SoCalHoops High School News

5th Annual Nike Dream Classic Set
For MLK Weekend--(Jan. 8, 1999)

What:  5th Annual Nike Dream Classic
When:  Monday, January 18, 1999
Where:  UCLA's Pauley Pavilion
How Much: $8 for adults, $6 for students
Who:

9:30 a.m.        Redondo Union v. Inglewood
11:10 a.m.      Verbum Dei v. Long Beach Jordan    
12:50 p.m.      Simi Valley v. Fairfax
2:30 p.m.       Long Beach Poly v. Manual Arts
4:10 p.m.        Glendora v. Capistrano Valley
6:00 p.m.        Dominguez v. Mater Dei
8:00 p.m.       Compton v. Crenshaw

This is the second of the two big Martin Luther King Jr., weekend events, (along with the adidas-Double Pump Hoop Challenge at Cal State Dominguez Hills) and the 5th Annual Nike Dream Classic (formerly known as the Nike MLK Holiday Challenge) will again be held Monday, January 18, 1999 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.

We were at last year's event, and it was one of the best days of solid hoops action we've seen anywhere.  Last year there were close to 8,500 people packed into Pauley including college coaches, fans and media, especially for the big game last year which was the matchup between host school Dominguez and eventual State Champion Westchester.  By the way, iIf you're interested in revisiting those games, we've got a full recap in our archives.  Click here for the 4th Annual MLK Challenge articles. 

This year, Dominguez will go up against Mater Dei for the second time in two months. These two great teams played in Las Vegas at the Reebok Holiday Prep Classic in December for 7th and 8th places,  and in one of the best and closest games of the year, Mater Dei won it at the buzzer on a three-point shot by Imran Sufi.   You can bet that Dominguez isn't going to want to let that happen again.  We have several reviews of that game, and if you're interested in the details, try here.

For those who don't know, we've already published complete previews of all of these teams (well, except for Verbum Dei, and that really had more to do with not being able to connect with Coach Greenwood prior to the start of the season) and they're here online at SoCalHoops. We've placed links to each of them above in the schedule, so if you want more in-depth information check out the team previews.  Of course, if you want complete and up-to-date information, use our search engine, or check the Daily Articles for more recent stuff.

We'll be doing a complete analysis of the matchups, much as we did with the adidas Double Pump Hoop Challenge, and in fact, several of the teams (e.g., Verbum Dei, Long Beach Jordan, Long Beach Poly, Simi Valley, Fairfax, and Redondo v. Inglewood) are also playing in the Saturday adidas-Double Pump event, so you can read about their matchups here.    In fact, the Redondo v. Inglewood game is a repeat matchup of two teams playing back-to-back league games in both of these events, so expect a big-time rivalry and a possible showdown for the league title in both games.

And since we're not feeling especially creative at the moment, and a bit pressed for time, here's what Dinos Trigonis' Fullcourt Press Newsletter (Vol. 1, No. 1, Dec. 1998) had to say about the matchups:

This  year's event will have seven outstanding games including the regular season matchup of the year: Dominguez v. Mater Dei .   These two high schools have been (along with Crenshaw) the dominant high school programs in the 90's.

Other great mathcupsd include perennial power Crenshaw,   led by junior point guard E.J. Harris and a front line that averages over 6'-8", versus 1998 CIF II-AA fihnalist Compton and Southern California's top point guard Tito Maddox and National Top 50 junior Ellis Myles.

1998 CIF I-A champ Glendora led by Stanford-signee Casey Jacobsen, a likely McDonald's All-American selection and UC Riverside-signee Chris Clark take on Capistrano Valley, featuring the inside-outside combo of Nate Hair (USC-signee) and J.J. Sola (LMU-signee and the top scorer in Orange County last season. 

1998 CIF I-AA finalist Long Beach Poly sparked by the top junior point guard in Southern California, 5'-10" Wesley Stokes battles 1998 LA-City Finalist Manual Arts and its three college signees, Johnny Hardwick (Texas A&M), Brandon Moorer (Texas A&M), and James Wright (Long Beach State).

Another outstanding game is Fairfax led by the top player in the LA-City CIF section 6'-5" senior Joe Shipp, pitted against a strong Simi Valley squad anchored by New Mexico-bound 6'-9" Sr. Rafael Berumen. 

Long Beach Jordan, led by national Top 25 junior 6'-8" Travon Bryant [and Craig Calloway, CSUN signee, and 6'-0" point guard Darren Peterson], will challenge 1998 CIF Divsion IV state champions Verbum Dei coached by former UCLA great David Greenwood [and also featuring one of the top forwards in the region, UNLV-signee 6'-8" Dalron Johnson, and one of the top point guards in California, Marlon Parmer].

Finally, 1998 CIF IIA finalist Redondo Unino sparked by national Top 25 junior Andrew Zahn will battle a solid Inglewood suad that returns 4 starters [Skip Esene, Noel Felix, Marvin Issacs, Brian Taylor], from last year's team.

And as Dinos also reminds us, the Nike Dream Classic is one of the top single day basketball events in the country, and has in prior years showcased some of the top SoCal teams and players of the 1990's.  Players who have played in the event in years past, are Paul Pierce (Kansas/Boston Celtics), Corey Benjamin (Oregon State/Chicago Bulls), Baron Davis (UCLA), Tayshaun Prince (Kentucky), Jason Thomas (USC), Jarron and Jason Collins (Stanford), Jason Hart (Syracuse), Tony Bland (Syracuse), Donte Quinine (Oregon), Billy Knight (UCLA), Ricky Anderson (Arizona), Erron Maxey (Providence) Tommie Prince (Pepperdine), Ruben Douglas (Arizona), Dino Tanner (Oregon State), Jeff Trepagnier (USC), Solomon Hughes (Cal), David Hamilton (Auburn), and Deandre Moore (Vanderbilt).   These and many other D-I college players have showcased their skills for huge crowds  at the MLK Challenge, now the Dream Classic.

As in prior years, the seating for the Dream Classic will be non-reserved seating. Get there early to insure a good seat. See you there.

P.S.  If you want a copy of the Fullcourt Press Newsletter, you can contact Dinos at  3104 Threesa Street, #1, Long Beach California 90814, or you can call (562) 984-8355 or (310) 669-2307.  Subscriptions are $25.00 for the "general public" newsletter, and $75.00 for the full college edition, with more in-depth information. 

©Copyright 1998 All rights reserved
Questions? Comments? Need Information?
Contact: jegesq@SoCalHoops.com