The latest on Rocklin's Remi Barry

Here you go:

Remi Barry to Decide in June
Zag's Blog
May 25, 2010

Remi Barry plans to visit St. John’s and Arizona State and then make a decision between those two programs and UCLA sometime in June.

The 6-foot-7 Barry said he will visit St. John’s and Arizona State “most likely the second week of June...”

Go here for the remainder.

Xavier Thames to San Diego State

Earlier, we noted reading that D.J. Seeley, a former Cal shooting guard, was reported as heading to San Diego State. However, there has been no official confirmation of that so such a move remains to be seen.

Now, Foxsports is reporting that Xavier Thames, a Washington State transfer, has decided to become an Aztec. Here is an article from May 18 by Mark Ziegler/San Diego Union-Tribune on the signing of the point guard.

2010 signee LaBradford Franklin, a 6-foot-2 prep backcourter known primarily as a point, also recently signed with SDSU.

Plus, shooting guard Chase Tapley just completed his freshman year in San Diego. Additionally, 6-foot-5 shooter James Rahon (Santa Clara) is coming off a redshirt season and will be a sophomore in 2010-2011.

Robert Sallie to continue his travels

Former Sacramento area star basketballer Robert Sallie is headed to yet another address for his final year of eligibility or in moving on to play-for-pay:

From the May 20 Winston-Salem Journal:

Memphis guard Roburt Sallie plans to play elsewhere after he receives his degree in August.

Sallie, a junior, will have one season of eligibility remaining after playing with the Tigers the past two seasons and at City College of San Francisco as a freshman.

The team said Tuesday that Sallie plans to either spend his final year of eligibility at a college closer to his Sacramento, Calif., home or forgo the season to pursue professional basketball overseas.

He set the school's single-game record for 3s made with 10 in a come-from-behind win against Cal State Northridge in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

D.J. Seeley to...

Word on the street (isn't that a great phrase for providing cover-thy-behind deniability) has former Cal backcourter D.J. Seeley heading to Coach Steve Fisher and San Diego State. Let's see if that turns out to be the truth.

Leslie Smith to Lafayette

Former Marin Catholic High backcourter Leslie Smith will be attending college and playing basketball at Lafayette. Go here for the school announcement.

Charles Standifer to USF

Rivals' Eric Bossi is reporting that former Capitol Christian and Woodcreek High star Charles Standifer has signed on with Coach Rex Walters and USF. Go here.

Here's Standifer doing his Phi Slamma Jama imitation. Here is more of a game highlight film.

Cody Kale to CSU Bakersfield

Rocklin High backcourter Cody Kale is headed to D-1 basketball as a Roadrunner:

Cal State Bakersfield coach pleased to land Rocklin's Kale
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
May 14, 2010

The Cal State Bakersfield men's basketball team added size and versatility to its backcourt with the signing of Rocklin High School senior guard Cody Kale, Roadrunners coach Keith Brown announced earlier today in a press release...

Go here for the remainder.

A feature on Jeremy Russotti

Jeremy Russotti is on the cusp of going national -- publicly. He is already there in prominent basketball circles:

Shot-perfecting invention fits like a glove
Phil Barber
Santa Rosa Press-Democrat
May 10, 2010

A piece of technology can never substitute for good coaching. But it sure can help, which is why Jeremy Russotti invented the J-Glove, a basketball shooting aid that he believes can be the next big thing in sporting goods.

After four years of coaching high school varsity hoops at Casa Grande and four coaching JV at Analy, Russotti noticed that the vast majority of missed shots could be explained by a few biomechanical flaws. Young players tended to palm the ball and “shot-put” it, or flex their index fingers prematurely, causing the ball to hook to the left (for right-handed shooters), or flex their ring fingers, causing it to slice the other way.

Years of lecturing got Russotti a hoarse throat and not much more. The kids understood what he was saying. They just couldn’t convert his words into action on a consistent basis, except for the occasional prodigy like Josh Akognon or Angelo Tsagarakis. He started taping his players’ fingers to splints, but the process took too long and wasn’t functional for even basic dribbling and passing...  

Go here for the remainder..

Keenan Prince says aloha

Here is another norcal prepster who sharpened his game in the community college ranks and is now moving on:

Prince signs with Hawaii-Pacific
Ryan Klocke/Appeal-Democrat
May 12, 2010

The baby picture is tucked away in the garage, next to the arcade basketball game, across from the sea of NBA memorabilia and shrine to his father's playing days at Yuba College...

Go here for the remainder.

Bill Paterson quotes NorCalPreps article

Bill Paterson salutes the Sacto area boy basketballers included in the NorCalPreps 2011 Top 40 class. Go here.

More on Remi Barry

Here's an update on Remi Barry:

St. John's in mix for French star Barry
At 6-foot-7, recruit also considering UCLA, Arizona State
Adam Zagoria
SNY.tv
5/11/2010

Having already landed Los Angeles senior wing Dwayne Polee, St. John's now appears to be in the mix for another highly touted recruit from California.

