The CalHi Sports All-State squad

CalHiSports is out today with its all-state team. Here are the nor cal ballers:

First Team Overall

C -- John McArthur, De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) 6-9 Sr.

A four-year starter for the Spartans, he leaves with multiple school records in tow to Santa Clara, where he will play next year. In his highlight game of an impressive senior season, he turned a 27-21 halftime deficit into a 67-55 win over Oakland in the NorCal regional semifinals. He scored 32 points in the second half and finished with 40 points to set a school record for points in a game. He was named the East Bay Boys Basketball Player of the Year by the Contra Costa Times. McArthur is De La Salle's top career rebounder and is No. 2 in career scoring.

F -- Desmond Simmons, Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) 6-7 Sr.

The University of Washington-bound forward led Salesian all season long, as the Pride was one of the top teams in the state and at times ranked in the ESPN RISE FAB 50. A Mr. Basketball finalist, he was unable to lead the Pride to a second straight Division IV state title, but still finished strong with 24 points and nine rebounds in his final high school game, a loss to St. Mary's of Berkeley in the Northern California final. On the season, he averaged nearly 22 points and 11 rebounds and set the Salesian all-time career scoring record.

Second Team Overall

G -- Tyler Johnson, St. Francis (Mountain View, Calif.) 6-1 Sr.

He may have started just six games this season, but there's no underestimating his importance to the Lancers as he also was named the WCAL most valuable player and the San Jose Mercury-News Player of the Year. On the season, the Division II State Player of the Year averaged over 13 points and five rebounds a game. Honored earlier this year by us as a state athlete of the week, he told us he played with an injured knee without knowing, which led to him missing seven games and not quite being 100 percent all season long. Still, Johnson could explode around the rim, score from the outside and earned a scholarship to Fresno State. He led St. Francis to the CIF Div. II state final.

F -- Khion Sankey, Newark Memorial (Newark, Calif.) 6-4 Sr.

He was the leader for a team that ended up just one victory short of the school's first CIF state championship, as the Cougars lost to Westchester in the Division I state finals. In the NorCal Division I final, he scored a team-best 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 58-49 win over De La Salle. Earlier this season, the San Diego State-bound standout scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 43-42 win over eventual Div. IV state champion Price of Los Angeles.

G -- Josiah Turner, Sacramento (Sacramento, Calif.) 6-3 Jr.

Sac High has had some dynamic playmakers in recent years, but with solid academics and his game, Turner may turn out to be the best player from the school since – dare we say – the Mayor of Sacramento himself, former NBA star Kevin Johnson. In leading Sacramento to the CIF NorCal Div. III final, Turner averaged nearly 28 points per game. He set a Sac-Joaquin Section tourney scoring record and has been chosen as the Sacramento Bee's Player of the Year. He also already has been picked as the State Junior Player of the Year.

Third Team Overall

C -- Brandon Ashley, Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) 6-8 Soph.

Although the outside shot has yet to materialize, comparisons to former Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year Tayshaun Prince are legit. Brandon has a similar wingspan that makes him very tough to deal with when he's defending shorter forwards. He was the top honoree from a Dragon team that reached the CIF Division III final while averaging 13 points and 13 rebounds per game. Ashley already has been named the State Sophomore of the Year and is one of the highest-ranked sophomore college prospects in the nation.

Go here for the complete list.

Brendan Keane receives some early press

Keane Drawing Interest
Alex Schwartz
Northstarbball

Brendan Keane, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound center from St. Joseph-Notre Dame, has caught the eye of a number of Division I college basketball programs.

"A lot of the WCC, as far as the West Coast goes, University of Portland, St. Mary's a little, UC Davis, San Jose State, Northern Colorado, Weber State, it's a pretty long list," said Keane. "I haven't narrowed it down at all yet, like Holy Cross and La Salle from back East and SMU in Texas."

While Keane's lone offer as of now is from San Jose State, it is a different school that he currently lists as his favorite. "I like Portland a lot. I'm pretty open as to where I can go, whether it's West Coast, East Coast, Utah, anywhere in the country..."

Go here for more.

Jordan Semple headed to Chico State

Here's the announcement from the Chico athletics department:

Wildcats Semple-fy things; Arcata product signs NLI
4/20/2010

Chico State basketball fans are prone to bristle at the thought of Arcata, home of rival Humboldt State. Now they have a reason to beam instead. Arcata High School product Jordan Semple, the 2009-10 Eureka Times-Standard and Humboldt-Del Norte Conference Most Valuable Player, has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Chico State University.

