strawberry commitment?

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Mater Dei's Mike Strawberry To
Commit To Cal State Fullerton?--(Nov. 13, 2001)

strawberry.jpg (8769 bytes) Geez, with all the previewing and profiling that we've been writing lately for leagues and teams, we don't know how we missed this one: Buried deep near the end of his weekly column in the Orange County Register (this one in question ran Nov. 7, 2001) Steve Fryer reported that that "Mater Dei boys basketball coach Gary McKnight said senior forward Mike Strawberry likely will commit to Cal State Fullerton in the next few days." If so this would be a very interesting (and in our view, an excellent) pickup for the Titans, who have been hobbled recently by a lot of bad luck with players they've recruited. Mike (aka "Mikey") is a solid 6'-5" combo guard/forward type, a strong athlete who runs the floor and gets to the basket with the best of them. We sort of lost track of Strawberry this summer as he played with the Southern California All Stars (along with guys like Derek Stockalper, David Burgess, Vincent Camper, Travis Smith, etc), and for one reason or another we just didn't get to see him during summer ball.

Fullerton has just had an unbelievable succession of bad luck lately, and hopefully a commitment from Strawberry would be a sign of changing fortunes. In the past month here's what has happened: Brandon Campbell, a junior forward who was anticipated to start, is out with a sprained ankle; Josh Fischer, another senior forward who was anticipated to be a starter, just underwent closed-heart surgery to correct an irregularly occuring rapid-heartbeat which, if not controlled, might have proven fatal (while the surgery was reportedly a success, he may or may not be available for Fullerton's upcoming regular season opener at Pepperdine this Saturday--he's officially listed as a "probable starter", but who knows....). Pape Sow and Babacar Camara, two foreign big men who were counted on this season to be impact players, are on suspension for violation of unspecified team rules. David Castleton was rumored to be ineligible, but apparently has completed whatever coursework problems existed and is now expected to be a starter on Saturday. Pepperdine is still suffering from the effects of not being able to offer scholarships to JUCO guys (which probation ends this year), and Donny Daniels is still trying just to keep his head above water with a team where last season saw Joe Travis and Keith Brooks, both highly touted recruits, quit in the early season.

All in all, Mike Strawberry would be a very good thing for the Titans.