Two Nor Cal players on Branch West Prep team

Branch West Prep Coach John Wood offers up descriptions of a couple of northern California talents on his team (Mitch Wood is his son):

Mitch Wood 6’7” post/wing is an unsigned senior player (2013) from Alvarez High School in the Salinas, California central coast area who displayed a versatile inside – outside offensive game. This past year, Mitch has continued to expand his game and he showed consistent outside three point shooting range along with a good board presence to lead the battle of the rebounds for Prep. He averaged 17 points per game and 15 rebounds per game this past high school season as he was a unanimous All-Monterey County Selection. As he develops strength, his upside is tremendous as a future college prospect.

and

Isaiah Pineiro 6’6” post from Placer High School in the Sacramento area class of 2013 was a player from a top Northern California Travel program that played for Prep in Las Vegas. He is a tough, solid player that will play at a high college level. Once Prep saw his versatility they were able to run isolation plays for him offensively either posting up or stepping out. He played the deep intercepting spot on Prep’s pressing defensive schemes and made numerous steals. 

The Bay Area Memorial Day Classic this weekend

The Bay Area Memorial Day Classic is happening this Saturday, Sunday and Monday May 25-27, brought to you by Gerry Freitas and Lakeshow Pump N Run.

It will feature many of the top teams and talents from throughout northern California and, in some cases, way beyond. Try squads also from Canada, Portland, Utah, Arizona, Montana, as well as southern California.

The competition will include 17u (elite and varsity), 16u and 15u divisions, with championships at each level. Games will be played at Game Changers (formerly Dream Courts) in Hayward, the Tice Valley Recreation Center in Walnut Creek and City College of San Francisco.

The Elite Division matchups will take place at CCS.

Here's the official site.

Nor Cal names for the Cal State East Bay opening

The Hoop Dirt folks offer up a list of some of the Cal State East Bay head coach candidates:

• Gus Argenal- Assistant coach Rice.
• Brandon Laird- Associate head coach Sacramento State.
• Kevin Nosek- Assistant coach UC Davis
• John Peterson- Head coach Ohlone College (CA).
• Rich Shayewitz – Associate head coach Sonoma State.
• Gary Stewart- Head coach Stevenson University (MD)

That's impressive even if it's just some of the names.

Adnice from Coach Knight

Moreau Catholic's Frank Knight tweeted: "Now that school is officially over I challenge my guys (coaches & players) to get better. This is where we make our biggest gains"

Playing in a tournament every weekend isn't necessary. Practicing daily and honestly evaluating personal progress is.

Phil Beckner's coaching advice

Weber State Assistant Coach Phil Beckner offers some tips -- 100 of them to be exact.

Dellavedova analysis

The Draft Express guys after viewing Matthew Dellavedova at a recent workout:

Matthew Dellavedova, St. Mary's – Dellavedova did a good job making up for lost time after electing to skip the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and seeing that decision backfire after not being invited to the NBA Combine in Chicago last week. He ran his team very effectively in New Jersey, showing strong ball-handling skills, timing and court vision on the pick and roll, and the ability to make jump-shots off the dribble when defenses went underneath screens. Dellavedova measured a solid 6-3 without shoes, but sports just a 6-4 wingspan, which hampers him primarily on the defensive end, an area he struggled in both in college and in this setting. His unselfishness and high basketball IQ could nevertheless convince a team to use a NBA roster spot on him as he appears to be more than talented enough to hold his own on the offensive end of the floor at either guard spot. He also looks willing to, at the very least, put the effort in defensively to not embarrass himself.

Simon Tryzna has more on Dellavedova.

More on Josiah Turner

Adam Zagoria fleshes out Josiah Turner's recent workout in New Jersey.

Overlooking all the other stuff, Turner just hasn't played all much in situations that would help him progress in his hoops IQ -- his high school and college tenures were self interrupted -- and that lack of 'development from experience' appears to be holding him back.

Unsolicited advice: find a pro situation and a coach -- regardless of the money -- that will be learning beneficial and work through any obstacles. 

The 2013 YBA Dawgs

With over 55 student-athletes moving on to playing college sports in just the past four years alone, Youth Basketball Academy Director Ken Gee has three more names out of his 2013 class to add to the list:

* 6-foot-10 Cristiano Felicio - Oregon

A 2011 Draft Express article on Felicio offer this analysis.

NBADraft.net also has this coverage.

(photo courtesy of The Placer Herald)

* 6-foot-2 Drew Ardissone, Rocklin High - Pacific Lutheran University

(photo courtesy of The Elk Grove Citizen/Steve Crowley)

* 5-foot-10 Conner Sutton, Elk Grove High - Simpson University


The YBA Varsity Black team is coached by Yuba College Assistant Coach Nate Stephens. This spring, the team has notched victories over Oakland Solders varsity, Bay Area Rebels, Norcal Pharaohs and Play Hard Play Smart, besides going undefeated in the Spring Showcase at City College of San Francisco.

