Friday, May 23, 2014

Eric Duncan (Weston Ranch) Makes It Official with Lassen College



ERIC DUNCAN MAKES IT OFFICIAL WITH LASSEN COLLEGE
In case you were wondering where former Weston Ranch star point guard Eric Duncan was, you can now find him wearing orange and black at Lassen College starting in Fall 2014.  After a pit stop this year at Future College Prep in Los Angeles, Eric has decided on and enrolled in classes at Lassen College for coach Devin Aye’s Cougars.
Duncan is a 6’2” 185 physically chiseled point guard known for his toughness, scoring and basketball IQ.  A four year varsity player, Duncan was honored First Team All Tri-City after his sophomore and junior seasons at McNair High School. Duncan’s senior year at Weston Ranch High School with coach Chris Teevan the team finished 22-11 and shared the Valley Oak League title and made a Nor Cal tournament appearance.  His 16.2 points per game helped him receive First Team Manteca Bulletin All-Area, and an All-State CIF Sac-Juaquin Section nominee.


From Coach Aye, “Eric is exactly what I am looking for in terms of toughness, work ethic, leadership and feel for the game.  He is a winner and comes from great coaching, and a great family.  Lassen just got that much better with the addition of Eric Duncan.  He is a qualifier, and it is our goal to get him a scholarship after his freshman season at Lassen College.” 

According to a September 2012 source at NorCal Preps, Eric Duncan was receiving interest from San Jose State, Boise State, Southern Utah, Hawaii and Fairfield.  Looks like Lassen College will be a real power in 2014-15 with an already super talented group of returners.  Something tells me those NCAA scouts are taking notice and penciling in Lassen College on their recruiting trips this Fall. 

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

DVC's newest additions

Via the DVC Men's Basketball facebook fanpage: :DVC hoops would like to welcome Rico Nuno of Half Moon Bay and Siaan Rojas of Concord to the Viking family ‪#‎vikeme‬ ‪#‎dvchoops‬


Siaan Rojas is a 6'5 guard out of Concord High



Nuno is 6'6 250 and was named MVP of the All-Peninsula Athletic League-North




Chabot's newest addition in the backcourt



Via Cameron Schott
Below is some footage of Omar during his Senior Year of high school.

Darrell Pollee (Yuba) signs with Adam State



Via the Yuba Men's Hoops twitter account:
Adams State is an NCAA Division II program in Colorado that competes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference



Andrew Cones (Los Medanos) headed to Humboldt State



Kevin McCarthy has all the details on Andrew Cones signing with Humboldt State.

Below is some footage of Cones during his campaign at Los Medanos College.


Jo Jo Zamora (Newark Memorial) is headed to Yuba College



From the Twitter account of Yuba Men's Hoops:


Zamora is a 6'2 guard who was at Impact Academy Prep this past year after graduating from Newark Memorial High in Newark, CA.

Click here for some footage from his year at Impact Academy

Anthony Knight (Merritt) commits to Idaho State University



Kevin McCarthy has the scoop on Merritt's Anthony Knight going with Idaho State University.  Click here for all the details.

His numbers at Merritt were impressive.  Leading the way with 16.9 pts, 5.5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.4 steals per game while shooting an impressive 51% from the field (49% from beyond the arc)

Below are some highlights from his freshman season


Sunday, May 18, 2014

Charles Jackson, formerly of Lassen College, signs with Tennessee Tech


charles jackson

Although he transferred from Lassen College after a stellar freshman season  to head to College of Southern Iowa, we still would like to acknowledge Northern California prospect, and LCC big man for signing with NCAA Division I Tennessee Tech.
Below is an excerpt from the CSI webpage:

Charles Jackson has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn. next year.
Jackson transfered from Lassen College and missed the first half of the season with a broken leg. But was key down the stretch for the Golden Eagles playing in 16 games and averaging six points and six rebounds, while shooting 56.5 percent from the field.
"We are really excited about what he brings to the table. He's a California kid and a little bit like Dwan Caldwell in that he's a late developer. He was six-foot-four when he graduated high school and grew six inches in his first year out. He was the leading rebounder in the state of California as a freshman."
Jackson will be joining a Tennessee Tech team that finished the 2013-2014 season 17-16 overall and 9-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference."

