Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The 2011-12 Cabrillo College Seahawks

Cabrillo College has topped Skyline, Shasta and Delta to date, going undefeated with familiar foes Ohlone and Chabot coming up back-to-back.

The returning Coast Conference South champs (four times in six seasons) are minus sharpshooting Markus Duran but Coach Tony Marcopulos and third-year Assistant Coach Rob Hoyt return a mix of veterans and newcomers.

 Tony Marcopulos

Rob Hoyt

6-foot-9 freshman frontcourter Frank Rogers has performed well early on and signed a letter-of-intent earlier this month with Coach Rex Walters and USF. According to Hoyt, "Rogers is getting better every game, taking instruction and applying it right away." The young man from Salinas has enjoyed scoring highs of 23 and then 19 points in games so far.

Sophomore point Tyler Velasquez "is the leader of the group and as he goes, we go," Hoyt explained. Velasquez started the season scoring 15, 14 and then 15 points.
 
Another frosh, 6-foot-6 Thomas Pierce is "real versatile, playing more as a facilitator right now."

Joe Saarem is a 6-foot-3 freshman who is quickly proving to be a strong shooter. He buried four treys against Skyline and followed that up with 12 points versus Shasta.

6-foot-9 sophomore Justyn Searle holds down the 5 spot.

6-foot-3 sophomore Aaron Short is "really gifted" per Hoyt. "He is one of the top athletes in Northern California and is a key reason to why we've started off the season so well."

Here's the 2011-12 Seahawk roster:

* Jimmy Bajog G 5-foot-8 Fr.
* Gus Indarose G 6-foot-0 Fr.
* Cody Love G 6-foot-1 Fr.
* Robert Myles G 5-foot-11 Fr.
* Dalton Noble G 6-foot-1 Fr.
* Sterling Reed G 6-foot-0 Fr.
* Aaron Short G 6-foot-3 So.   
* Tyler Velasquez G 5-foot-11 So.
* Joe Saarem G/F 6-foot-3 Fr.
* Sean Filley F 6-foot-3 Fr.
* Thomas Pierce F 6-foot-5 Fr
* Adrian Powell F 6-foot-4 Fr.
* Erik Witzig F 6-foot-4 So.
* C.J. Grigg C/F 6-foot-7 Fr.
* Frank Rogers F/C 6-foot-9 Fr.   
* Justyn Searle C 6-foot-9 So.

Humboldt State now 6th in the country

Humboldt State has moved in the sixth spot in the national poll.

Stafford aids Denver over Utah State

Denver took down host and always tough Utah State 67-54 last night with former Las Lomas High player Brian Stafford totaling 12 points, three assists and zero turnovers.

Chabot three better than Cabrillo

Chabot College 66, Cabrillo College 63

Chabot

Damarius Jones 8 2-2 24
Jameal York 4 0-1 11 (three treys)

Cabrillo

Aaron Short 7 2-2 21 (five treys)
Tyler Velasquez 3 3-4 12 (three treys)

McKines stars

Wendell McKines posted a double-double of 28 points plus 10 rebounds in New Mexico State's 83-76 loss to Arizona.

Bill Paterson on the Nor Cal Tipoff Classic

Bill Paterson/Sacramento Bee looks at the results and highlights of Saturday's Nor Cal Tipoff Classic.

Columbia over Delta

In a matchup that went to overtime, Columbia College beat San Joaquin Delta College 70-66. Keith Robinson scored 30 points (six treys) for the Claimjumpers while Marcus (Bear Creek High, Stockton) Beaird totaled 22 points (a trio of treys) for the Mustangs.

CCSF with a strong game

CCSF took apart Hartnell last night 93-68.

Damian Lillard leads the country in scoring

Jonathan Reed recently tweeted this:
star Damian Lillard is currently leading the NCAA in scoring at 25.6 PPG! Not too bad! "

A Jabari Brown update?

Garrett Tucker recently tweeted this:
"Missouri, Memphis, Gonzaga, San Diego State, and San Jose State are all in the mix of Jabari Brown's list right now"
Still gotta go with the Aztecs. But who has a scholarship available for the second semester?

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The 2011 Nor Cal Tip Off Classic results

Here are the results from Saturday's Nor Cal Tip Off Classic:

Game 1:  Freedom, 73, Rodriguez 56
Player of the Game: Jelani Hardaway, Freedom, 21 points

Game 2:  Jesuit 83, Dublin 74
Player of the Game: Bryce Pressley, Jesuit, 24 points & four assists

Game 3: Pleasant Grove 62, St. Patrick-St. Vincent 49
Player of the Game: Matt Hayes, Pleasant Grove, 20 points

Game 4:  Vallejo 65, El Cerrito 63
Player of the Game: Tajai Johnson, Vallejo, 26 points

Game 5: Berkeley 64, Weston Ranch 62
Player of the Game: Langston Morris-Walker, Berkeley, 18 points, 19 rebounds

Game 6:  Newark Memorial 74, Deer Valley 58
Player of the Game: Paramvir Singh, Newark Memorial, 17 points, 18 rebounds

Game 7:  Sheldon 45, McClymonds 43
Player of the Game: Armani Hampton, Sheldon, 13 points

A Juan Anderson update

After a very successful season at Castro Valley High, Juan Anderson headed to Milwaukee to play for Coach Buzz Williams and Marquette University.

MU is 6-0 at this juncture with Anderson seeing seven minutes of action in two contests. Williams' preferred style of play is a very good fit for Anderson but there are talented players with experience in front of him.

The Appeal-Democrat on Yuba College's latest

Here's the Appeal-Democrat on Yuba College's 85-65 loss Sunday to Mt. San Jacinto, the winner of the tourney at Palomar JC. At least of a couple of the prominent 49ers are ailing.

Jason Conrad honored

Former Gilroy High big Jason Conrad, a junior at Chico State, has earned Wildcat of the Week honors.

The 2011-12 Santa Rosa Junior College Bear Cubs

Santa Rosa Junior College finished 21-9 last season before being stopped in the state playoffs by eventual champion City College of San Francisco.

So far this season, SRJC owns wins against Yuba, CCSF, Ohlone and Shasta with a lone loss to Diablo Valley.

In this 2011-12 season, Coach Craig McMillan's Bear Cubs are a mix of youth and experience with Henry Gill, Luke Aston and Sama Taku as starters from last year as well as Kevin Aronis and reserve Erik Hanson.

Jordan Salley and Connor Gillett have also returned after injuries interrupted their respective seasons.

The newbies are Air Force Academy transfer Myles Jerrett (brother of Arizona commit Grant Jerrett) plus a trio of local backcourters in Xavier McCall, Bobby Sharp and Max Fujii.

Two other new talents are guards Tyler Imhoff and Jake Ashby, the latter out of New Zealand.

McMillan has led SRJC for 12 years and here's his take on some of his talent: "Due to his size, Max Fujii had D-2 offers but wants to play D-1" -- Fujii has already totaled 24 points in a game against Ohlone and 21 versus Yuba ... "Sama Taku was All-League last season and is consistently one of our best players" -- Taku scored 29 points against Diablo Valley ... "Jordan Salley didn't get [academically] cleared at Montana State last year and played hurt for us" ... "Luke Aston missed some games with a sore knee last season but is back" ... "Bobby Sharp is a really good shooter and had seven 3's and 25 points against Shasta."

He added "we have six locals in our rotation." Asked about the styles of play he employs, McMillan said, "95% of the time we play man-to-man defense and it's a motion offense 95% of the time but we do have some set plays."

The Bear Cubs are one of those tough-to-defend teams because the roster is loaded with a bevy of unselfish outside sharpshooters who can't be left alone, mixed together with talents who can score inside. McMillan also noted that his bunch understands the concept of spacing which only adds to the difficulty to defend them.