Semple, a 6-foot-6 wing, averaged 18.1 points for the Tigers this past season, including 21.3 in the postseason. He broke the 20-point barrier 10 times and scored a season-high 29 in a 66-63 loss to Modesto Christian in the CIF Northern California quarterfinals on March 11.

“We are extremely excited about Jordan becoming a Wildcat,” said Chico State Head Coach Greg Clink. “His skill set, athleticism and passion for the game are all things that are going to allow him to have a huge impact on our program.”

In describing the reason for choosing Semple as its 2009-10 MVP, Neil Tarpey of the Times-Standard explained: “His repertoire included nailing 3-pointers from spots all over the court, making unselfish passes to teammates, converting steals into coast-to-coast, high-wire lay-ups, blocking shots and hitting the boards.”

Semple was also named the Times-Standard’s Defensive Player of the Year as a junior.

“Jordan provides good size and versatility at the small forward position and he has the ability to guard multiple positions,” said Clink. “He’s a good shooter and ball-handler. His offensive skill set is excellent and he has a knack for rebounding the ball. We love the fact that he’s been coached by Eric Vollmers at Arcata High School, who has helped him develop a high basketball IQ. All of that, coupled with the fact that he’s a diligent student academically, make him a perfect fit for what we are trying to accomplish here at Chico State.”

Semple, Bishop O’Dowd’s Jordan Barton, and De La Salle’s Nate Appel compose the Wildcats’ crop of 2010 graduates. They become some of the keys to the future of a program that, in just two seasons under Clink, has grown into one of the California Collegiate Athletic Association’s finest. Just two years after a three-win conference campaign, the Wildcats advanced all the way to the CCAA Championship Tournament semifinals last season before losing a nail-biter to eventual National Champion Cal Poly Pomona to finish 16-13.

A lot of positive buzz is surrounding the Wildcats right now. This signing certainly (or Semple-y, if you like) adds to it. 


Here is the same from the Chico newspaper:

Semple's letter of intent adds luster to Chico State men's basketball recruiting class
Travis Souders
Chico Enterprise
4/21/2010

As far as the Chico State rivalry with Humboldt State goes, call this one a win for the Wildcats.

How the signing of Arcata High's Jordan Semple will play out is yet to be seen after he completed his National Letter of Intent to play for the Chico State men's basketball team and officially announced it on Tuesday. After all, the 6-6 small forward is still finishing up his senior season of high school.

But what's expected from Wildcats coach Greg Clink — who has now added the Humboldt-Del Norte Conference's most valuable player to a recruiting class already including De La Salle's Nate Appel and Bishop O'Dowd's Jordan Barton — is an athletic addition to one of the California Collegiate Athletic Association's biggest turnaround teams...

Go here for the remainder.

The CalHiSports All - State Teams

CalHiSports has picked its all - state team in each of the five divisions. Go here for every player. Below are the Nor Cal selections:

All-State Division I 

 

John McArthur (De La Salle, Concord) 6-9 Sr. C

Chris McNealy (San Ramon Valley, Danville) 6-3 Sr. F

Darius Nelson (Sheldon, Sacramento) 6-5 Jr. F

Khion Sankey (Newark Memorial, Newark) 6-4 Sr. F

Travis Souza (Turlock) 6-4 Sr. G

What's up with Jeremy Russotti

Jeremy Russotti didn't envision such a life while a youngster. Sure, he was immersed in playing sports along with the usual thinking and talking about the very same but it would be a stretch to say he imagined becoming one of the nation's top basketball skill trainers as well as a sports product inventor.

However, it's true that at age 15 Russotti was the offensive coordinator for his younger brother's Pop Warner football team, which captured four straight league titles as well as his offense leading the league in scoring -- "I loved the X's and O's and the strategy involved" -- and that role was probably his initial out-of-the-box type position.

Another relationship that illustrates Russotti's different approach to matters: his partnership with Josh Akognon (Casa Grande High, Washington State University, Cal State Fullerton). Akognon didn't play organized basketball until his freshman year at Casa Grande High but ultimately earned a basketball scholarship to Washington State before deciding to transfer to Cal State Fullerton.