Chabot commits for 2014-15



After a deep run in the playoffs to reach the Final Four, Chabot is working hard on acquiring more talent for the 2014-15 campaign.  Below is a list of the most recent additions found on the Chabot Men's Basketball Fan Page:

Updates on some new Gladiators for the upcoming 2014-15 season

Rohit Raj 5'8 PG Fremont Christian Fremont
- MVP of Bay Counties League 2014


Shaun Rodgers 6'7 F Deer Valley Antioch
- Did not play much high school basketball. Completely under the radar. Has potential to be an impact player at the forward position


Yasin Omar 6'2 G Mankato East Mankato
- Big time shooter. Holds city record for nine 3 pointers in a single game

Cosumnes River commits for 2014-15


The CRC Hawks are working hard this Spring to load up their roster for the upcoming 2014-15 season.
So far their roster consists of:
2014-15 COSUMNES RIVER HAWKS MEN'S BASKETBALL FRESHMEN (as of 5/6/2014)
Name
Pos.
Ht.
Wt.
Yr.
Hometown/High School
Elijah Calloway
G
6-2
170
Fr.
Sacramento, Calif./Valley
Kenneth Daye
G
6-1
175
Fr.
Tracy, Calif./Merrill West
F
6-9
210
RFr.
Stockton, Calif./Weston Ranch
F
6-11
190
GFr.
Antelope, Calif./Center
Phil Morgan
G
6-4
180
Fr.
Sacramento, Calif./Natomas
Tyquan Neal
F
6-6
220
Fr.
Madera, Calif./Edison
Daylon Potts
G
6-5
180
Fr.
Fresno, Calif./Edison

Benson Osayande signs with National Juco, Casper



Casper College has signed another top Northern California recruit. This time it is Benson Osayande out of Franklin High in Sacramento.
From the Casper website:
"Head Coach Dan Russell is pleased to announce that Benson Osayande from Sacramento, California has signed his national letter of intent to play basketball at Casper College next season. The 6’8” athletic forward led his team to a 20-9 overall record in high school at Franklin high school while averaging 10 points per game, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks a contest. 

The explosive athlete coming via the west coast is really long and plays very hard. Osayande is currently 210 pounds and his skills set is still being polished but his length, seven-foot wing span and high motor creates major problems for opposing teams. There is no doubt that the T-Birds have picked up a good one in the big man from northern California.  

“Benson has long arms, seven-foot wing span and high motor.” Said head coach Dan Russell. “Benson has a chance to be a very successful forward at the Junior College level. He does some things defensively really well that you can’t teach. He is very competitive and has the ability to rebound and block shots at a high level.” Russell went on to say that Benson’s best basketball was going to be ahead of him. 

In the early stages of Benson’s recruitment he was being recruited by Nevada, Cal Poly, Denver, Weber State, and Colorado State. The Casper College coaching staff is very excited about the future of Benson Osayande being a T-Bird!"

David Andoh (Merritt College) heads to Liberty

Kevin McCarthy reports that David Andoh, who transferred to Merritt College from San Jose State after his freshman season, is now headed to Liberty (NCAA DI).
Full article here

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Garrick Wilson (Lassen 12'-13') signs with NCAA program Benedict College




Garrick Wilson, a star on the 2012-13 Golden Valley Conference men’s basketball championship team has narrowed his long list of suitors down to one and committed on a full athletic scholarship to Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.  Garrick came all the way out to California from Kingstree, South Carolina to compete for coach Aye’s Lassen Cougars.  He will be going back home to complete his education and basketball career.  Benedict is a historically black university and is an NCAA II program competing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference where they finished with an overall record of 17-11 this past season.
Garrick was awarded All-Conference, as well as All-Defensive Team in the Golden Valley Conference while putting up stats of 9.5 points and 5 rebounds per game.  From coach Aye, “Garrick’s come along maybe once in a coaching career.  He was an unbelievable young man who never complained, worked harder than everyone and is incredibly coachable.  He soaked up everything like a sponge and improved dramatically during his time at Lassen College.  I loved this kid and Benedict College got an incredible basketball player, student and young man in Garrick Wilson.”  Garrick is most remembered for his high flying acrobatic dunks while wearing orange and black.  “An undersized overachiever who was fearless at attacking the basket in transition”, says coach Aye. 