McMillan's assistants are:

Maurice Thompson

Troy Stevenson

photo unavailable
Ryan Cook

Here's the SRJC roster:

* Max Fujii Point Guard 5-10 Freshman   
* Bobby Sharp Point Guard 6-0 Freshman
* Sama Taku Point Guard 6-1 Sophomore   
* Kevin Aronis Shooting Guard 6-3 Sophomore       
* Jacob Ashby Shooting Guard 6-2 Freshman   
* Tyler Imhoff Shooting Guard 6-1 Freshman   
* Xavier McCall Shooting Guard 6-3 Freshman   
* Luke Aston Small Forward 6-7 Sophomore   
* Connor Gillett Small Forward 6-5 Freshman   
* Erik Hansen Power Forward 6-5 Sophomore   
* Myles Jerrett Power Forward 6-5 Freshman   
* Henry Gill Center 6-7 Sophomore
* Jordan Salley Center 6-6 Sophomore

Weber falls to St. St. Mary's -- Lillard and Jones star

Weber State fell to host St. Mary's 87-70 despite 36 points -- 21 straight during one stretch -- from Damian Lillard. Weber allowed the Gaels to shoot 56% overall while also being out-boarded 36-23.

Rob Jones posted a 24/12 double-double for St. Mary's, including 4-4 from three-point range.

Any truth to this Darius Nelson-related post?

KOFan at the Bark Board/Save Mart Center MB posted this:
"I was talking to one of my AAU coaches here in Vegas and he called me with some interesting news. Darius Nelson is interested in Fresno. He will have all 4yrs of eligibility because he just taking classes at UTEP. He has 2 other suitors but my guy thinks the best fit would be here at Fresno. That's some good news, we can round out recruiting with him and two more brigs. That would be a great XMAS present"

A Kori Babineaux update

Totaling 48 points, former Folsom High multi-sport participant Kori Babineaux led his Chicago-area team to victory.

A Gabe Killion update

Ian Ross has written a very nice feature on current College of Marin basketball player Gabe Killion.

Vallejo High romps over Napa

Thomas Gase reports on Vallejo's 104-63 win over Napa.

A Shawn Grant update

Former St. Francis star Shawn Grant was at Foothill College last season and is now playing at Arkansas Fort Smith. His early season numbers are impressive:

* 21+ minutes per game
* 10.6 points per game
* shooting 49% overall, 51% on threes
* 3.1 rebounds per game

Monday, November 28, 2011

This week's JC rankings


From Robert Schmidt:

State Poll

1. Citrus (7-0)
2. Diablo Valley (6-0)
3. Santa Rosa (5-1)
4. Saddleback (4-1)
5. Mt. San Jacinto (5-2)
6. Antelope Valley (4-0)
7. Fresno (7-2)
8. San Francisco (4-2)
9. Yuba (6-2)
10. El Camino (7-1)
11. Irvine Valley (5-1)
12. Sequoias (5-2)
13. Cabrillo (4-0)
14. Chaffey (4-2)
15. Los Angeles Harbor (5-0)
16. Cuesta (5-1)
17. Sacramento (4-0)
18. Foothill (5-2)
19. Cerritos (4-1)
20. Hartnell (5-1)

Northern Regional Poll

1. Diablo Valley
2. Santa Rosa
3. Fresno
4. San Francisco
5. Yuba
6. Sequoias
7. Cabrillo
8. Sacramento
9. Foothill
10. Hartnell
Tie. Chabot
12. Las Positas
13. Modesto
14. Mendocino
15. West Hills

Some additional JC scores

Here are more scores from this weekend:

* Diablo Valley College 87, Fresno City College 71  

* Contra Costa College 53, San Jose City College 45

* Feather River College 74, West Valley College 73

Yuba College's Deaundray Robinson on all tourney team

From Robert Schmidt comes this listing of the All Tourney team at the Palomar tournament:

Palomar Tournament:

MVP-Josh Grouche – Mt. San Jacinto

All-Tourney-Randall Harris – Trade Tech; Derrick Thompson – Southwestern; Deaundray Robinson – Yuba; Montreal Harris – Mt. San Jacinto

Lillard powers Weber State to victory

Weber State (which now faces host St. Mary's tonight) topped Jacksonville State 69-61 behind 23 points and eight rebounds from Damian Lillard.

Updates on Brett Sayad, Reggie Jones, Ian Salter and Tyree Murray

Cal State Stanislaus topped Texas A&M International 85-77 in a tournament down in Fresno. Brett (Ceres High/Modesto JC) Sayad scored 16 points (four three-pointers) and Reggie (Ohlone College) Jones contributed 13.

Former Deer Valley High/Los Medanos backcourter Tyree Murray scored 10 points for TAM. He totaled 20 points plus five assists in an earlier win versus UC Merced. 

Ian Salter, out of Marin Catholic High and Toledo, scored two points for the Lone Star State visitors.

A Casa Grande High preview

John Jackson offers a preview of the Casa Grande High boys basketball team.

Eastern Washington over UC Davis

Despite a seven point off-night by Collin Chiverton, Eastern Washington handled UC Davis 79-59. Josh (Forest Lake Christian High) Ritchart led the Aggies with 19 points (a trio of treys) and seven boards.

Nitoto aids in Riverside victory

The Highlanders came from behind to beat Washington State 64-63 as Kareem (San Leandro High) Nitoto totaled eight points, five assists and four rebounds.

Monastery basketball

Greg Crawford captures my sentiment exactly with an article headlined "Enough of These "Turkey" Tournaments"

It's actually disconcerting to watch a game on television where the crowd noise is non-existent due to the attendance being also. In watching, we keep thinking that two teams broke into a monastery (granted one with a basketball court) and are getting a game in without rousing the inhabitants.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Humboldt State wins again

Make that 18 consecutive home wins for Humboldt State as the Lumberjacks took down Simon Fraser 102-87, powered by Kyle Baxter's 21/10 double-double.

Yuba College wins again

Paced by De'Aundray Robinson, Spencer Butterfield and Cody Kale, Yuba College took down nationally ranked Eastern Arizona 91-81.

DVC takes tounrey, Fresno City and West Valley both nab victories


In more games at the Chevron Invitational at Diablo Valley College, DVC beat Contra Costa College 68-58 to win the tournament.

Fresno City College had no trouble with San Jose City College 65-45.

Fresno City 

Andre Medlock 5 5-8 15 
Rodney Webster 2 3-4 8
Michael Crawley 3 2-2 8

San Jose City

Fabian Sebastian 6 0-0 12
Keith Martin 4 3-3 11

and

West Valley College took down College of the Redwoods 80-67.

West Valley

Mike Beltramo 8 4-4 26
Chris Murry 3 8-10 16
College of the Redwoods

Shaquille Jones 4 3-4 12
Justin Miller 4 0-0 11 (three treys)
Tre'von Lane 5 0-0 11

Fullerton loses to Bakersfield

Cal State Fullerton lost to Cal State Bakersfield despite 17 points from Kwame Vaughn and 10 rebounds from DJ Seeley.

Sac State loses to McNeese State

Sacramento State fell 68-63 to McNeese State despite 15 points from John (Fairfield High) Dickson and 10 markers via Konner (Placer High) Veteto.

A double-double for Jonathan Williams

Former CCSF star Jonathan Williams posted a 19/10 double-double in Wagner's latest win against Delaware State.

More press for Julian Welch

Michael Rand/Star Tribune provides a feature article on former Yuba College star Julian Welch.