Here's Russotti on his protege: "Josh is special. He's a once in a generation type player who has this amazing work ethic and drive to succeed without needing to be coddled or to have his ego stroked. He basically took the path of the average player trying to make a high school team -- training for hours everyday in a gym. But the difference was that Josh had high level game to show and still trained like he was an average player."

But there was also this major difference. As Akognon tells it, "Jeremy was strict. He kept me in the gym, training like 90% of the available time. I rarely played in any spring and summer tournaments because he said that's where others were 'creating repetition of their flaws'"

By the way, the 5-foot-11 Akognon just finished the season as the leading scorer in the Baltic League (20.3 ppg), shooting 52% overall, 43% on three-point attempts and 90% from the foul line.

Good luck trying to find trainers who take this unusual approach.

Here's Russotti's philosophy: ""Basketball is like taking the same test over and over and not studying. You might get better at taking the test, but how much better do you think you would have done if you would have studied. Working on your game is studying. However, with that said, having an effective or credible trainer that gives you the proper curriculum to study is really important as well. "

Russotti has trained McDonald's All-Americans plus college, WNBA and NBA leading lights for some time. His phone rings especially often around this time of the year with agents and their prospects looking to both fine tune and upgrade skill sets.

As a trainer, he has witnessed erratic shooting strokes. A bio-mechanics major in college, Russotti set about to see what could be done to ensure not only improved form but also a consistent one.

"In shooting mechanics, a player's  wrists follows the flexion of their fingers," Russotti said. "Whichever direction the ring or index finger goes, the wrist will naturally follow."

Russotti previously used splints and tape in order to try to provide greater shooting form consistency but this proved hard to work with.

Hence Russoti's J-Glove.

"Someone suggested at one of my clinics that a shooting aid be invented and I thought it was a good idea," he explained. Working with his mother Debbie, "within a month, we had a prototype."

Not satisfied, Russotti continued tinkering. The second prototype came to be working with his father-in-law Dennis.

Now, it's used and endorsed by a multitude of coaches, colleges and professional teams including Memphis, Louisville, Stanford, St. Mary's, Miami, LSU, VCU, South Florida, Rice, Findlay Prep, Montrose Christian, the San Antonio Spurs, the Miami Heat and many more.

"It really sets up and finished your shot completely," according to Russotti. "Because of the finger splint design, it won't allow you to rest the ball on your palm at all, and of course it prevents pre-mature flexion of the fingers so that your wrist will flex on a frontal plane."

Bigger things on the horizon

Russotti is partnering with an East Coast marketing firm and also working out an agreement with Dick's Sporting Goods, a company with over 400 stores in 40 states. Plus, the J-Glove distribution is possibly going global into Japan, England, Canada, France and Australia.

His Green Room training is expanding. Even though it will be geared for the college, professional, WNBA, and NBA level, there will be a high school academy level forming possibly in June.

Russotti will continue with his Showcase events in September and October.  Says Russotti, "This is where I really started my career and it is the one time I can really go out and give back to my local community some of the knowledge basketball has given to me."  

Maybe most important of all, he is teaming up with Nike strength and conditioning trainer Alan Stein, who has worked with Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and many more, in a new on-line training company called HoopGainsTraining.com. It will be designed for fourth-graders to the professional level with 150 videos available for downloading. Each age group will be able to access 15 specific pre-season, in-season and post-season workouts. Hoop Gains Training will be released this summer.

Yes, all this from someone living in a small town in northern California.

Sammy Yeager to Texas Christian

Former Modesto High player Sammy Yeager has landed at Texas Christian, playing (appriopriately) for Coach Jim Christianh.

Here's one link.

This link requires scrolling down but contains some quote from Christian.

Yeager apparently also visited Nebraska.

From the Nebraska athletics site:

Yeager joins the Frogs from down the road at Weatherford College where he was ranked as the 22nd-best prospect in the country and six-best guard according to JucoJunction.com. The newly-signed Frog averaged a team-high 19.5 points and 6.7 rebounds to go along with 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.2 blocked shots per game during his sophomore campaign.

This past season, Yeager earned first team All-North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference honors after finishing the season ranked third in the conference in scoring average. In addition, the 6-4 guard connected on 55.5 percent (76-of-137) of his field goal attempts, including 47.4 percent (27-of-57) of his three-point field goal attempts. Yeager posted a career-high 34 points, including six three-pointers, against Collin County Community College during his sophomore season.