Garrick Wilson joins Marshawn McMahan, Devin Bey, Justin McBride and Charles Jackson from the 2012-13 LCC basketball team to accept a full scholarship to universities.

Jermaine Edmonds Jr (DVC) signs with Montana




- Jermaine Edmonds was a standout guard during his tenure at Salesian.  Overlooked as qualifier out of high school he went on to have a stellar freshman campaign with Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill.  After his freshman year he is no longer overlooked, as he signed with NCAA Division I program, the University of Montana out of the Big Sky Conference.

Below is an excerpt from the Official Athletic at UM.

"University of Montana men's basketball head coach Wayne Tinkle has signed a top-notch junior college player who will join the Grizzly basketball program for the 2014-15 season, the mentor announced Thursday.
Montana's new addition is guard Jermaine Edmonds Jr. from Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Calif.
"We purposely held a couple of scholarships for the spring just so that we could do more evaluating of the guys we were involved in," said Tinkle, who is second in school history with 158 wins in eight seasons at his alma mater. We are thrilled about our two latest additions."
Edmonds Jr. will join center Bryden Boehning (pronounced: Bay-ning), a 6-foot-10, 230-pound center from Dawson County High School in Glendive, who signed an early National Letter of Intent to play for the Grizzlies last November.
This past season the 6-5, 200-pound Edmonds Jr. averaged 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.6 assists as a freshman for long-time DVC head coach Steve Coccimiglio. He shot 47.0% from the floor and 40.5% from three-point range.
Also an outstanding prep player, Edmonds Jr. was a high school teammate of Griz starting point guard Mario Dunn at Salesian High School in Richmond, Calif. Those two were pivotal members of Salesian's California Division 1V state championship team in 2012, as well as the No. 1-ranked, 30-4 team in Northern California in 2012-13.
"Jermaine in an athletic guard who can really be an explosive scorer," Tinkle said. "He has good court vision, and is just a very talented and versatile player that we are adding to the program. He played with Mario Dunn and Salesian High School, so we are very familiar with him. He has three years to play for us, which is unique and positive. He's a great kid and will be a big addition to the program.
"He (Edmonds Jr.) can play the one, two, or the three," Tinkle continued. "He can really handle the ball; he can shoot it; he can drive and finish; and he's a really good passer. We will work with him defensively and show him that he can be a dominate player on that end as well.
"He will bring some scoring punch to our roster, and he played in a competitive league in California," Tinkle said. "Folks might remember (former Griz starting forward) Dan Trammel and (a former starting center at UM) Brent Smith who came from Diablo Valley and played for the same coach (Coccimiglio). He comes from a big-time program and he's tested, and will have a little more ready than a player coming in from high school."
"When I was on my visit I really liked the players and coaches, and that was a big thing getting to know them," said Edmonds Jr. Via a phone interview today. "Chemistry with my teammates on and off the court is a very important thing to me.
"I am really looking forward to playing with Mario again," said Edmonds Jr., who played both two guard and small forward in high school. "I played against Mario back when we were in the fourth grade, and then we started playing together in high school. To be able to play with him again will be a lot of fun. My goal at Montana is to help my team win two or three Big Sky championships and get to the NCAA tournament."

Ending Coach K's sabbatical


-With my first year posting my basketball blog I have to say it is a bit overwhelming at times to try and keep up with material.  After a month sabbatical, following SRJC winning the State Championship, I find myself rested and ready to report on things related to Norcal Prep & Juco Basketball.   Will be posting as much info as I can on NorCal Juco players moving on, as well as new commitments to NorCal Juco programs for the upcoming season.