Caloiaro continues to roll

Angelo Caloiaro's team-leading 22 points (5-for-8 overall, 4-of-7 from three-point range) plus four rebounds and three assists weren't enough as the Dons fell to New Mexico State 81-71. Caloiaro is averaging 14 points and seven boards a game.

Matt Mareno and Redwood High roll

Redwood High's Matt Mareno is starting out the season strong.

A Drew Gordon interview

Diane Pucin/Los Angeles Times serves up an interview with former Archbishop Mitty star Drew Gordon. It goes into Gordon's time at UCLA and also delves into Reeves Nelson's current situation.

Colin Gruber adapting quickly

Northern Arizona is having a rough start this season but Santa Cruz area freshman backcourter Colin Gruber is performing well. Gruber scored 15 points in 27 minutes during a loss to Loyola Marymount on Saturday night.

Will Cherry and Montana win

In 28 minutes of play, Will Cherry scored 13 points against Long Beach State in Montana's 73-71 victory. Cherry shot 3-6 from the floor, 6-6 at the foul line.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

SD State over UC Santa Barbara

San Diego State was three points better than host UC Santa Barbara last night, 73-70.

Xavier Thames put up quite the line for the Aztecs: 19 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals. Chase Tapley contributed 16 points.

Orlando Johnson scored 26 points to lead both teams, plus he added seven rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. James Nunnally came close to a double-double with 16 points and eight boards.

USF falls to New Mexico State

Way up in Alaska, New Mexico State topped USF 81-71. Locals Wendell McKines totaled 17 points and seven boards for NMSU while Angelo Caloiaro registered 22 points for the Dons.

Diablo Valley College 75, College of the Redwoods 49

In the initial round of the Chevron Invitational, Diablo Valley College took down College of the Redwoods 75-49.

Diablo Valley

Brian Goins 7 3-3 18
Damon Jones 5 0-0 11

College of the Redwoods

Shaquille Jones 6 3-4 17

College of Alameda over Shasta

In the first round of a tourney hosted by Butte College, College of Alameda topped Shasta 67-43.

Alameda

Travante Williams 6 4-4 17
Benjamin Conaway 6 0-0 14
Eli Alcantar 5 1-1 12

Shasta

Anthony Eastman 3 2-3 8
Dylan Griffin 3 1-1 8

Alameda later lost to Butte 64-54.

Harvard continues to roll, wins Atlantis tourney

The Harvard Crimson should be in the Top 25 rankings next week and former Branson star Oliver McNally, now a senior, is the power source increasing the effectiveness of others.

In beating Central Florida (who beat Connecticut earlier) for the Atlantis tournament championship, McNally scored but one point (on three shots) but passed for a team-leading five assists and nabbed a trio of rebounds. He's 19-19 from the foul line so far this season.

McNealy, Davis lead Anteaters in loss

UC Irvine fell 77-63 to host Alaska Anchorage -- Chris McNealy put up eight points, eight boards and three assists while Will Davis totaled nine points.

Former Sheldon High backcourter Marcus Jackson is with Alaska Anchorage.

More on Darius Nelson

Joe Davidson reports on Darius Nelson's departure from UTEP.

Welch leads Minnesota

Paced by Julian (Yuba College) Welch's team-leading 17 points (in just 22 minutes), Minnesota won again, this time downing Indiana State 76-69.

Yuba College wins again

Coach Doug Cornelius' squad went up against Los Angeles Trade Tech and, paced by a perfect shooting night from De'Aundray Robinson, won 104-88.

Sonoma State and Butte College nab victories

From the Marin Independent Journal comes two reports: Sonoma State turned back Dominican 76-73 and Butte College topped College of Marin 59-52.

Here's more on SSU's win.

Friday, November 25, 2011

DVC big Raphael Carter to Nevada

Raphael Carter has plans. Finish the season and hopefully lead Diablo Valley College to the state championship, then head to Reno to play ball and earn a degree, followed by play-for-pay and eventually employment as a designer of automobiles.

But what he has left out, if he so chooses, is working as a sports or basketball commentator as Carter has the gift of expressing his thoughts in a learned, accomplished and well-spoken manner. Think Len Elmore or simply the antithesis of Dickie V, and this is someone who just turned 19!

The road to basketball-ville began in Ohio for the 6-foot-9 Carter.

"I was dribbling a basketball while in diapers (talk about a real diaper dandy)," Carter explained. "As a kid, we were always watching basketball." He's a Laker fan, particularly of Kobe Bryant but hopefully the Golden State Warrior/Wolf Pack aficionados in and around Reno will overlook this.

But what about other sports?

"I played a little soccer and I was offered a baseball scholarship to a private high school after eighth grade," Carter said.

Hoops won out.

What's funny in retrospect is why Carter isn't out on a football field. "My mom wouldn't let me play football. She was worried about her baby getting hurt."

That's probably not what other parents would have envisioned happening.

Nevada, specifically former Wolf Pack Coach Dennis Gates, first noticed Carter in a Florida nationals tournament. "He liked that I grabbed rebounds and defended the rim well."

But his senior year saw Carter miss a qualifying test score requirement by two points so it was a matter of turning to the junior college ranks.

Plus, there was another bump in the road as Carter explained: "I didn't finish out my senior year. I only played in six games because I got kicked off the team for being at the wrong place at the wrong time on New Year's Eve. But i still got a Top 24 McDonald's All-American award and that's what kept my hopes alive after I didn't pass the NCAA Clearinghouse."

Nevada remained steadfast and told Carter about Diablo Valley College and Coach Steve Coccimiglio, as the latter has enjoyed two of his previous frontcourters in Mo Charlo and Demarshay Johnson contributing well up Reno way.

That was fine with Carter as his grandmother lived in California (Santa Monica) and he had some distant cousins in Oakland. The distance from home and especially being in new surroundings were not new to Carter. "We moved around a lot when I was growing up."

In 2010-11, the Vikings went 26-5, 13-1 and won the Big 8 Conference -- "we had a great run and a great season" per Carter. Individually, he was named as an Honorable Mention to the All-State team as well as being an All-League selection. Diablo Valley advanced to the Final Four in the state tournament before falling.

As for his recent letter-of-intent with Nevada, there was a degree of competition as California and Oregon State entered the picture, showing interest in Carter.

Along with his grandmother, Carter had visited Nevada unofficially when he was a high school senior and then he did a solo sojourn later on an official trip.

But the familiar and the loyal won out.

So why the Wolf Pack?

Unlike with the others, there will be an option for Carter to redshirt in his initial season in Reno but he understands that will depend on the needs of the team.

Plus, "I just fell in love with the school -- it's not too big and not too small -- and the facilities are some of the best in the WAC," Carter offered. The loss of Coach Gates (who is now at Florida State) "made my decision a little tougher but I have a good relationship with Coach [David] Carter."

So it became a matter of Carters sticking together.

He wanted to major in automobile engineering design so as to eventually become a car designer but Carter found out that Nevada doesn't offer that specific program. However, various engineering design programs are available and that was good enough.

Regarding basketball influences Carter named a pair from back home -- Sam Smith and Jermaine Guice. Smith graduated from Dayton and played overseas but helped "me a whole lot with both my game and getting on [AAU] teams." Greer also played overseas and "has been a huge part of my basketball life."

An interesting aspect to Carter's development, this of the physical manner, is that he weighed 190 pounds in high school. His self description: "I was allergic to the weight room. As soon I walked in, I would sneeze."

Now he checks in at 210, with plans to move the needle higher.

"The weight room at Nevada is out of control. I'm going to look like Superman before I'm done, " Carter proclaimed.

Besides the team goals for this season, Carter said, "I'm still blocking shots and rebounding." But he plans on displaying more aggressiveness to the rim, a better jump shot -- just having more offensive skills."

