julian sensley to LACC

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

LA City College Lands A Big Man:
Julian Sensley Is A Cub--(Sept. 4, 2002)

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We just were given the word that Julian Sensley (6'-8" PF) from Kailua, Hawaii, has enrolled and will play for Los Angeles City College this season. So, if he isn't a Cal Bear, the next best thing is to be a Cub, considering the history of the place: LA City College is, after all, the former site of and the original campus of the Southern-branch of the University of California....some people refer to the Southern Branch by it's "new" name, UCLA....but we digress.

Sensley, who originally signed a National Letter of Intent with Cal, will enroll as a freshman, and under the rules applicable to the COA (the Commission on Athletics, which is the JUCO governing body in California), he will be immediately eligible to compete. Sensley just turned 20 in August.

Prior to joining LACC head coach Mike Miller's Cubs, Sensley, a native of Hawaii, spent two years prepping at St. Thomas More in Connecticut. He originally signed with the Cal Golden Bears, but wasn't able to gain admittance to Berkeley, and after several attempts did not achieve a sufficiently high enough SAT score. While he moved to the Bay Area in anticipation of enrolling at Cal, and while awaiting admission, reportedly took several classes at one of the local JC's there (Chabot College), he never played. After leaving the Bay Area, Julian enrolled briefly at Iona, and while there roomed with his former Rockfish teammate Solomon Brown. But things didn't work out there either, and after only a few short weeks, Sensley returned to California and made a verbal commitment to attend Fresno State before Coach Jerry Tarkanian announced his retirement. But Sensley also announced his intention last spring to enter the NBA draft, and was invited to attend the Chicago pre-draft camp. Based on his performances, no one doubted that he would be a draft pick, but the consensus was that he would likely go high in the second round, and so he made the decision to withdraw from the draft in time to save his NCAA eligibility, Sensley also did not sign with an agent, and thus, will be eligible for continued recruitment at the D-I level. After deciding against the NBA, it was later rumored this summer that Sensley would move to Las Vegas and play for Jerry Tarkanian's son, George, the new head coach at the College of Southern Nevada, a new JC in Las Vegas. But obviously, he is now in Los Angeles, and enrolled at LACC.

Sensley becomes an immediate high-impact player on an already loaded LACC team, which returns one of the top point guards in California, Jerel Blassingame (5'-11" PG), originally from New York. The Cubs will also feature more than a few other top players, like Tyrone Riley (6'-6" F) and Romel Beck (6'-7" F), who will all be big-time D-I prospects, as well as Long Beach State transfer Anthony Davis.

For those who haven't seen Sensley, he's about as quick and powerful as any big man in California, fast and an excellent dunker, shot blocker and one of the best power forwards in the game at any college level, and he immediately makes the the Cubs one of the clear favorites to return to the California JUCO finals again this year.

Last season, Coach Miller's cubs were ranked among the top 4 teams in the State for much of the season, and eventually returned to the State Championship game after taking the title last in 1997. Last season's championship game was a heartbreaking one point loss to Saddleback College in the final, 77-76.

Coach Miller has been named as the SCAC/SCC "Coach of the Year" seven times since 1992, and was also named State Coach of the Year in 1996-97, and the Cubs have won 9 straight conference titles. Prior to coming to LACC, Coach Miller won a CIF State Championship, and four times finished in the CIF Final Four, compiling a 100-16 win-loss record at the high school level, and a record of 275-68 at the JUCO level. In his tenure, the Cubs have sent more than 40 players to major Division I universities and colleges.