Thursday, April 28, 2011

A look at the City College of San Francisco players moving on

Fresh off a California state championship, City College of San Francisco Coach Justin Labagh has seen a number of his current players recently enjoy the fruits of their labors -- earning basketball scholarships.

Previously announced was De'End (Lincoln High) Parker heading to UCLA. With junior backcourter Malcolm Lee situating himself in the NBA draft, the opportunity for playing time will certainly be present for Parker and he possesses the skills set and the body to do well immediately.

But before all that plays out, it's important to both understand and appreciate that we are talking about someone coming out of the AAA basketball ranks and from San Francisco to boot, nabbing a scholarship to play in one of very top programs in the country. For anyone unimpressed about such an accomplishment, well, hopefully someone will check for your pulse and soon.

For the old-timers and the not-so-old who read this: has anyone else with these so-called 'bloodlines' accomplished something similar?

Jonathan (Kennedy High - Richmond) Williams elected to cross the country and play at Wagner College in Staten Island, NY. But that leaves out the story behind the story, or the backstory if you prefer. At a basketball camp back east long ago, Williams connected with the Hurley family of New Jersey hoops fame and, per Labagh, actually came close to attending St. Anthony High (Jersey City, NJ) and playing for now Hall of Fame Coach Bob Hurley. Williams now will be mentored by brothers Dan (head coach) and Bob Hurley (assistant coach and the former Dookie) who run the Wagner basketball program. The Seahawks play in the Northeast Conference.

Collin (Archbishop Mitty High) Chiverton is still undecided as recruiting interest in him has been displayed by Nebraska, Texas Tech, Eastern Washington and Gardner Webb.

High-flying Fred Sturdivant was born in The City, left just before high school for Tennessee but came back here to play JC ball as a sophomore and now is headed to Coach Tony Harvey's Texas Southern hoops program in Houston. He was the CCSF fan favorite and one of very few players ever who was on a championship team both years of his community college tenure (he also won one while at Walters State College in Tennessee as a freshman).

Darryl (Sacred Heart Cathedral) Cooper looks set to be at Lethbridge College, in Alberta, Canada, next season. He'll be playing for Coach Skouson Harker.

That's a ton of talent departing but rebuild isn't in the CCSF basketball vocabulary. Reload, yes. In a few months, we should know the 2011-2012 roster for the Rams.

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