Once the school year concludes at Diablo Valley, Carter will head home to Ohio for a short period before moving to Reno and as he puts it, "getting to work."

Jones'in for some HS hoops -- try the Nor Cal Tipoff

Here's Bill Paterson on Saturday's Nor Cal Tipoff Classic.

Here's Jimmy Durkin/Steve Waterhouse with a preview.

The first game begins at 11 a.m. at Newark Memorial High.

For those who can't make it or plan on being there for just a few of the games, all the action will be web cast live on www.ihigh.com

The matchups:

11 a.m. - Rodriguez vs. Freedom-Oakley
12:30 p.m. - Dulbin vs. Jesuit
2:15 p.m. - St. Patrick's-St. Vincent's-Vallejo vs. Pleasant Grove
3:45 p.m. - El Cerrito vs. Vallejo
5:30 p.m. - Berkeley vs. Weston Ranch-Stockton
7 p.m. - Newark Memorial-Newark vs. Deer Valley-Antioch
8:30 p.m. - McClymonds-Oakland vs. Sheldon

A Cal Maritime update

The Cal Maritime Keelhaulers stand 5-3 so far this season as Coach Bryan Rooney's squad just fell to Cal State Monerey Bay despite a 21/10 double-double by Isaiah (Ohlone) Moore.

Moore leads the squad with 7.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while Keven (San Joaquin Delta) Campbell tops the team with 14.1 points a contest.

The Keelhaulers own wins this season over Academy Of Art University, Corban University, Northwest Christian College, Oregon Institute of Technology and West Coast Baptist.

San Diego State over Arizona

Chase (Sacramento High) Tapley's 17 points (plus four assists) led San Diego State to a 61-57 triumph over Arizona. Josiah Turner and Nick Johnson each scored 10 for the Wildcats.

Minnesota gets by DePaul

Former Yuba College backcourter Julian Welch scored 11 points in 21 minutes as Minnesota just got by DePaul 86-85.

Irvine falls to Southern Miss

Despite an impressive performance from Chris (San Ramon Valley) McNealy (15 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals). Irvine fell to Southern Mississippi 78-67. Will (Sacramento High) Davis contributed seven points and five boards.

Niyi Harrison propels Santa Clara

Santa Clara got by New Mexico 79-76 last night in Anaheim powered by Niyi (Bellarmine) Harrison's 19 points and seven boards. Drew (Mitty) Gordon put up 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Lobos.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Cabrillo over Ohlone

Cabrillo went on the road and took down Ohlone 68-45 last night as Aaron Short led with 20 points and Thomas Pierce was right behind with 19.

The Nor Cal Tipoff is happening on Saturday

Here's Bill Paterson on Saturday's Nor Cal Tipoff Classic.

Here's Jimmy Durkin/Steve Waterhouse with a preview.

The first game begins at 11 a.m. at Newark Memorial High.

For those who can't make it or plan on being there for just a few of the games, all the action will be web cast live on www.ihigh.com

The matchups:

11 a.m. - Rodriguez vs. Freedom-Oakley
12:30 p.m. - Dulbin vs. Jesuit
2:15 p.m. - St. Patrick's-St. Vincent's-Vallejo vs. Pleasant Grove
3:45 p.m. - El Cerrito vs. Vallejo
5:30 p.m. - Berkeley vs. Weston Ranch-Stockton
7 p.m. - Newark Memorial-Newark vs. Deer Valley-Antioch
8:30 p.m. - McClymonds-Oakland vs. Sheldon

St. Mary's falls to Denver

St. Mary's, on the road, was upset 70-58 by Denver last night. Rob (Riordan) Jones put up a 20/11 double-double (9-14 shooting). Brian (Las Lomas) Stafford scored eight points, including a pair of treys for Denver.

A Khiari Swift update

Mel Grussing provides an update on former Arroyo High (San Lorenzo) star Khiari Swift, now a freshman at Antelope Valley College.

Jabari Brown heading south

As predicted earlier, Jabari Brown will become an Aztec.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Humboldt State wins another

Humboldt State brought Southern Oregon to town Monday night but no Welcome Wagon was in sight as the Lumberjacks won 97-81.

The statistical highlights:
"... Brandon Sperling had 19, Austin Bryan and Scott Clark each added 14, and Matt Lipski contributed 12 points.

Senior forward
Kyle Baxter scored 11 points, but his contributions weren't limited to point production. Baxter ripped down a team-high nine rebounds, equaling his career high, and also dished four assists to go along with his five steals ..."

Chico State with another W

Chico State (now 4-0) faced Menlo last night and the result was another addition to the win column by the tune of 73-49. No Wildcat played for more than 21 minutes with Jordan Semple leading the scoring with 14 points and Jason Conrad contributing 11.

Catching up with Brian Stafford

Now a senior at Denver, Brian (Las Lomas & Lakeshow) Stafford has been a stalwart four year starter for the Pioneers and is averaging 20 points per game while shooting 50% overall, 47% from three-point range and 93% at the foul line so far in 2011.

A Hameed Ali update

Hameed Ali finished up last season at San Leandro High and then signed with Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Ali started (as he has all season) and played 31 minutes in the Islander 58-55 win over Utah State last night.

Christian Williams scores 14

Christian Williams scored 14 points last night in Jackson State's 57-51 loss to Tulsa. The 6-foot-2 junior from Sierra High in Manteca is starting, averaging 31 minutes a game.

Allen scores 14 in a USC win

In 35 minutes of play , Greg (Eureka High) Allen scored 14 points (3-5 from long distance) in USC's 65-62 win over Morgan State.

It's Sac State over UC Davis

Jon at his Big Sky Basketball site writes about Sacramento State's 69-61 beating of UC Davis last night. Walter Jackson scored 14 points for the Hornets with Konner Vetoto just missing a double-double with his 14 points and nine rebounds. Josh Ritchart went for 10 and 6 for the Aggies.

UCSB handles Portland

Orlando Johnson totaled 26 points and 12 boards and James Nunnally contributed 22 in UC Santa Barbara's 83-69 victory over Portland last night.

Collin Chiverton leads Eastern Washington over Hawaii

A team-leading 20 points from Collin (Mitty) Chiverton paced visiting Eastern Washington to an 83-67 victory over Hawaii. The Eagles busted out for 50 points in the second half.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Rex Walters receives a contract extension

From USF athletics:
The University of San Francisco and head men's basketball coach Rex Walters have agreed to a new contract which will run through the 2015-16 season as announced today by Director of Athletics Scott Sidwell.

"In a short period of time, Coach Walters has revitalized one of the most storied programs in college basketball history," Sidwell said. "We are committed to making Dons Basketball one of the top programs in the nation and we are confident that Coach Walters has San Francisco on the right track to achieve some lofty goals."

Walters will coach in his 100th game at USF when the Dons (4-1) open play in the 2011 Carrs Safeway Great Alaska Shootout Wednesday, November 23 against Dartmouth. In his fourth season with the Dons, Walters owns an overall record of 46-53, 20-22 in West Coast Conference play.

"I just want to thank Father Privett, the USF Board of Trustees, Charlie Cross and Scott Sidwell for doing this for me," Walters said. "It is important that our current players and recruits know that there is a commitment from the University of San Francisco to keep me here to continue building an outstanding program."

San Francisco posted a remarkable campaign in 2010-11 and reached the quarterfinals of the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. After a slow start, USF righted the ship in dramatic fashion and ripped off 11 victories in its last 15 games to close out the regular season. The Dons posted a 10-4 slate in the challenging WCC – the program's best league mark since 1982 – and were in contention for the team's first WCC Regular Season Championship in nearly three decades on the final day.