A native of Modesto, Calif., Yeager averaged 29.0 points per game during his senior campaign en route to earning Player of the Year accolades as well as all-district laurels by the Modesto Bee. A two-time all-district award winner, Yeager was ranked as one of the top-100 guards coming out of high school by ESPN.com during his senior season. During his junior campaign, Yeager averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game en route to leading his prep team to a 28-3 overall record and 14-1 conference mark.

"I'm really excited and can't wait to get to campus and start working with the coaches. Coach Christian and Coach Wuczynski told me that I have an opportunity to make an impact on the program and help build the story. I believe that I'm a good scorer and defender as well as a leader on and off the court. I'm really want to bring excitement to the fans and help the team anyway I can," said Yeager.

"Sammy is a very talented, scoring, combo-guard that can make three's, hit the mid-range jumper as well as finish at the rim. He's a complete player that can do a lot of things on the court, and most importantly, he is a very competitive and confident player. He's been a great leader since he's come here, and he's on-pace to graduate from here, and is really a great young man," said Weatherford College head men's basketball coach Dave Donnelly.

"Sammy is a very skilled, athletic, multi-faceted guard that has the ability to stretch defenses and finish in the paint against bigger defenders," said Christian.

More on Calvin Douglas

Here's more on San Jose State's latest signee, the ex-Antisch High and City College of San Francisco player:

Calvin Douglas knows how to battle. Maybe more importantly, he understands what it takes to triumph. He has regained his health, set his academics in order and the result is a basketball scholarship just down the road at San Jose State.

At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, Douglas is soon to finish up at City College of San Francisco (CCSF), which played in the state championship game a few weeks back.

But back at Antioch High in 2008, he was named the Bay Valley Athletic League Co-MVP after putting up these numbers as a senior: 22.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. By the way, Brandon Smith, now a guard at Cal, was the other awardee.

Then it was across the bay to play for Coach Justin Labagh's always successful basketball program. "I was there for two reasons: get an education and get to the next level," Douglas explained. "The competition was good, we worked hard everyday in practice. and it made me a better player. Plus, we had eight hours of study hall every week to focus on academics."

Also, indicative of his leadership ability, Douglas was named a captain for the Ram team this season.

Calvin Douglas knows how to battle. Maybe more importantly, he understands what it takes to triumph. He has regained his health, set his academics in order and the result is a basketball scholarship just down the road at San Jose State.

At 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, Douglas is soon to finish up at City College of San Francisco (CCSF), which played in the state championship game a few weeks back.

But back at Antioch High in 2008, he was named the Bay Valley Athletic League Co-MVP after putting up these numbers as a senior: 22.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. By the way, Brandon Smith, now a guard at Cal, was the other awardee.

Then it was across the bay to play for Coach Justin Labagh's always successful basketball program. "I was there for two reasons: get an education and get to the next level," Douglas explained. "The competition was good, we worked hard everyday in practice. and it made me a better player. Plus, we had eight hours of study hall every week to focus on academics."

Also, indicative of his leadership ability, Douglas was named a captain for the Ram team this season.

It was Fuca, who heads the Lakeshow MVP club basketball organization, who offered this about Douglas: "Calvin Douglas is the total example of hard worker. When he arrived on our team in 2007, he was a young inexperienced player who had great upside. Calvin and I did not hit it off at first. I was very hard on him because he was a part-time defensive player and a streaky offensive player. After a month or two of hard work, he turned into a full-time defensive player and improved his jump shot. Calvin was a true stopper on defense and improved his shot so he could count on his jumper."

Fuca added, "Calvin never turned down a challenge. I remember when he asked to cover the best player on Texas Select and he shut him down that day so we could move on in the bracket play. He is the perfect example of someone who keeps working to get better and pushing himself to become a better player all the time. Calvin also made a true commitment to get better in the classroom and he accomplished that in junior college so he could move on to D-I basketball. Calvin will be a perfect fit for San Jose State because of his passion on defense and his ability to score." 

Douglas to San Jose State

City College of San Francisco backcourter Calvin Douglas, formerly of Antioch High, has signed to play at San Jose State University next season.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Douglas led the Rams with 16 points in the California Community College title game against Saddleback College last month. 

