tennessee's on his mind.

By Eric Prisbell
The Fresno Bee
(Published Thursday, August, 30, 2001)

The Fresno State men's basketball team is still hoping to land its top point guard prospect, C.J. Watson, a national top 100 player from Las Vegas.

Watson unexpectedly orally committed to Tennessee during an official visit last weekend, but decided Tuesday to keep his plans and make an official visit to Fresno State this weekend anyway.

Although he initially planned to skip the Fresno State visit after his commitment, Watson changed his mind and will arrive with his father, Charles, Friday. Part of his weekend schedule includes going to the Fresno State-Oregon State football game Sunday.

Watson, tiring of the recruiting process, said there is a "99.9% chance" he will still sign a binding national letter-of-intent with the Volunteers in November.

"My mind is pretty closed; I doubt it will change," Watson said. "I want to see what [Fresno State has] to offer, though, and how it compares to Tennessee. ... It depends if I like the area."

Watson, a senior at Bishop Gorman High, told Bulldogs coach Jerry Tarkanian late Tuesday, however, that his commitment "is not definite." One reason Watson said he plans to visit Fresno State is the plane ticket has already been purchased and is non-refundable.

With Tito Maddox dismissed, and junior-college transfer Chris Sandy already a senior (barring an NCAA appeal), finding an adequate point guard for the future is imperative. Watson, who has a 3.7 grade-point average, is the No. 1 option.

With family in Tennessee and a first cousin attending the school, Watson said he thought of committing to the Volunteers "as soon as he arrived on campus."

Both of Watson's parents grew up in Tennessee, and one person close to Watson said that might have put pressure on Watson to commit. Watson, however, said he simply "felt the most comfortable" around first-year Volunteers coach Buzz Peterson and the players.

"I think I surprised everyone with the commitment," Watson said. "No one at Tennessee or here in Vegas expected it. I've been wanting to get it over with for a while. It's very stressful, because you want to tell every coach what they want to hear, but you can't please everyone."

Rated the No. 2 point guard on the West Coast by Prepwesthoops.com, Watson averaged 14 points a game on a Bishop Gorman team that went 29-3 and reached the state final. He is rated the 92nd-best player in the nation by Hoop Scoop.

Watson said he probably would take a visit to Minnesota as well. He also has been heavily recruited by UNLV, UCLA and Utah. A former UNLV ball boy, Watson said he used to dream of playing for Tarkanian's UNLV teams. But the lure of the competitive Southeastern Conference is attractive, he said.

If Watson adheres to his commitment with Tennessee, Fresno State probably will target Long Beach City College's 6-foot point guard Les Norman.

The reporter can be reached at eprisbell@fresnobee.com or 441-6625

August 29, 2001

Vols natural choice for Watson
Despite verbal commitment, Gorman guard will visit Fresno State

By Spencer Patterson
spencer@lasvegassun.com

LAS VEGAS SUN

C.J. Watson has verbally committed to play for the University of Tennessee next season. He's just not 100 percent certain.

So Watson, a Bishop Gorman guard generally considered the state's top college basketball prospect, will take a scheduled trip to Fresno State this weekend despite verbally committing to the Volunteers earlier this week.

"I just wanted to see what they have to offer, so I have something to compare Tennessee to," Watson said. "There might be a little chance I might change my mind, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to Tennessee."

The 6-foot-2 Watson, projected as a point guard in college, visited the Knoxville, Tenn., campus last weekend and liked what he saw, giving Volunteers first-year coach Buzz Peterson a non-binding commitment before he left.

"I already knew I was probably going to go there before the trip," Watson said. "I felt very comfortable there. I met with players and the coaches, and they were great guys. When I told them I was coming, they all gave me hugs."

Watson's parents, Charles and Cathy, both attended high school in nearby Nashville, and they have family living there now.

"He felt really good about (Tennessee) after the visit, and having family close by had a big impact," Cathy Watson said. "He's a family-oriented person, and being there with family members who will stand by his side is important to him."

Watson was planning to take a trip to Minnesota, and was considering visiting UCLA and Iowa State. He said those trips are now off. He said UNLV was also a consideration, but that the school backed off somewhat after getting a commitment from Georgetown transfer Demetrius Hunter, a Cheyenne High product.

A member of the Sun's All-State first team in 2000, Watson averaged 14 points and four steals as the Gaels' starting shooting guard last season. One of the state's most dominant defensive players, he helped Gorman to a 29-3 record, division and regional titles and a runner-up finish in the 4A State Tournament last year.

Over the summer, he served as the starting point guard for California-based AAU squad Pump N Run. "C.J. is the kind of kid that will fit in anywhere," Gaels coach Grant Rice said. "Anyone who sees him play falls in love with the kid. He doesn't do anything fancy. He just gets it done."

The Volunteers have made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and finished the 2000-2001 season with a 22-11 record. Peterson came to the school after one year at Tulsa, where his squad went 26-11 last year.

Nov. 7 is the first day basketball players can sign binding scholarship agreements with colleges.