SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Recruiting News, Notes & Tidbits,
Stuff & Other Assorted Rumors-- (Sept. 24, 2002)

Here's the latest news about several SoCal recruits, and news about programs recruiting guys not from here to come to SoCal....

Omar Wilkes (6'-3" Sr. G)--pictured left-- visited UCLA this weekend and quickly following that visit, he has decided to not visit Stanford this weekend.   According to a premium article (which we won't quote here, but will just allude to the important bits) Mike Eubanks of The Bootleg spoke with Omar and he said that he had not submitted an application to Stanford, an integral and critical step in whether or not a recruit can continue to be recruited by the Cardinal.  So, it now looks like Omar is down to UCLA, Cal and Kansas.  Likewise, it now looks like Omar's Pump N Run teammate, David Padgett (6'-10" Sr. PF/C) from Reno HS has also decided that Stanford is no longer on his list, and an in-home visit which had been scheduled for this week has been canceled.   Padgett is still reported to be considering Kansas, UNC, and Arizona (although several Kansas sites have also claimed that Padgett has eliminated UNC, we haven't been able to confirm or deny that report). Phognet.com appears to be among the sites which are reporting that UNC is out, but in all fairness, the Phog boys have probably the most complete free analysis of KU recruiting anywhere on the planet and we highly recommend it as a good source, at least of good rumors.  Jeff Goodman (who also writes for PrepStars Recruiting), writing for Inside Carolina, reports today (in a premium story) that Padgett is indeed still considering UNC.   Most sources tell us that David will make a decision within the next week to 10 days.  Oh, and Doug Carr of CatTracks is predicting (in a premium story) that Wilkes will pick UCLA and that Padgett will pick Arizona. and from what we know about each of these two guys, we'd say that's a pretty safe prediction....but then you never know until you know.

As we reported yesterday, Harrison Schaen (6'-9" Sr. F)--pictured right-- from Mater Dei was back east this weekend, visiting Princeton on Friday and Saturday, and then spent Sunday and Monday at Penn.  According to all the reports and news from our sources, Harrison is now only considering three Ivy League schools.

Sean Marshall (6'-5" Sr. G/F)--pictured left-- from Rialto Eisenhower HS is scheduled to take a visit to Boston College this weekend (Sept. 27-29). Marshall is still also receiving interest from Colorado, Utah, Florida State and Virginia, as well as some interest from UCLA (how much we're not sure about right now), as well as Oregon State.   BC currently has a verbal from Stevie Hailey from Worcester Academy, MA (which also had Wes Wardrop the past two years, now at LMU), as well as Courtney Sims and Dan Coleman, and is looking to bring in at least two other players this season, preferably wing players.   According to Eagle Action (a Rivals.com BC website), Boston College,  which also has Fairfax's Craig Smith (who is reported to be up to about 265lbs now), who also played at Worcester last season, may have an inside track:  Marshall’s mother is originally from Wayland, MA, and his godfather hails from Waltham.  Those interested in seeing Marshall, will be able to see him at the IEBP 5th Annual Fall Showcase Classic set for October 12, 2002 at Riverside Community College.   We'll have more on that event in a separate story......

Fred Washington (6'-5 Sr. F/G) from Bishop Montgomery continues to be recruited by Stanford, Washington, LMU,  Yale and UC Irvine. With Wilkes backing away from Stanford, Washington would be a very nice pickup for the Cardinal or any of the others.  We're not sure about the level of interest from Washington nor in his interest in playing for Romar, but we're willing to bet that he'll likely stay in the West rather than go east.  Yale is involved with a number of players and while the education is second to none, we see Fred as more of a Pac-10 guy.  Irvine gets the darkhorse, inside track because they've got one of his former Bishop Montgomery teammates, DeVaughn Peace, and LMU, well, it's close to home and they'll be looking for a few players to replace Kent Dennis, Keith Kincaide, Sherman Gay and who will fit in nicely with guys like Brandon Worthy and Wes Wardrop...and it's got that close to home thing going for it.   We'll see how this one develops.

D.J. Strawberry (6'-4" Sr. G/F) from Mater Dei has given a verbal to Maryland.  Strawberry's recruitment was kind of quiet, and for a young man who played in relative obscurity as a freshman at Blair HS, he's really elevated himself to the big time by agreeing to sign with the national champion Terrapins.    Strawberry played very well this summer, particularly at the adidas Las Vegas Big Time as Mater Dei beat some teams (and lost to a few too) which saw D.J have some big games.  DePaul and Florida State were also reportedly in the mix for Strawberry.  There's an article on the commitment in the Baltimore Sun if you're interested.

Evan Moore (6'-8" Sr.  PF)--pictured left-- is still being heavily recruited by Stanford, USC and UCLA who have all offered for football as well as basketball, and the word on the street is that Moore is getting close to committing.  Given our own limited knowledge of any hard facts about how he'll make his decision we're guessing that it's going to come down to a tug-of-war over academics and the desire to play at home or near home.  This is a "pick-em" as far as we can tell, and we could see Evan, who played remarkably well this summer for the Double Pump All Stars, at any one of these three schools. .