Highlights of the regular season included thrilling overtime triumphs against Colorado (83-81) and eventual WCC Champion Gonzaga (96-91). San Francisco demonstrated remarkable resiliency and owned a remarkable 11-6 record in games decided by seven points or less and went 7-2 in games determined by three points or fewer.


Playing in its first postseason tournament since 2004, the Dons opened play in the CIT with a 81-73 home win against Idaho (3/16/11) and then posted a thrilling 77-74 come-from-behind triumph on the road at Hawaii (3/19/11). San Francisco suffered a 95-91 setback to eventual CIT champs Santa Clara (3/22/11).


San Francisco's starting backcourt of freshman Cody Doolin
(Freshman), sophomore Michael Williams (First) and junior Rashad Green (First) all captured All-WCC honors. Williams was selected to the District VIII second team and joined Green on the 2011 All-Jesuit All-America Team. The Dons established a new program single-season record with 227 3-pointers.

In his second season with the Dons, Walters guided the Dons to a fourth place finish (7-7) in the highly competitive WCC in a year when half of the league's membership earned postseason berths. San Francisco posted a four league victory improvement in 2010, highlighted by an 81-77 overtime victory against No. 8 Gonzaga January 30 at War Memorial Gym.

Games and boxes for Diablo Valley, Foothill, Santa Rosa, Las Positas and Marin

In the Shasta Tournament Championship matchup on Sunday, Diablo Valley topped Foothill by seven points, 60-53.

DVC

Ronnie Baker 6 1-2 16 (three treys)
Brian Goins 5 4-5 15

Foothill

Brett McConnell 8 8-11 24
Ben Neves 2 4-4 8

+++++

In the Saturday contest for DVC, the Vikings topped Santa Rosa College 76-63.

DVC


Brian Goins 13 0-1 31 (five treys)
Ronnie Baker 4 4-4 14
Andrew Garner 3 6-7 12

Santa Rosa

Sama Taku 8 11-11 29
Luke Aston 3 0-0 9 (three treys)
Bobby Sharp 3 0-0 8
Myles Jerrett 3 2-2 8

+++++

In a semifinal game in the Ed Boyle Classic, College of Marin got past Las Positas 84-80 in overtime.

Marin
Josh Haynsworth 12 2-3 26
Gabe Killian 5 7-10 19

Los Positas  

Damarr Eagles 6 6-7 21 (three treys)
Jarred Jourdan 7 3-5 17
Cedric Young 3 7-7 13

Markus Duran leads Pacific

Former Cabrillo College standout Markus Duran scored a team-leading 23 points (6-8 overall shooting, 4-6 from trey land, 7-7 at the foul line) in Pacific's win over Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Dior Lowhorn has a new home

Dior Lowhorn, formerly of USF and Berkeley High, has moved over from the Ukraine and is now playing for pay in Czechoslovakia.

Another Jared Cunningham feature

Way back east, Adam Zagoria takes a look at former San Leandro High star Jared Cunningham. Not to gloat but Arizona State sure looks like having a Cunningham in its lineup would be a mighty boost.

Monday, November 21, 2011

A Santa Rosa City College basketball update

Coach Craig McMillan and Santa Rosa City College currently stand at 5-1 as freshman local Max Fujii paced the Bear Cubs with 24 points in a victory over Ohlone -- Howard Senzell reports.

Dave Rogahn on the FCC - CCSF matchup

Dave (DR) Rogahn has both a writeup and boxscore from the Fresno City College victory over City College of San Francisco.

The honorees out of the Ed Boyle Classic

Mendocino Ed Boyle Classic Tournament

Trey Johnson (Mendocino) MVP

* Heyvis Jackson (Mendocino)
* Nick Hodge (Mendocino)
* Josh Hayworth (Marin)
* Gabe Killian (Marin)
* Austin Keaton (Modesto)
* Desi Barmore (Modesto)
* Calen Coleman (Cuesta)

Who are the top community college scorers so far?

According to the latest stats at the CCCMBCA site, here are the leading scorers from northern California to date:

* 6-foot-9 Andrew Young, soph, Monterey Peninsula - 26 points per game

* 6-foot-4 Andrew Lotts, frosh, Feather River - 22.0

* 6-foot-5 Keith Martin, soph, San Jose City - 20.0

* 6-foot-0, Maazin Butler, soph, Butte - 19.0

* 5-foot-9 Denzel Copeland, frosh, DeAnza College -19.0

* 6-foot-1 Sama Taku, soph, Santa Rosa 19.0

* 6-foot-2 Gabe Killion, frosh, Marin - 17.7

* 6-foot-8 Frank Rogers, frosh, Cabrillo 17.3

* 5-foot-11 Colin Wan, frosh, Cañada 17.0

* 6-foot-1 Muktar Abdi, frosh, San Jose  17.0

Wendell McKines named WAC POW

New Mexico State’s Wendell McKines has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 14-20. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for McKines.

McKines, a senior forward from Oakland, Calif. (Richmond HS), led the Aggies to a pair of rivalry wins and a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2003-04 season. Scoring all 14 of his points in the second half, McKines led the Aggies to their first win in Albuquerque since 2002, defeating New Mexico 62-53. McKines had a game-high nine rebounds with two assists, a blocked shot and a steal against the Lobos. In NMSU’s 89-73 home-opening win over UTEP, McKines scored a career-high 23 points along with 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the year and 29th of his career. He was 5-of-13 from the field and a career-best 12-of-15 from the free throw line. He also had two assists and three steals.

Living up or down to a reputation

It's often too easy to point fingers and the direction is sometimes inaccurate and/or incomplete.

Having typed the above, Bay Area/NorCal basketball is taking a PR beating of late what with Josiah Turner's struggles at Arizona (that situation is hopefully on the upswing) and now Jabari Brown's departure from Oregon. Plus, Reeves Nelson's current situation at UCLA is certainly not adding any luster.

But public relations should be the least of any concerns.

Valid or not, young ballers from northern California have been designated by many in the 'basketball world' as flighters and not fighters -- that they lack the fortitude to stick with a decision even when faced with some adversity and battle their way to success.

Granted, generalizations are just that and each situation requires a thorough examination before any label is attached because departures and changes are sometimes appropriate and necessary.

But turning one's back on Oregon, Phil Knight's flagship school, takes either some major cojones and/or the need to think further.

Will Jabari be 'allowed' to move to another Nike school? Does it matter?

What we keep hearing in his case is that San Diego State is being eyed -- the Aztecs were a Nike program but that agreement was scheduled to expire this year. Did SDSU re-up?

On the flip side, there is Damian Lillard at Weber State, a player who is generating notice from the pro scouts. Lillard could have jumped to a higher profile program after a stellar freshman season but chose to remain in Ogden.

However, that particular fact is not something often bandied about because it isn't so-called controversial.

There is one thing certain.

Parents (especially) and coaches need to do better jobs and we're not talking about skill improvement but rather personal development, the too often catering to being the focus rather than advising what is truly best for the growth of the individual.

But fans and writers are also not without responsibility. A dunk here or a spectacular play there and, shazam, another sports god has been anointed regardless of any effort to play as a team member, to willingly take  instruction or to apply either the same or greater effort in the classroom

Kids don't need enablers.

Kids need someone who has the best interests of the youngsters at heart.

Kids need us to do better.