Sam Hicks receives an award

Boise State has handed out individual player awards, with one of particular note for northern California hoops fans:

Bronco Basketball Hands Out Postseason Team Awards
Boise State Sports Information
4/19/2010
       
Boise, Idaho - Several Broncos were awarded for their hard work both on and off the court as the men's basketball team presented individual accolades for the 2009-10 season, April 18...

...Freshman Sam Hicks and junior transfer Daequon Montreal split the honor for the Most Improved Player...Not to be overshadowed was Hicks, who improved dramatically during his freshman year as he redshirted...

Go here for the remainder.

The former Liberty Christian (Redding) star, Hicks is listed at 6-foot-9 and 259 pounds on the official roster -- definitely larger weight-wise -- and will have a world of opportunity with a pair of senior bigs departing.

Pacific picks up an Aussie

This is going outside of our self-proscribed coverage boundaries but still worthwhile news:

Bob Thomason has added a new recruit to his Pacific Tigers team -- 6-foot-2 backcouter Spencer Llewellyn out of Australia. From his tape, it appears he is a sharpshooter with a quick release.

Here is a September 2009 article in the Southern Courier on Llewellyn -- the photo above is from that feature.

Llewellyn is #8 in this YouTube video as well as in this one too.

Here is Llewellyn's FaceBook page.

He is playing for Phil Handy's Team 94 club basketball squad this spring and summer.

A Collin Chiverton update

Spoke to Norm Parrish, the head coach at Salt Lake City College, and he told us that former Archbishop Mitty and St. Mary's player Collin Chiverton will be returning for a second season as a Bruin.

Chiverton was the team's top scorer at 14.7 points per game and a second team, Scenic West Conference all league selection as a frosh.

Brad Waldow to St. Mary's

Here's a kid who never received the attention he deserved:

Ponderosa basketball star bound for Saint Mary's
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
April 15, 2010

Brad Waldow, a 6-foot-9, 265-pound senior center at Ponderosa High School, will sign a national letter of intent with Saint Mary's College on Friday.

A four-year starter, Waldow averaged 25.6 points and 10.7 rebounds this season. He is the first Ponderosa senior in 45 years to earn a Division I boys basketball scholarship, according to Dave Millhollin, who stepped down as the Bruins' coach in February.

Burnel Pinkerton steps down

Woodcreek High had a great run this season and we salute Coach Pinkerton for all his work with his kids:

Bad knees force Pinkerton to retire; Hayes returns as Woodcreek coach
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
April 12, 2010

Betrayed by two aching knees, Burnel Pinkerton stepped down as the boys basketball coach at Woodcreek High School today, less than a month after leading the Timberwolves to a momentous 28-6 season that included winning Sierra Foothill League and Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championships.

The coaching change is expected to be seamless. This past season's Bee Boys Coach of the Year will be replaced by former Woodcreek coach Paul Hayes, an on-campus teacher who has decided to jump back to the varsity after two years as the JV coach.

Pinkerton replaced Hayes in 2004...

Go here for the remainder.

SanFran Preps offers an All City squad

Boys Basketball: SanFranPreps.com All-City Team
SanFranPreps.com
April 12, 2010

Congratulations to all of the players selected to the SanFranPreps.com All-City Team.

The teams were selected by SanFranPreps.com staff, along with contributions from the San Francisco Coaches Association and NorCalPreps.com’s Lee Hubbard.

Also, check out the slideshow below, featuring many of the All City selections...

Go here for the remainder.

The SF Chronicle All Metro Team

Here's Mitch Stephens with his selections:

2009-10 All-Metro boys basketball teams
Mitch Stephens, Special to The Chronicle
April 13, 2010

First team

F Desmond Simmons Salesian 6-8 Sr.Washington-bound star nearly impossible to guard
F Brandon Ashley Bishop O'Dowd 6-8 So. Regarded as one of top sophomores in country
C John McArthur De La Salle 6-9 Sr. Led 29-3 Spartans
G Tyler Johnson St. Francis 6-2 Sr. Led Lancers to unprecedented unbeaten WCAL season
G Chris McNealy San Ramon Valley 6-4 Sr. Game reminds many of Skyline great Gary Payton

Go here for the remainder of Stephens' picks.

The Soldiers excel this weekend

The Oakland Soldiers lost their final game but otherwise romped through the Boo Williams tourney. Here's one report:

'Soldiers' At The BooPlex
Dave Fairbank
April 11. 2010

One of the notable teams at Boo's annual Nike Invitational turned in probably the most eye-catching result of the weekend.