Marcus Dove (6'-7" Sr. PF) from Long Beach Millikan HS, is receiving steady interest from Kansas, Oklahoma State, and Arizona State.  Our sources in Kansas tell us that it's unlikely that the Jayhawks are recruiting Marcus as a first-tier player right now, and they are instead focusing on David Padgett (6'-11" Sr. PF/C) from Reno, Brian Butch (6'-11" Sr. F) from Wisconsin,  Ekene Ibekwe (6'-9" Sr. F) from Carson, Longar Longar (6'-9" Sr. PF) from Rochester, Minnesota, and Keith Wooden (6'-9" Sr. PF) from Kansas (oops, he just committed to Arizona State last week).  Dove will visit Kansas sometime in October, and prior to that will visit Arizona State, and possibly Oklahoma State.  Jayhawk Slant has a premium article about Dove, Padgett and others, and PrepWestHoops also has a premium article on Dove's recruitment.

Trevor Ariza (Photo courtesy VisionSports

And while Omar Wilkes was visiting UCLA this weekend, another potential UCLA late push, Trevor Ariza (6'-7" Sr. F)--pictured right-- from Westchester HS visited the University of Indiana in Bloomington this past weekend on an official.   Ariza has already taken a visit to UNLV and is scheduled to attend Florida's midnight madness.  Oregon and Georgia reportedly are still also involved. Russ Blake of RivalsHoops.com did a full feature on Ariza this past week, and if you can get access to the premium content at Rivals it's worth the read.  

Sean Phaler (6'- 9" Sr. F) from Villa Park is, according to a PrepWest considering four schools:  Indiana, Oregon, UCLA and Washington.  Phaler has not yet visited UCLA officially, and we are not certain of the level of their interest, but he's reportedly still got three official visits planned, having already been to Indiana. Phaler reportedly lost interest in Stanford over the summer (or vice-versa), when he didnt' get admitted to the school, according to a report at Peeg's.com (a terrific Indiana site).  Phaler has already visited Indiana, and was set to visit Oregon either this weekend or last, and will got to Washington the weekend of Oct. 18. His last visit will be to UCLA Oct. 25. 

Both Joel Smith (6'-6" Jr. F) of Lompoc and David Gale (6'-1" PG) of Sherman Oaks --pictured left--are at Brewster Academy, in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, which this past weekend hosted a number of D-I schools, and will continue to do so throughout the week and this coming weekend. So far head coach Jason Smith (no relation to Joel) has hosted more than 30 D-I coaches in the past week, including Providence (which also just picked up a verbal from the very talented Dwight Brewington of Worcester), St. John's, Seton Hall,  Boston College, UMass, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, Kent State, St. Bonaventure, Northwestern, Akron, Bowling Green, Tennesee-Martin, and a host of Ivy League schools, including Columbia, with visits scheduled by Brown, Dartmouth, and a few others in the coming days.   Joel has been reclassified as a junior and will spend two years at Brewster and will also play for Rockfish again this coming summer,  while David will be at Brewster this season for a post-grad year.  And from the looks of things Brewster could be one of the strongest teams in the NEPSAC "A" division this season, and they will definitely challege traditional favorites like New Hampton, MCI, Worcester, and Bridgeton for the title.

And speaking of the MCI and the NEPSAC "A" league, Frank Robinson (6'-4" G/F) is indeed attending Maine Central Institute for a post-grad year, or at least he was as of last week. MCI is probably, at least on paper, one of the top teams in the New England Prep School Athletic Conference (or NEPSAC), and they have guys like Marquis Kately, a Cal verbal.  Frank's recruitment is sort of a mystery right now, but when last we knew, he was receiving interest from Utah, San Jose State, Oklahoma State, and a smattering of other schools.  MCI could be in for a change, as Karl Hendrickson, who only recently replaced Max Good, the longtime coach at MCI, also resigned a week and a half ago.  The job at MCI has reportedly been filled, but what effect the change will have on recruitiing out of the traditionally strong program is anyone's guess.

Maurice Shaw (Photo courtesy TheFinalScore.tv)

And former SoCal native Maurice Shaw (6'-9" Sr. PF), now living in Seattle, Washington, (his dad is in the military and reportedly transferred there for his job) is being recruited hard by Indiana, as well as Iowa, although he hasn't visited either school yet because he has not yet taken the SAT or ACT, which he's scheduled to do in early October.  He has reportedly also been offered a visit to Texas Tech as soon as the test is taken (it's an NCAA requirement for going on an official visit), but no scholarship is on the table yet from the Red Raiders.   Maurice formerly played with Darren Matsubara's EBO team when he lived in Fresno, but he moved to Arizona shortly before the school year ended in June to finish out his junior season (his dad was also transferred there after being in the Central Valley region for more than 20 years). Because of NCAA rules restricting players from participating this summer on out-of-state travel teams (the "100-mile" rule), Maurice wound up playing for Arizona Pump N Run at the Best of Summer Tournament. 

Sky Frazier (6'9" Sr. PF) from St. Francis Borgia in Washington, who was being recruited by Long Beach State and who was reportedly offered by Larry Reynolds, turned down the 49'ers and instead opted for Southwest Missouri State.

Shaun Davis (5'-9" Sr. PG) from San Diego Lincoln, has reportedly given a verbal commitment to Pepperdine. Not much more news about that one, but it's kind of interesting, since the Waves are pretty much stocked at the point.....Davis has not taken an official visit, but reportedly attended a team camp at the Malibu campus earlier this summer.   There's a premium article at PrepWestHoops about this one.   There's also a free article in the San Diego Union Tribune. Davis also reportedly considered San Diego State as well.

Trayvon Free (6'-8" Sr. F) from Compton Dominguez is reportedly being recruited by Long Beach State, UCSB and Fullerton.

Jeremiah Massey (6'-7" So. PF) from Oxnard City College, has scheduled a visit to Utah State University, and is also drawing interest from UConn and several other top programs.

We'll have more on some other top SoCal prospects shortly.....

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