More praise for Damian Lillard

Here's Justin Young on Damian Lillard:
"LILLARD IS THE NEW JIMMER

Best team in Utah right now? Weber State. Best player in Utah? Damian Lillard. Long time and trusted NBA coach and personnel director Gordon Chiesa compared Lillard to Devin Harris. I’ll buy that. Lillard is off to a dazzling start to the year and a guy that more people need to see. He anchored Weber State’s win over Utah State. BYU is coming up. Cal is on the schedule, too, and the game is in Lillard’s hometown area in the Bay. Circle December 16. Chance for a coming out party there."

A Julian Welch update

Here's an update on Julian Welch fitting into Minnesota's backcourt.

FCC over CCSF

Andy Boogaard reports on Fresno City College's 97-71 tourney-winning victory over CCSF.

Yuba wins again

Shorthanded Yuba College battled host Sierra College last Wednesday evening and won 82-74 behind 15 points apiece from Cody Kale and Anthony Romero.

Sonoma State falls short

Concordia won out against Sonoma State 97-89 despite 33 points from Patrick (Bear River High) Scott.

Humboldt wins another

Humboldt State toppled Pacifica 86-70 on Saturday night behind a 15/11 double-double from Randy Hunter, Brandon Sperling's 15 points and eight assists, plus another 15 markers from Kyle Baxter.

Chico wins easily

Chico State blitzed Pacific Union 76-39 Saturday night with every Wildcat on the roster receiving double digit playing time.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

A Jourdan Demunyck update

In four games  at Prairie View A&M -- all as a starter -- former Chabot star Jourdan DeMunyck has played 102 minutes (the most on the team) and is averaging 10.5 points per game. His shooting accuracy needs to pick up as he's at 32%, 30% on treys but he is grabbing 5.8 rebounds a contest which is second on the squad. He also has seven steals to date.

Matters are disintegrating further down UCLA way

The latest tweet from Jeff Goodman:
"Ben Howland's desperation continuing to show. Reeves Nelson misses team bus and takes later flight to Maui. Inmate running the asylum?"

Jabari Brown quits Oregon basketball

Per a source (and maybe it's everywhere now), Jabari Brown has left the Oregon basketball program.

Frank Burlison on Damian Lillard

Here are a couple of tweets from longtime basketball watcher Frank Burlison:
"The most underrated PG in college bb -- Damian Lillard of Weber State -- is 3-of-3 behind the arc at UCI. 8-9 NBA teams represented"
and
"Finally Weber 80, UCI 72: Lillard 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists ... Atlanta, Milwaukee, San Antonio among the clubs scouting"

McNally leads Harrrrvard past LMU

Oliver (Branson) McNally's 16 points, four rebounds and four assists helped Harvard past host Loyola Marymount.

Jared Cunningham does it again

Maybe there's no stopping him nor the opportunity to slow him down as Jared Cunningham paced Oregon State to a 100-95 overtime win over Texas.

His line: 37 points, 20-23 from the foul line and nine rebounds.

BallinIsAHabit has a feature on Cunningham.

Just found these: ESPN's Andy Katz interviews Cunningham and Matt Norlander at CBS has an article.

Weber tops the Anteaters

Led by Damian Lillard's 21 points/eight rebounds/four assists, visiting Weber State beat UC Irvine 80-72.

For UCI, Chris McNealy had seven points and five boards, Will Davis five and six and Mike Best four and four.

Frank Otis totaled seven points along with five rebounds for the Wildcats.

FCC v CCSF

It's Fresno City versus San Francisco City today down in Fresno.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Robert Sandoval leads Azuza Pacific

Former Bay Area Hoosier Robert Sandoval is a sophomore at Azuza Pacific and Coach Justin Leslie offered this after a 21 point performance (5-6 from long distance) from his starting point:
"Robert is playing confident right now, and his efficiency on the offensive end is very high... as your point guard goes, that’s going to translate to the rest of the team"
For the season, Robert is averaging 15 points per game, shooting 77% overall and 80% from three-point range.

Cal Poly over host USC

Cal Poly just nabbed the biggest win in its basketball history in taking down USC 42-36 (don't mistake the score for a football one).

Drake (Rio Americano High) Uu contributed eight points plus six rebounds for the victorious Mustangs.

UCSB wins another

Former Piner High star Lucas Devenny hasn't appeared in a game and also isn't listed on the 2011-12 UC Santa Barbara roster. He would be a junior this season. Anyone know why he is absent?

The Gauchos won another one last night, toppling nearby Westmont 82-61  behind 20 points and 10 rebounds from Orlando Johnson plus 16 points and eight boards by James Nunnally.

Rogers leads Cabrillo to victory

Former Salinas High star Frank Rogers led Cabrillo College to a 74-72 Friday night home win against Skyline College.

Plus, Andrew Matheson offers a Cabrillo season preview.

A Roderick Bobbitt update

After six games, Rod Bobbitt is averaging 8.3 points per game for Indian Hills College (Iowa). He's shooting 43% overall, 14% from long distance and 76% from the foul line. Bobbitt is also putting up 4.3 assists and nabbing 4.1 steals per game for his sixth-in-the-nation ranked 6-0 team. Indian Hills is loaded with talent, having five players averaging in double figures scoring.

Seeley and Vaughn lead Fullerton to victory

D.J. Seeley's 18 points plus six points and eight assists from Kwame Vaughn powered Fullerton to a 73-63 win over Nichols State.

Jeff Goodman talks with Josiah Turner

Jeff Goodman offers an interview with Josiah Turner.

A Wendell McKines feature

Read about an older and wiser Wendell McKines.

Updates on Fresno City College and SFCC

Head here to read about the latest games for Fresno City College and City College of San Francisco.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Santa Rosa JC on an early roll

Coach Craig McMillan's Bear Cub squad is hitting stride right our of the gate, winning 77-45 against Marin, 70-68 versus Yuba Cellege and the topping host CCSF 84-82 last weekend.

Santa Rosa is rated the top team in the state this week:

Santa Rosa is the new No. 1 as the Cubs start the season 3-0 and City College San Francisco loses in the championship game of their tournament. Santa Rosa received all 7 first place votes to capture the top spot. Citrus came in at two as the Owls received 6 first-place votes in the south, with Antelope Valley, winners of the Ventura Tournament, claiming the other first-place vote.

1. Santa Rosa
2. Citrus
3. San Francisco
4. Antelope Valley
5. Diablo Valley
6. Yuba
7. Saddleback
8. Las Positas
9. Hartnell
10. San Bernardino
11. Cuesta
12. Santa Monica
13. Fresno
14. Riverside
15. Cabrillo
16. Chaffey
17. LA Southwest
18. Ohlone
19. Mt. San Jacinto
20. Sacramento City

The latest on Josiah Turner

Matt Norlander check in with a report on Arizona basketball, including this snippet:
"... One last thing -- I did get Miller one-on-one and wanted him to share what his thoughts on recently embattled freshman guard Josiah Turner were. 

Here's what he said:

“Josiah’s moving in the right direction,” he said. “With some players it doesn’t always happen in the first three or four weeks of the year. Where are team’s going to be eight weeks from now, or four weeks from now, will have a lot of similarities. He’s going to learn, like all of our freshmen, how to handle the highs and lows of the game ...”

Will Cherry leads Montana

The Big Sky Basketball Blog reports that Will Cherry busted it out last night against Idaho going for 24 points (9-19 overall shooting, 4-6 on treys) plus 11 rebounds and four assists.

Sac State almost does it

The Hornets went up to Pullman, minus three players, and damn near pulled it off before losing 79-68. On 33 minutes John Dickson totaled 21 points and six boards. Here's more (plus info on the Oregon-Eastern Washington game) from the Big Sky Conference blog.

Dan Wetzel nails it

Yahoo's Dan Wetzel puts to rest eviscerates the myth of coaching deities, that is for the thinking fan and not the fan-atic.

