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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

CSUF Gets Anthony Bolton;
Five Others Don't Make It--(Aug. 29, 2002)

Life is never easy for Donny Daniels at Fullerton. Two years ago, he came in, fired up and ready to rebuild his alma mater and take them back to the promised land of the NCAA tournament. And he hired a young and energetic staff, Rob Orellana, who knows his way around foreign players, and Jason Levy, a hardworking, tireless traveler who can be spotted at just about every recruiting event in the West. Sure, Fullerton was still reeling from the NCAA sanctions imposed because of recruiting violations committed by the coaching staff two generations removed from Daniels and his guys....But they could fix it. They tried, struggled, and managed to get some players over the past two years, and they've still got some guys, maybe better than ever now, so don't get us wrong. But the past two years, in close games, somehow Fullerton has always managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and it's made life difficult in the the Big West.

But this spring, the gloves were off, and the Titans could, for the first time in five years, sign JC players. And so they went out and got some athletes. Signed a whole pack of guys. In fact, at times, it seemed like every time we turned around, they were signing someone else. Who were all these guys? Where would Coach Daniels find room for them all?

Well, today, we got some indications....And it's a good thing the Titans have continued with their recruiting, because some of the guys they had planned to get this year evidently won't be joining them. Ok, so more than a few were walkons. But we received more than one e-mail this morning, and it's probably not a coincidence in terms of timing, telling us to make a few corrections to the Cal State Fullerton roster we posted last week when we noted that the signing of German Federic Holm-Hadulla was announced on the official CSUF website. So, we went looking for information, and once again went to the CSUF official site. But we actually found more information available on Titan Central.com, the unofficial fan site than we did on the official Cal State Fullerton sports website, but then again, that's not a huge surprise if you follow CSUF sports to any degree. What was surprising was the number of guys who won't be there this fall who we thought would be, as well as the news that Fullerton has signed yet another guy.

Who is the new player? Anthony Bolton (6'-6" Jr. G/F) from Palomar Community College. If you want to read about him, pending release of the official statement announcing his signing, check out what Titan Central had to say (and they even have a small blurb from SoCalHoops in their story): "Bolton averaged 19.1 points per game while shooting 46.8% from three-point land (55.6% overall). He also attended Vista High School in San Diego. Bolton is a versatile player (played all five positions while at Palomar) who turned down an offer to San Jose State because he wanted to play the wing. He has the potential to be a top player for the Titans."

So, who won't be joining the Titans this fall? Frank Essis. According to Titan Central, he had some immigration problems, which is what led the Titan staff to sign Bolton instead.

Who else is not going to be there? Ronald Roundtree, for one. Apparently he didn't qualify, again according to Titan Central.

Ditto for Fontana's Gary Holmes, who was expected to be a JC transfer in this fall, and even though we've heard that Gary was going to be a walkon this fall, we've always liked his game.

And ditto for Eric Alvarez, a point guard from LA City College, who has, according to his JUCO coach, been re-evaluating his commitment to walk on at Fullerton.

And while Ronald Allen will be enrolled in the school, he's a Prop.48, so he won't be playing this year either.

Oh, and lastly, apparently Chris Alexander, who came to Fullerton as a freshman last year out of D-V State Champion Price, won't be returning either, reportedly because of academics (but that's according to Titan Hoops, not from any information we really know for certain).

Anyway, if you want to see the anticipated CSUF roster, Titan Central has that also. Here's the link.