Remi Barry, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound native of France with NBA potential, is considering the Johnnies along with UCLA and Arizona State.

Doc Haynes, Barry's AAU coach with the YBA Dawgs, says UConn and Wake Forest have also expressed interest, but St. John's is the leader...

Go here for the remainder.

An insightful feature by Alan Stein

We are amazed sometimes -- positively and negatively -- by the actions -- on and off the court -- of some basketball prospects. This includes Twiiter postings, MySpace pages and the like.

Read the following and ask yourself where your decisions and behavior fits along the spectrum:

Brand You 2.0
Alan Stein
April 29, 2010

I have been writing my weekly blog for well over two years now. I created my blog as a means to consistently provide my experience and expertise on proper basketball strength & conditioning. That quickly morphed into sharing insights and perspectives on issues and topics that would have a positive impact on the lives of players and coaches off the court as well. Very rarely have I “recycled” older posts. I like my material to be new and fresh. But this week is an exception.  I dusted off a blog I wrote exactly one year ago.  I didn’t do this out of laziness. I did it because of how strongly I believe in the message. Players, I hope you read this carefully. Coaches, I hope you share it with your players. I made several updates to the original post.  So, without further adieu, here is Brand You 2.0!

What are your favorite brands?

Nike? Apple? Facebook? BMW? Vitamin Water?
 
What traits come to mind when you think about your favorite brands?

Elite? Durable? Stylish? Performance? Quality?
 
Do you consider people to be brands? Well they are! The most obvious is Michael Jordan (heck, his company is called the Jordan Brand). What about Donald Trump, Jay-Z, and LeBron James? Do you consider them brands? I certainly do. Why? Because the characteristics that come to mind when you think of them as individuals are automatically associated with the product they endorse. Make sense? You won’t see Donald Trump endorsing Wrangler Jeans.
 
If you want to be successful, both on and off the court, you need to start viewing yourself as a brand as well. Think of it as “brand you.” Everything you do affects your brand in some way (either positively or negatively). The way you dress, the way you act, and even the way you play.  You need to take your brand very seriously if you want to make it to the top. And just to clarify, I believe in being authentic. I am not telling you to act like someone else or to try to please others just for the sake of it.  You need to be real. You need to be genuine. You need to believe in your own brand, and equally important, set the standards of your brand. You need to decide what characteristics you find most important and then live up to them every day of your life...

Go here for the remainder.

Go here to find out about Alan Stein.

MaxPreps' 2011 National 100

The latest Maxpreps list is out -- this one on the 2011 Top 100 nationally -- go here.

Here are the northern Californiai selections:

26. Jabari Brown
Oakland (CA) G, W 6-3/205       
Started the year at Findlay Prep before transferring to Oakland (Calif.), where he scored 23.5 points per game.

31. Josiah Turner
Sacramento (CA) G 6-3/180       
Former Arizona State verbal commitment dropped in 27.9 points per game to go along with 5.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, helping Dragons to 26-7 record.

77. Darius Nelson
Sheldon (Sacramento, CA) W, F 6-6/225       
Defines "tweener" but has been incredibly productive at Sheldon since his freshman season, posting 24.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game as a junior.

The Family Armstead

Joe Davidson has a report of the Family Armstead:

Armstead brothers are big boys with bright football futures
Joe Davidson
Sacramento Bee
May. 4, 2010

It's a great time to be an Armstead.

Armond Armstead just finished a spring football session with USC that left Trojans coach Lane Kiffin to mutter to reporters that his 6-foot-6, 295-pound menacing defensive end had a "phenomenal camp..."

Go here for the remainder. 

Robby Rowland is a baseballer too

Besides playing basketball for Cloverdale High and the Bay Area Hoosiers, Robby Rowland is quite the pitcher -- one who just might end up in the major leagues. He recently accomplished a perfect game.

Cloverdale's Rowland pitches perfect game
Eric Branch
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
April 15, 2010

The kid with the perfect ERA now has a perfect game to accompany it.

Cloverdale senior Robby Rowland added to his laundry list of athletic accomplishments Wednesday by tossing a perfect game in a 2-0 win at Clear Lake.

Rowland, a 6-foot-6 right-hander who has signed with Oregon, struck out 13 and needed just 71 pitches — 53 strikes — to record the first perfect game of his career.

Rowland, who is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA, has thrown 27 scoreless innings this season — allowing four walks, nine hits (all singles) and striking out 49. Avenal's Jerry Jordan (1970) owns the state record for most consecutive scoreless innings with 59...

Go here for the remainder.

Updates on various Sacramento area basketballers

Some of this information was already known but there are still plenty of new items:

Recruiting roundup: Del Oro's Barry creating a stir among high-profile college programs
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
April 30, 2010

It may be spring sports season but this is the hot an heavy time for high school basketball and football recruiting.

One of the biggest area stories is that of Remi Barry, the international student from France via Florida who was not allowed by the CIF to play basketball this past season at Del Oro High School...

Go here for the remainder.