What's interesting is the vast majority of coaches would agree that they are fallible guys and gals just trying to do their best in what are sometimes unfair situations. Yet there are some wish to be treated as oracles and not just in matters of basketball.

Like any other profession.

Oregon over Eastern Washington

Oregon beat Eastern Washington 73-65 last night with Jabari Brown totaling five points (a hard to believe 3-9 on free throws) plus five turnovers in 26 minutes and Collin Chiverton contributing right points in 15 minutes of play (foul trouble).

Wendell McKines versus Drew Gordon

So how did the 'Bay Area battle' go between friends Wendell McKines and Drew Gordon when New Mexico State and New Mexico tangled? We know who got the win -- New Mexico State --  but McKines' numbers (14 points, nine boards) also came out on top compared to Gordon's (two points plus eight rebounds) although foul trouble limited the latter to 21 minutes of court time.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Haysbert remains in California

6-foot-8 Chad Haysbert has changed his mind. He thought the life path he had chosen was the correct one but grew to conclude more appropriate options will be in his future.

So after averaging a team-leading 15 points, seven rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game as a Center High senior and determining Houston Baptist was where he should be next, Haysbert reached the decision to decline the HB offer, enroll at American River College (ARC) and play his freshman year for Coach Mark Giorgi.

 "It was too far away," Haysbert offered. Also, he felt he didn't get the whole picture during his visit there before he initially decided. "But I want to get back in the mix of things."

The good news is that he is eligible to transfer after this season at ARC because he was eligible coming out of high school. There are a number of coaches who should be interested in this timeline.

As for Giorgi's squad, Haybert said, "we have some good talent coming in and it's a matter of bonding. We should do pretty good." One of those players is former Center High teammate Daniel Smith, a 6-foot-3 backcourter.

Sacramento State receiving some press

At his Big Sky Basketball Blog, Jonathan Reed serves up a feature on Coach Brian Katz and his undefeated Sac State Hornets. Both Walter Jackson and John Dickson are averaging 12 points per game.

Jonathan Williams totals 28 points

Former CCSF star Jonathan Williams went for 28 points (3-5 from long distance, 11-15 overall shooting) in a Wagner win over North Carolina Central. Williams is playing for Head Coach Dan Hurley, whose top assistant is Bobby Hurley.

Jared Cunningham goes off for 35

Former San Leandro High star Jared Cunningham must have a thing against Flying Dutchmen because he poured in 35 points in an 82-72 Oregon State victory over Hofstra on Wednesday night. Cunningham shot a very solid 11-16 from the floor and added 12 free throws.

A feature on Trevor Priest

Chico State SID Luke Reid writes about Coach Greg Clink's signing of Santa Teresa High senior Trevor Priest.

Amir Carraway, CCAA POW

Chico State's Amir Carraway has been named the California Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Week.

UC Davis has three new talents

UC Davis formally announced the signing of a point from back east by way of Canada. The Aggies also landed a wing out of Utah as well as Darius Graham out of Sacramento High.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Nelson back on the team

Reeves Nelson has been reinstated but Jeff Goodman is questioning, if not calling out, everyone involved.

CCSF receives a Yahoo season preview

Yahoo's Daniel Benjamin offers a look at City College of San Francisco, the defending state champion.

SanFranPreps' Pre-Season Top 10

SanFranPreps has posted it's Pre-Season Top10 -- check it out.

Chiverton carries Eastern Washington to victory

Collin Chiverton scored 25 points (that's twice in a row) to lead Eastern Washington over North Dakota 70-61.

Host UC Santa Barbara over Santa Clara 89-56

Nobody saw this coming. James Nunnally scored 24 points and Orlando Johnson 21. Niyi Harrison topped the Broncos with 15 points.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

A Gabe Kindred update

Gabe Kindred, who played at Loyola (Illinois) last season after redshirting there the season before due to a broken foot, has resurfaced at Salt Lake City College.

The former Fremont High baller is averaging a team-leading 13.3 points per game (three contests), shooting 59% overall, 43% on threes and a is a perfect 11-11 from the foul line.

An Ohlone College update

In the Jonathan Wallace tournament opening the season, Ohlone grabbed a pair of victories -- 57-56 against Shasta College and 63-50 over San Joaquin delta.

A Chabot College update

Chabot College is 2-1 so far this season, owning an 89-79 win over Travis AFB plus a 79-72 topping of Contra Costa College before falling 79-72 to host Las Positas in the LP Tip-Off Classic.

A Brian Barbour update

Brian Barbour, the former Monte Vista star who is now a junior at Columbia,  receives some press as Columbia's top player goes down with an injury:
"... One of the players whose shoulders the burden of taking over for Agho on offense will be junior guard Brian Barbour. Against Furman Barbour led the team with 16 points, but he shot 6-16 from the field and committed four turnovers, two which came on charges after Agho left the game.
“I was just trying to take what they gave me,” Barbour said. “I went to the basket. I tried to attack the basket a little bit more. … It was part of the game plan after I saw the way they were playing me.”

Wendell and Drew match up Wednesday night

Jason Groves has a blog entry up on Wednesday night's meeting between New Mexico State (Wendell McKines) and New Mexico (Drew Gordon). The latter is coming off a 14 points, 13 rebound, two block game against New Orleans.

Gotta love this headline

Kurt Kragthorpe offers a Damian Lillard feature topped by this headline: "Is Weber State’s Damian Lillard the next Jimmer in Utah?"

Monday, November 14, 2011

Tanner Giddings signs with Fresno State

Windsor High's Tanner Giddings has signed a letter-of-intent with Fresno State, a program building under first-year Coach Rodney Terry. The Bulldogs are heading to the Mountain West Conference next season.

Congrats to Tanner.

Chico State romps

Chico State romped past Academy of Art 83-36 Sunday night. The Wildcats were paced by Damario Sims' team-leading 18 points and seven boards.

Reeves Nelson suspended

Peter Yoon reports that former Modesto Christian High star Reeves Nelson has been suspended by UCLA, length TBD. Stay tuned on this one.

Robert Upshaw, meet Frank Martin

Fresno area big Robert Upshaw has cast his college lot with Coach Frank Martin and Kansas State. We thought it would be Georgetown so toss an egg in our direction. Congrats to Robert.

An impressive return for Sean Harris

Utah State signee Sean Harris put up eight points/11 boards and then 15 points/14 boards in Yuba College's first two games.

A Jonathan Williams update

Former CCSF star Jonathan Williams has one game under his belt for Wagner -- seven points/three rebounds/14 minutes in a win over Princeton, he started but foul trouble limited his court time.

Wagner plays Connecticut next.

Romero-led Yuba top SoCal opponent

Anthony (Rocklin High) Romero exploded for 31 points to lead Yuba College over Mt. San Antonio.

Davis falls to SD State

UC Davis fell to San Diego State 89-74 on Sunday -- here's the details on the Nor Cal talents:

UC Davis

Ryan Sypkens: 19 points, six rebounds, four assists

Josh Ritchart: 13 points, six boards

JT Adenrele: six points, four rebounds

San Diego State

Chase Tapley: 23 pouints, 4-6 from long distance

Xavier Thames: seven points, seven assists

Jeff Eisenberg on Josiah Turner

Jeff Eisenberg writes about Josiah Turner's learning curve at Arizona, including this:
"No coach is worth his salt if you're not playing the players that are really practicing hard and doing what they're supposed to," [Coach Sean] Miller told the Arizona Daily Star. "It's very difficult to build a program and try to do the things that we hope to do when that's not in place.

"It's not like he's a bad kid - he's a great kid. But he's just trying to find his way from where he left high school as a true freshman to the adjustment of being in college, on and off the court."