The Drew Gooden Soldiers, based out of Oakland, Calif., on Sunday morning destroyed the Spiece Indy team, which featured top-shelf point guard Marquis Teague and 6-foot-10 Louisville commitment Michael Chandler, as well as several other big-time prospects.

The Soldiers -- more on the nickname in a moment -- beat a darn fine Indy team 118-66. They scored more points in the second half (67) than Indy did the entire game. By the way, that's 118 points in 32 minutes.

Understand that blowouts happen at these kinds of tournaments. Kids get tired, teams lose focus, sometimes everybody just wants to go home. By the second half, the Indy kids knew they were whipped.

But the remarkable aspect was the fierceness with which the Gooden kids played, as if they were on a mission...

Go here for the remainder.

Rocklin coach steps away

Rocklin coach steps down, cites relentless pace
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
April 11, 2010

Steve Taylor, who turned Rocklin High School into one of the area's most successful public school boys basketball programs, has resigned.

He cited the growing year-round demands and overwhelming expectations of running a high-level program...

Go here for the remainder.

Tyler Johnson POY plus the all-area and all-league squads

St. Francis' Tyler Johnson is the Mercury News Player of the Year:

Boys basketball player of the year: Tyler Johnson
Dennis Knight
Mercury News
4/06/2010

A teammate still remembers seeing St. Francis Tyler Johnson for the first time.

"He was this little, short kid with a 'fro," Lancers senior Patrick Crowley said of that moment four years ago at a St. Francis basketball practice. "People underestimate him, but he has that quick first step and can jump so high. I couldn't guard him then, and I can't guard him now."

Not many players could guard the St. Francis senior guard. Johnson isn't an intimidating presence — he's 6-foot-1, 165 pounds — but when he has the ball, he attracts plenty of attention...

Go here for the remainder.

Here is the Mercury News' First Team.

Here are various other honors.

Here are further selections from the Mercury News.

Here all the various all-league choices

From the Contra Costa Times comes the various all-league teams from the ACCAL, DFAL and DVAL:

All-ACCAL

MVP

Bobby Syvanthong (El Cerrito...

and

All-DFAL

Co-MVP

Kellen Ito (Campolindo) Sr.

Adam Mancebo (Cam) Sr....

and

All-DVAL

MVP

McKenzie Moore (College Park)...

Go here and scroll about a third of the way down the page for the complete league selections.

 

East Bay Prep Corner's All-East Bay selections

The folks at the East Bay Prep site have their selections up of the best boy basketballers this season:

All-East Bay Boys Basketball
Stephanie Hammon
www.ibabuzz.com
April 9, 2010

By popular demand, here are our All-East Bay boys basketball teams:

Player of the Year: John McArthur, De La Salle
Coach of the Year: Craig Ashmore, Newark Memorial...

Go here for the remainder.

McKenzie Moore is the best college prospect among all the selections.

Mitch Stephens' pre All-Metro takes

Mitch Stephens checks in with his informal look at the forthcoming All-Metro honors, something he is calling his Hoopies:

The pre-All-Metro basketball awards
Mitch Stephens, Special to The Chronicle
April 9, 2010

The Chronicle's All-Metro basketball squads will be published soon, so, as a precursor, we present our totally subjective and unofficial Hoopie Awards...

Go here for the remainder.

The basketball recruiting calendar

The upcoming letter-of-intent signing period goes from April 14 through May 19.

Here's how it breaks down:

April 1-8: Dead Period (no on-campus or off-campus in-person contact with prospects by college coaches)

April 8-11 and April 16-21: Contact Period (on-campus and off-campus in-person contact with prospects by college coaches allowed)

April 12-15: Dead Period

April 22-July 5: Quiet Period (no off-campus in-person contact with prospects by college coaches; on-campus in-person contact with prospects by college coaches allowed)

D.J. Seeley looking for a change

D.J. Seeley is now a free agent. We would be surprised if he lands at another PAC-10 school but the Mountain West or the WAC seems appropriate.

D.J. Seeley Transfers From Cal
Avinash
CaliforniaGoldenBlogs
March 28, 2010

Well this is just the news I wanted to hear.

    D.J. Seeley has decided to transfer from California and is looking for a new school...

    According to our own Etop Udo-Ema that his former wing guard, 6-4 D.J. Seeley has asked for his release and is looking to transfer this spring.

