SoCalHoops Recruiting News

A Brief (Ok, Not So Brief) Rundown
On NLI Signing Day--(Nov. 14, 2001)

Today marks the start of the early signing period, the time during which players can sign National Letters of Intent.  For those not familiar with the National Letter of Intent system, there's a whole NLI website out there which explains what it is all about, but basically, in summary, it is a system whereby a prospective student-athlete signs a legally binding contract, committing the player to enroll at the particular school, and at no other D-I, D-II or D-III school that subscribes to the NLI program. 

By signing the NLI, the player agrees he will attend no other school, and no other school which also subscribes to the program may continue to recruit the player.  There are only a handful of NCAA D-I schools that don't subscribe to the system (e.g., the Ivy League doesn't, leading to situations like that of the notably itinerant Mr. Gloger).  

The system though is not without it's drawbacks from the player's perspective:  Under the system, If a player later elects not to enroll (say because the coach who recruited him was fired or leaves, or for virtually any other reason), the player must still enroll at the school where he signs or risk having to sit at any other NCAA school at which he later enrolls.  The NLI is NOT a commitment by the school to actually offer a scholarship unless the player enrolls;  it does bind the school to offer a scholarship if the player ultimately enrolls, but schools can, and have in the past revoked an NLI, so it's often viewed as a one-way street, i.e., the school can change its mind, but the player can't....(but a school revoking a letter is so rare, that we can't actually recall it ever happening...nevertheless, we mention it only because it's a possibility under the system).

The early signing period runs for a week, and a lot of players from SoCal will be signing.  Actually, while the letters can only be signed during the one week period, they can be returned up to 21 days after the period ends, so official word on the signings may trickle in well beyond next week. 

The big news in Los Angeles today is who not who will sign, but who is not going to sign this week: According to the LA Times' Eric Sondheimer (who is the brother of  Mike Sondheimer, UCLA's Associate Athletic Director-Recruiting....so he probably knows whereof he speaks),  UCLA will only get two letters of intent today, one from Matt McKinney (6'-8" Sr. F) of Santa Ynez HS, and another from Mike Fey (6'-10" F/C) from Olympia, Washington, who originally signed with the Bruins last year but failed to achieve a qualifying SAT/GPA combination (UCLA does not enroll partial qualifiers).  

However, according to the blurb in today's Times (which evidently wasn't published on the Times' website, only in the Valley Edition of the print verstion of the paper) Sondheimer and staff reporter Mike Bresnahan both write that "Evan Burns, a 6-8 forward from L.A. Fairfax, has committed to UCLA but won't sign until he passes the SAT." Is he really waiting for the SAT, or is Evan going to wait to see whether the wolves at UCLA eat their own young and in the process, kill Steve Lavin?  We don't think Evan's intentions are anything other than to sign at UCLA, but like Jason Kapono a couple of years ago and all the speculation that he was waiting to see whether Coach Lavin would still be there the following year after the season, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Evan and his parents are thinking the same things.....nah, just more wild speculation on our part. 

So who else will sign from SoCal?   Here's a list which started out as a short one, but which quickly grew into a sizeable one: 

USC will sign two JUCO players from Ventura College, 7'-0" Jonathan Oliver and 6'-10" Jack Wolfinger.

Hassan Adams (6'-4" Sr. G) from Westchester is expected to sign with Arizona during the early period.

Brandon Bowman (6'-6" Sr. F/G) also from will sign with Georgetown.

Ashanti Cook (6'-2" Sr. PG) will sign a letter of intent with New Mexico.

Tim Dridosm (6'-3" Sr. PG) from Calvary Chapel Downey will sign with Utah.

Fernando Sampson (6'-1" Sr. PG) will sign with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

David Conte (5'-11" Sr. PG) from Costa Mesa will sign a letter of intent with Cal State Los Angeles.

Travis Niesen (6'-7" Sr. F) from Mission Viejo will sign with Santa Clara

Brandon Rohe (6'-4" Sr. G) from Santa Margarita will also sign with Santa Clara

Travis Smith (6'-3" Sr. G) also from Santa Margarita will sign a National Letter of Intent with the University of San Diego

Lenny Collins (6'-4" Sr. G) from Santa Margarita, committed to Cornell, but because the Ivy League doesn't subscribe to the "National Letter of Intent" program, will not officially sign any letter of intent.

Ryan Hollins (6'-10 Sr. F) from Muir in Pasadena is expected to sign a NLI with St. Louis in the early period.

Moulaye Niang (6'-9" Sr. C) from El Cajon Christian is expected to sign with Kansas

Keion Kindred (6'-4" Sr. G) from Dominguez will sign a NLI with UTEP

Marcedes Lewis (6'-8" Sr. F) from Long Beach Poly, will sign a NLI with UCLA, but in football, not basketball.

Jonathan Heywood (6'-5" Sr. F) from Bishop Amat will sign an NLI with Loyola Marymount (and here's the curious thing...the LA Times' blurb on recruiting led off with the headline "Letter-Perfect Day at Bishop Amat" but it only reported baseball signings expected from that school--there are five--but didn't mention

Derek Stockalper (6'-5" Sr. G) from Carlsbad HS, will sign a letter of intent with the University of San Diego.

Richard Chaney (6'-5" Sr. G/F) from Verbum Dei, will sign a letter with Utah.

Bryant Markson (6'-7" Sr. F) from Monrovia will also sign a letter of intent with Utah.

Thomas Shewmake (6'-10" Sr. F) from Cathedral City is expected to sign a NLI with CSUN, but it is unclear whether he will sign in the early period or wait until spring.  He reportedly has not yet achieved a high enough SAT/GPA to be a full-qualifier.

And finally, according to the Orange County Register today, the paper reconfirmed that Mike Strawberry (6'-5" Sr. G/F) from Mater Dei "has not committed, but Mater Dei coach Gary McKnight said Strawberry likely will commit to Cal State Fullerton soon."

Looking around the rest of the West Coast (Pac-10, Big West, WAC, WCC, Mountain West, etc),  here are the commits who are expected to sign, many in the early period (Note: we have not repeated the guys listed above):

©Copyright SoCal Hoops 1997-2001
All rights reserved
E-mail: jegesq@socalhoops.com