Caloiaro leads Dons to championship

Former Mitty star Angelo Caloiaro's double-double of 18 points and 10 boards led USF to the Hilltop Challenge championship on Sunday..

Not NorCal related but ...

Here's a very lengthy piece on North Carolina's recruitment of someone named Michael Jordan.

The latest on Elliott Pitts

Philippe Doherty offer a pair of tweets -- here and here -- on DLS's Elliott Pitts.

A Darius Nelson update

Now Darius Nelson doesn't appear on the UTEP roster -- he was listed yesterday. Plus, someone has posted in response to our earlier entry that Darius left the Miner program.

At the Rivals UTEP site, a string is posted on the MB about his having departed.

This is the first post: "According to Phil Johnson [the top assistant] on the post game show, Nelson was upset that he didn't play on Friday and quit."

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Chico State opens with a win

A 21/12 double-double by Amir (Franklin High) Carraway, 13 points by Damario (McClymonds High ) Sims and Sean Parks 12 points plus 13 boards paced Chico State to a season-opening 84-73 victory.

A Yuba College basketball roundup

All of these articles are courtesy of the Appeal-Democrat.

Here's a background article on some of Coach Doug Cornelius' players.

The 49ers took down Porterville to open the season.

Then, it went down to the wire but Santa Rosa City College won 70-68.

MPC finishes third in SJCC tourney

Monterey Peninsula College beat host San Jose City College 72-57 today to finish third in this weekend's tournament. Andrew Young recorded yet another double-double (26 points and 15 rebounds) and Shayne Perryman totaled 12, boosted by a trio of treys.

A Jared Cunningham interview

Oregon State athletics has posted a background article plus an interview with junior Jared Cunningham.

Colin Gruber so far

In three starts so far this season, freshman guard Colin (Harbor High, Santa Cruz County) Gruber has totaled three points, three boards against Louisiana, 14 points (2-3 from long distance) plus four rebounds against USF and eight points alongside two assists against North Dakota State.

A pair of Jason Scheer tweets

Jason Scheer covers Arizona sports for the Wildcat Authority site. Here are two of his latest in-game tweets:
"With Lavender coming in ahead of Turner, it makes you think more is up with Turner"
and
"Miller says Josiah not playing wasn't discipline. It seemed to be more of a message"
Josiah Turner didn't play in tonight's Wildcat victory.

UTEP tops Riverside

Host UTEP beat UC Riverside 52-41 despite Kareem (San Leandro High) Nitoto's 12 points and four rebounds.

Darius (Sheldon High) Nelson has yet to play inthe first two games for the Miners -- don't know if he is injured.

Sac State wins again 75-54

John (Fairfield High) Dickson's 16 points and nine boards paved the way in Sacramento State's win over Central Arkansas. Konner (Placer High) Veteto also scored 16.

A Robert Upshaw update

Fresno area big Robert Upshaw had decided he will announce his college choice on Monday. It's either Georgetown, K State, Louisville or the hometown team.

Are Fresno State fans occupying the Upshaw frontyard?

Yes, a Penn State-related entry

I've hesitated even approaching the subject because seemingly everything that could be intelligently said or written, plus a burgeoning load of self-serving and sanctimonious BS, about the Penn State situation has been offered.

But there's still seems to be an angle worth exploring.

That is, what role did the coaching omerta play -- if any -- in football assistant Mike McQueary not going further in reporting the rape he witnessed (which is wholly different from the more critical question asking why McQueary failed to intervene in a rape in progress?)

The same self-censorship applies against Head Coach Joe Paterno with what McQueary told him?

There's the blue code of silence for police officers in which misbehavior, large or small, is NOT to be reported, or accurately explained. Ostracization, or worse, will result (see Frank Serpico's tragic story). It's the same for the military, corporations, heck, even some families, too.

Plus, coaches also, although this generally is associated with recruiting violations by fellow coaches.

I've had more than one coach unequivocally state he would not report wrongdoing by a fellow (opposing) coach, despite feeling disdain for the actions.

Veering a bit away from the subject but still applicable, an additional factor is that assistants are expected to fall upon their respective swords -- form a protective wall and take any blame -- once a head coach is accused of wrongdoing. The beyond disgusting saga of Dave Bliss' tenure at Southern Methodist is living proof with the situation of Assistant Coach Abar Rouse is telling. From Wikipedia:  
On August 16, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Bliss told players to lie to investigators by indicating that Patrick Dennehy had paid for his tuition by dealing drugs. These conversations were taped on microcassette by assistant coach Abar Rouse from July 30 to August 1. On the tapes, Bliss was heard instructing players to fabricate the story of Dennehy being a drug dealer to the University's investigative committee and also said that talking to the McLennan County, Texas Sheriff's Department would give him the opportunity to "practice" his story. The tapes also showed that Bliss and his staff knew that Dennehy had been threatened by two of their teammates when they publicly denied such knowledge.
Rouse taped the conversations after Bliss threatened to fire him if he did not go along with the scheme.[3]

The revelations shocked the school and the college basketball community. However, despite the potential allegations of extortion, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, no criminal charges were filed against Bliss.

After Baylor, Rouse worked as a graduate assistant coach at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He left the position in October 2007. Rouse has not had another basketball job since leaving Midwestern State University, and has said that he "has been blackballed, labeled a snitch and a turncoat" for taping Bliss' statements.[4] Despite the near-universal revulsion at Bliss' actions, many leading members of the college basketball coaching fraternity considered Rouse's recordings a serious breach of trust (for example, Mike Krzyzewski said that if he ever found out one of his assistants had been secretly taping him, "there's no way he would be on my staff"[4]). Rouse sued his attorney in 2005 for releasing the tapes, claiming that it breached the attorney-client privilege; the suit is still pending.[4]} Rouse's attorney claims she did not know how the tapes got transcribed, but the journalist who published them said he got it from her.[4] Jeff Ray, the Midwestern coach who hired Rouse, commented: "I'm right in the middle of it, don't get me wrong. But sometimes the things you see are pretty disgusting. Why is there this black cloud hanging over him? He did nothing wrong. To me, this is all a testimony to the sad state of affairs of our profession."
Without tapes, Rouse's side of the story would have fallen into the he said/she said abyss and been dismissed.

Does such a fraternal bond in coaching also apply to knowledge of other unethical or even criminal behavior?

Does reporting such depend on the degree of harm done?

Does the fear of banishment from the coaching ranks play a role in the expected implementation of an iron curtain?

+++++

Yes, so much more still needs to be known about the Penn State situation

Such as:

Penn State athletics is a million dollar business. HR departments typically inform new hires, or refresh the memories of all employees from time to time that being asked by a superior or even fellow employee to commit an illegal act, either by commission or omission, or witnessing such must be reported, with implicit promises that no negative repercussions will result by doing so.

McQueary informed his boss.

Is there the expectation that he should have gone around Paterno or further than Paterno -- a flesh-and-blood god in State College, PA -- once it was apparent that either Paterno or his superiors were not going to take appropriate action.

It's worth asking if you or I would have the fortitude to go beyond Joe Paterno if we witnessed what McQueary did? It's easy to get righteous  from our position in the stands but it's important to remember the history of whistleblowers is not a pretty, let alone a rewarding one.

Regarding the 84-year-old Paterno's lack of followup, was there a generational element at play since generally society failed to take sexual abuse seriously until the last couple of decades? Or was it more Paterno's long friendship with accused predator Jerry Sandusky?

It will be critical to determine what Paterno wanted to have take place once he talked to his athletic director because anyone who becomes a living institution can face the dilemma of having too much to lose by having his or her name attached to any sort of vile actions, committed by himself or those on his/her staff.