    6-4 DJ Seeley is a sophomore who was a big time recruit coming out of high school ranked as high as #39 in the country being recruited by Duke, Memphis, UCLA, USC and every school u could imagine. Committed to Ben Braun of California before he moved on to Rice and then honored the commitment to the new staff staying closer to home...

Go here for the remainder.

Xavier Thames looking for a new zip code

With the signing period opening up soon, Xavier Thames' new home should be known quickly. Will it be another Pac-10 school, maybe some place in the Mountain West (UNLV takes in a lot of transfers) or even the WAC?

Xavier Thames opts to leave Pullman
Lew Wright
Exami9ner
March 29, 2010

Heading into last weekend, there were a number of reports circulating about Washington State men’s basketball.

You might say a hornets’ nest was stirred up by a message on the online social network, twitter, by Cougar point guard Reggie Moore.

WSU Coach Ken Bone was clear during his season-wrap-up teleconference there may be players on the current roster who leave Pullman in search of more playing time elsewhere.

Bone and his staff went over the results of last season with each player to evaluate their performance, what they need to work on during the off-season and what their role in the coming season might look like...

Go here for the remainder.

Here's a Brendan Lane injury update

Lane out 5 months after ankle surgery
Jon Gold
Inside UCLA
April 2, 2010

From UCLA:

Freshman Brendan Lane will undergo surgery on his left ankle next week and is expected to miss approximately five months. The surgery, which will be performed by UCLA team physicians, is to repair damage he sustained from multiple injuries this season.

Lane initially suffered a sprain on Oct. 19, 2009 during the first week of practice that sidelined him for three weeks. During the season, he had two more sprains, the latter on Feb. 23, 2010, that caused him to miss a total of five games.

The 6-foot-9-inch forward out of Rocklin, Calif., (Rocklin HS) averaged 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds per game while making three starts on the year. He shot 57.4 percent (27-for-47) from the floor.

The Sac Bee's All-Metro squad

All Metro basketball: Boys teams
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
April 1, 2010

First team

C – Tony Gill, Oakmont, Sr.

• The 6-foot-8 senior, in averaging 18.7 points and 10.5 rebounds, was an on- and off-court leader of a Vikings team that reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II final.

G – Hayden Lescault, Vista del Lago, Sr.

• The Sierra Valley Conference MVP led the Eagles to a 28-4 season and D-III section runner-up finish while averaging 19 points and 4.4 assists.

G – Nik Milani, Woodcreek, Sr.

• The Sierra Foothill League MVP and team scoring leader (17.3 points per game) proved a clutch performer in leading the Timberwolves to league and section titles.

F – Darius Nelson, Sheldon, Jr.

• Despite playing hurt most of the season, the 6-6 Nelson averaged 24.7 points and eight rebounds and had a monster postseason to help the Huskies to the D-I section title.

F – Zach Nelson, Yuba City, Sr.

• The Tri-County Conference MVP averaged 23.6 points and 14.5 rebounds for the 24-4 Honkers, including a school-record 56 points and 23 rebounds against Natomas.

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Here's an individual feature on Josiah Turner

All Metro basketball: Turner one of nation's top recruits
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
April 1, 2010

Doris Ward didn't quite know what to make of her son's obsession.

As young as 18 months old, Josiah Turner spent hours dribbling a basketball on the linoleum entry to their Greenhaven apartment.

"He'd dribble all day if you let him," Ward said. "It got to the point where I thought there was something wrong with him. He never played with cars or trucks, but he always had a basketball."

Call the 6-foot-3 Sacramento High School junior point guard a basketball savant...

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Turner and Shine are Sacto's best

Josiah Turner and Brittany Shine are lauded as Sacramento's best this season:

All-Metro basketball: Sac High's Shine and Turner are Bee's Players of the Year
Joe Davidson
Sacramento Bee
April 1, 2010

They're combo-guards with an amazing skill set and an insatiable desire to achieve.

They can handle the ball, break down defenses and score. They can defend, pass and lead with actions or emotion. They crave to compete.

So no wonder they're cousins, similar in style, performance and appearance.

Brittany Shine and Josiah Turner were impact players for Sacramento High School, and their ability to take over games, to elevate their programs and their own games to new heights landed them as The Bee's 2009-10 Basketball Players of the Year...

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