The notable players on the squad are (with commentary by Gee unless noted):

* 6-foot-4 wing Vasilije Saraba, Del Campo High, 19.4 points per game - potential DI 2014 player

* 6-foot-7 forward Adilio Da Silveira, Del Oro High - college ready body who has impressed so far this spring

* 6-foot-7 Hayden Cook, Rocklin High - grew four inches the past two years and is an up-and-coming player drawing interest from DII schools  

* 6-foot-0 Ahmad Smith, Bella Vista High - from Gerry Freitas: "any JC would be lucky to have this player"

* 6-foot-3 Cedrick J. Thomas, Lindhurst High - an athletic wing player who has commited to Yuba College

* 6-foot-0 Matt Hayes, Pleasant Grove High - won a state championship and Gerry Freitas has him as the high rated point guard in northern California

A little on Josiah Turner

Adam Zagoria tweets that a familiar name was recently involved in a tryout with the Nets: "Lots of interesting guards here at #Nets combine in front of 30 NBA teams: Peyton Siva, Brandon Triche, Josiah Turner, Khalif Wyatt"

Zagaoria then added: "Josiah Turner was outplayed by Peyton Siva but he looked very quick getting up and down the floor."

Josh Newman contributed: "Siva has gotten the better of play against Turner, getting into the lane seemingly at will and looking to dime up the big men" 

Verlin to hire his final coach this summer

Jagdip Dillon reports that Pacific Coach Ron Verlin plans to complete his coaching staff in June/July.

More on Brown to the Broncos

Here's Santa Clara Coach Kerry Keating talking about newcomer Jerry (Sacred Heart Cathedral) Brown:

"As a recent college graduate, Jerry gives us much needed experience and size, especially on the defensive side of the ball," said Keating. "Obviously he has made a huge decision in his life to pursue a master's degree here at Santa Clara while using his last year of eligibility. He will enroll in our new one-year Entrepreneur master's program. It only speaks volumes to Jerry's character and discipline to take on such a task."

 Here's Brown talking why Santa Clara:

"I chose Santa Clara because it was a school that can offer me a lot in regards to their style of play, location and it is a great academic institution," said Brown. "My family can watch me play without traveling. I feel like I have a great support system in the Bay Area. The master's program is one year. It is really going to push me academically, but it's what I signed up for and I am very excited to be able to get my master's."

Wagner announces the signing of Andoh

Here's the official Wagner College athletics announcement of the signing of San Jose State University transfer David Andoh.

A team basketball camp at Menlo College

Menlo College in Atherton is hosting a team camp for high school varsity teams June 21-23. The cost is $500 and there is a guarantee of seven games. Overnight accommodations are available. Interested coaches should contact Menlo Assistant Men's Basketball Coach Jesse West at 650-543-3846 or by email at jesse.west@menlo.edu.

Haysbert to CPP

American River College athletics has announced that Chad Haysbert is moving on to Cal Poly Pomona. The 6-foot-8 former Center High frontcourter was a First Team All Big 8 Conference selection for the 2012-13 season.

The Broncos just won their first California Collegiate Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles and went a game into the DII national tournament. With CPP, Haysbert will be back north when challenging fellow California Collegiate Athletic Association members Cal State East Bay, Cal State Stanislaus, Chico State, Humboldt State, San Francisco State and Sonoma State.

Just when you think you can pounce...

At least on prejudging the personnel, Yuba College looked like prey rather than predator in the 2012-13 season. Hunted rather than hunter. Playing in the state championship game the year before must have seemed like an alternate universe.

Even Coach Doug Cornelius had concerns -- "coming into the season we thought we would take some lumps."

He had nine freshman and two sophomores at his disposal. The prediction was a fifth-place finish.

So what happened?

Try a 15-1 Bay Valley Conference record.

Try a now seven-in-a-row league championships.

That's part of the fun and wonder about sports. Games offer the opportunity for necessary learning experiences. Losses can trigger the needed mindset and often educate more than wins. Plus, every so often the collective whole proves greater than the sum of the individual parts even on an undersized squad such as the 49ers.

Here's the rundown:

On November 2, the 49ers fell 72-71 to powerful host and predicted state champion City College of San Francisco. Call this one a moral victory if such a situation actually exists.

An 86-75 loss to Mt. San Antonio soon followed, this despite a three point 49er lead with two minutes to go in the matchup with the eventual state champions.

But December 8 proved to be a turning point, one in a positive direction despite a 95-59 defeat at the hands of 2013 Final Four participant Chaffey College. 

Cue up Coach Cornelius: "it was an eye opener as the kids realized this wasn't going to be easy. A light started coming on with them and they realized the need to focus and work harder."

Oh boy, did it.

From then on, the 49ers posted an 11-game win streak and then a four game victory. The embarrassment of a huge loss wounded pride rather than creating pointed fingers and a circular firing squad. It woke up a youthful band of talent to the reality that a greater effort was needed.

So can the positive direction continue despite the loss of freshman guard and conference Most Valuable Player Akachi Okugo plus Achoku Moikobu and Yev Dyachenko?

"On paper, we look pretty good," Cornelius offered. "We have seven guys coming back, including our starting five and four and their backups."Leading scorer Chris Smith returns as does Jaysen Williams (8.1 points), Gary Melvin (7.6 points), Jeremy Bubier (5.9 points) and Darrell Polee (5.7 points).

That's without any additions to the team.

Also, let's offer a major shout-out to the folks behind the Yuba College men's basketball site. Here's wishing every community college hoops program emulated this.