Mike Lorente hired at Del Oro High

Bill Paterson of the Sacramento Bee is reporting that Del Oro High has hired Mike Lorente as its new boys basketball coach -- go here.

The latest Remi Barry update

Remi Barry has signed with New Mexico State but is still awaiting academic clearance from the NCAA -- a "Waiting For Godot" -like process which might prohibit him from playing this coming season.

Barry headed to New Mexico State
Del Oro grad had been pursued by UCLA, St. John's and other college hoops powers
Joshua Ansley
Auburn Journal
8-25-2010

Highly recruited basketball star Remi Barry told the Auburn Journal Tuesday he has committed to New Mexico State University.

The 6-7, 200 pound forward from France graduated from Del Oro High last spring and was rated the 28th best high school prospect in the country by ESPN while playing at American Heritage high school in Florida in 2008-09.

He was unable to play for the Golden Eagles after the California Interscholastic Federation would not grant him eligibility. CIF maintained that Barry transferred to Del Oro from Florida for athletic reasons.

Barry’s decision to play for New Mexico State comes as a bit of shock. He was being recruited heavily by basketball powers such as St. John's, UCLA, Washington, Cal, and Colorado to name a few. Barry contends New Mexico State was just a better fit for him...

Go here for the remainder.

More on Remi Barry

Barry attracts scouts now that he's on court, not in it
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
July 8, 2010

Remi Barry is making up for lost time.

Denied a chance to play basketball at Del Oro High School last season, the 6-foot-7, 210-pound French national has been the focus of frenzied Internet college recruiting buzz and an impact player on the Amateur Athletic Union basketball circuit this spring and summer.

Barry did not play his senior season for the Golden Eagles after the CIF ruled that his transfer last August from a private school in Florida to Loomis, via France, was athletically motivated...

Go here for the remainder.

Remi Barry is back on the court

Remi Barry's story has been covered very well by both the Sacramento Bee and Auburn Journal. Here's a good article from the Bee. Here's a lengthy background piece from the Journal.

Now he is getting back on the court as club team basketball is warming up:

Barry Makes Local Basketball Debut
Christian Hendricks - chendricks@cifwatchdog.com
Auburn Journal
3/18/2010

LOOMIS, California - Remi Barry, the French national transfer student denied eligibility to play high school basketball by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), will finally hit the floor Saturday when the YBA Dawgs open up the Spring AAU competitive basketball season at Hardwood Palace in Rocklin. The 6’7” Del Oro High School transfer student will play alongside a lineup of Sierra Foothills League (SFL) star players from Nevada Union, Rocklin, Granite Bay and Del Oro. Also included on the roster is 6’9” Yuba City star Zack Nelson. Other key players from Colfax and Vista Del Lago are likely to join the squad...

Go here for the remainder.

Center High tops Del Oro

Center High is continuing its march for more respect:

Cougars hope victories quiet their doubters
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
February 27, 2010

Center High School stars Connor Haysbert and Elliot Herald know they have a lot to prove.

There are plenty who are skeptical of who they have played and if they are truly deserving of being The Bee's top-ranked team. They also understand why they got a No. 6 seed in the 16-team Sac-Joaquin Section Division III field, even though they don't agree with it.

Center may have won over some of the doubters Friday night in Loomis...

Go here for the remainder.

It's the end of the line for Remi Barry

The court says it's over and the season is drawing to a close for Remi Barry:

Del Oro player loses legal bid to join basketball team
Sacramento Bee
Feruary. 10, 2010

A Placer County judge rejected today a request by Del Oro High School transfer student Remi Barry to set aside another judge's ruling denying the French native a stay of a California Interscholastic Federation decision that found him ineligible for violating its bylaws...

Go here for the remainder.

The story behind the story

We certainly don't know the truth from the fiction here but the following article at least indicates what we have always believed: there's the story and then there's the story behind the story.

Battle blocks hoop dreams
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
January 26, 2010

Remi Barry is an 18-year-old transfer student from Florida who, in his short time as a senior at Del Oro High School, has become a popular figure on the Loomis campus.

But the gregarious 6-foot-7 French national finds himself enmeshed in an ongoing battle with the California Interscholastic Federation. A CIF appeals panel on Monday upheld an earlier ineligibility ruling.

Now Barry may never suit up for the team at his new school, which he has come to adore.

"It's killing me watching my family, my brothers, playing basketball without me," said Barry, who is on a student visa. "I'm not a bad kid. I'm just trying to live in a better place."

Sac-Joaquin Section commissioner Pete Saco ruled Nov. 24 that Barry was ineligible because his move from a powerhouse south Florida private school was athletically motivated and "avoidable," thus violating several CIF bylaws...

Go here for the remainder.

Spencer Butterfield explodes

Figuratively, not literally.

Top-ranked Sheldon beats Del Oro, but Golden Eagles' Butterfield has game to remember
Bill Paterson
Sacramento Bee
January 17, 2009

It isn't often that top-ranked Sheldon's mega-talented Darius Nelson and Ramon Eaton are overshadowed on the basketball court.

Even though they played big roles in beating No. 14 Del Oro 74-65 Saturday night in the marquee event of the day-long, seven-game Common Good Classic in Loomis, they had to take a back seat to the Golden Eagles' Spencer Butterfield.

The 6-foot-3 senior guard scored 34 points and, if not for some second-half foul trouble, he might have had a lot more...

Go here for the remainder.