Cal-Hi Sports on Mr. Basketball

Cal-Hi Sports has seven finalists for Mr. Basketball in California -- Rodney Bobbitt and Darius Nelson are the sole candidates from NorCal. 

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Joe Nocera, who usually covers economic matters for the New York Times, doesn't understand the logic -- or lack thereof -- displayed by the NCAA.

We don't mean to be glib but Joe has plenty of knowledge and experience in the real world -- it's he who has the gold, rules.

Mitch Stephens' all stars

Here are Mitch Stephens' first, second and third All-Bay Area teams, plus his honorable mentions.

Wishing the best to Steve Lavin

Here's hoping Bay Area native Steve Lavin has a speedy recovery -- head here.

An update on Diablo Valley College basketball

Spoke with DVC Coach Steve Coccimiglio yesterday in order to get an update on where his sophomores are heading. The Vikings are coming off a very successful Big 8 Conference winning 13-1/26-5 season and four players are moving on.

* 6-foot-1 sophomore Jordan (De La Salle High) Estrada is moving up to Sacramento State

* 6-foot-3 freshman Khufu (Berkeley High) Najee signed a letter-of-intent last November with San Jose State

* 6-foot-7 sophomore Zach (De La Salle High) Payne is probably going to Whitworth College in Washington but the Whitworth coach just accepted the Eastern Washington head coaching position so Payne's situation isn't definite.

* 6-foot-8 sophomore Louis (Fremont High - Oakland) Lowe hasn't decided as yet but will choose among a number of D-2 schools.

A pair of freshmen, 5-10 Brian Goins and 6-foot-8 Rafael Carter are returning. Goins was named the league's most valuable player while Carter nabbed a Big 8 Conference First Team spot.

Goins already has numerous high level colleges very interested. He didn't play ball in high school but was noticed by a former DVC player in city league ball and was told to take his talents to Diablo Valley College. He did and it's already been a fruitful marriage. The young man averaged 19.4 points, four assists and three rebounds a game, shooting 49% overall, 40% from three-point range and 85% at the foul line on 167 free throw attempts.

A native of Ohio, Carter came out west due to interest from Nevada's basketball program and Coccimiglio said that Reno will likely be Carter's next destination. He averaged 8.6 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots per contest while shooting 56% from the field.

Two vets are coming back to coach

Ben Enos reports that Mark DeLuca is the new boys basketball coach at DeAnza High.

Joe Davidson has the scoop on Terry Battenberg returning to the coaching ranks, this time at Capital Christian High.

An Orlando Johnson update

Former Palma High star and current UC Santa Barbara player Orlando Johnson has declared for the NBA draft but with the proviso of not hiring an agent, meaning he can return to the Gauchos if he decides to pull his name out from consideration.

Head here for the school announcement.

April 6 -- your northern California high school basketball report

Bob Padecky has a must-read college on the world of college sports recruiting as explained by Josh Sterling.

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Now former Pacific backcourter Allen Huddleston's departure from Stockton and his future possibilities are covered in an article by Sean Lynch.

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The New England Recruiting Report has the details of Ryan Isono of Head-Royce and his college choice -- quite the academic plum.

April 5 -- your northern California prep basketball roundup

Mitch Stephens has posted his all - Bay Area regional honorees and it's difficult to argue with his selections.

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Bonta Hill reports that Coach John DeBenedetti is departing from his SI coaching duties.

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Jeremy Russotti and John Nagle are offering basketball skills training at Solano College.

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Former De La Salle backcourter Jose Rivera and Merced High star guard Allen Huddleston are departing from Pacific.

Colin Gruber selected as a Parade AA

Was looking at the announcement this weekend of the Parade All-America team and noticed four southern California prepsters on the list and but one from northern California. The pick: Colin Gruber out of Harbor High in Santa Cruz.

Adrian Oliver to play in Portsmouth Invitational

Former Modesto Christian High and San Jose State star Adrian Oliver has been selected to play in the upcoming Portsmouth Invitational -- go here (he is on the second team listed).

AO also recently clelbrated a birthday so a double congrats goes out to him:

"Warriors game in my agents suite for my surprise birthday party with all my family here. Thank you Aaron Goodwin"

The SanFranPreps All-City teams, COY and POY

Jeremy Balan presents the SanFranPreps All-City squads, plus the Coach and Player of the Year.

Inside Bay Area East Bay basketball honorees

The Inside Bay Area folks have published their East Bay high school basketball honorees.

Coach of the Year

Player of the Year

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

April 2 -- your northern California high school basketball report

John Dugan reports on Reed Nottingham leaving Novato High's coaching ranks for a position at San Francisco State.

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Bill Paterson features Darrell Polee as well as an all-star game tonight up in the Sacramento area.

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Per Jeff Goodman, former Palma High now UC Santa Barbara star Orlando Johnson is checking out his NBA interest:

"UC Santa Barbara junior guard Orlando Johnson has declared for the NBA Draft; has not hired an agent"

The Sacramento Bee has made its selections

Darius Nelson is the Sac Bee's Boys Player of the year.

Here's the First Team, Second Team, Third Team, Honorable Mentions and Coach of the year up Sacto way, per Bill Paterson and Joe Davidson.

Allen Huddleston leaving Pacific

We has no idea where he is headed but sophomore backcourter Allen Huddleston is departing from Pacific. He averaged 11.1 points per game this past season, shooting 42% overall, 40% on 149 three-point attempts. The 6-foot-2 Huddleston's 42/45 assist-to-turnover ratio indicates he's much more a two guard than point. He's very quick and athletic and a native of Merced, CA. Huddleston averaged over 31 points per game as a high school senior.