SoCalHoops High School News

Nike Extravaganza IV Reminder:
One Week & Counting--(Jan 29, 1999)

The Nike Extravaganza IV will be held Saturday, February 6, 1999 at Cal State Fullerton. Following on the heels of the adidas SoCal Basketball Classic (formerly the Poly-Artesia Classic), and less than a month after the Nike Dream Classic and the adidas Double Pump Hoop Challenge, these four events are quickly becoming the top showcase in-season events in SoCal.

Last year the Extravaganza was hosted by Mater Dei (as it will be this year) at the Bren Events Center at UC Irvine and it was a tremendous success, with Dominguez and Oak Hill matching up for one of the most exciting games of the year. This year, the two teams will meet for the second time, and even though they had a chance to see each other play in Vegas at the Reebok Holiday Prep Classic, the anticipated matchup never materialized because Dominguez got flattened by a truck known as Saint Ignatius from San Francisco.

This year, the Nike Extravaganza has moved to Cal State Fullerton.  Now Fullerton doesn't have the seating capacity of the Bren Center, but they just remodeled and it's very nice.  Fullerton has put in theater style seats which has reduced the number of available seats, and they tell us there are approximately 3000 seats, so it would be a good idea to get there early.

Tickets are now on sale at Mater Dei, the corner of Bristol & Edinger in Santa Ana. All morning session seats are $8; Evening session tickets are $8 General Admission, $10 for seats behind the baskets, and $12 for Reserved seating along the sidelines

The schedule for the Nike Extravaganza is:

Morning Session:
10:00 a.m. Tustin vs. Upland
11:30 a.m. Santa Margarita vs. Servite
1:00 p.m. Long Beach Poly vs. Villa Park
2:30 p.m. Crenshaw vs. Ocean View

Evening Session:
4:30 p.m. Artesia vs. Capistrano Valley
6:00 p.m. Glendora vs. Troy
7:30 p.m. Bishop O'Dowd vs. Mater Dei
9:00 p.m. Oak Hill vs. Dominguez

This event will feature some of the top players in SoCal and many of the West Coast's top college prospects, both signed and unsigned, including Steve Hamilton, Desmond Penigar, Matt Santos (Upland); Spencer Gloger (Santa Margarita); Wesley Stokes (Long Beach Poly); Alex Will (Villa Park); Armand Thomas, E.J. Harris, Tommie Johnson (Crenshaw); Spencer Gloger (Ocean View); Jason Kapono, Apolinar Fernandez, Jack Martinez (Artesia); Nate Hair, J.J. Sola, Mike Stowell (Capo Valley), Tony Champion (Bishop O'Dowd), Derrick Mansell, Steve Scoggin, Mike Strawberry (Mater Dei), and
of course the exciting rematch of Oak Hill and Compton Dominguez. 

 
Last year the Oak Hill v. Dominguez game went down to the wire and it will be an exciting game again this year. Oak Hill features some of the most exciting players in high school basketball, and they are still ranked No. 1 in the USA Today "Super 25" national poll (at least that's Dave Kreider's view, and who are we to argue with him). Oak Hill features three legitimate D-I and potential NBA prospects in Steve Blake (6'-2" Sr. PG) who will play at Maryland next year, Ron Slay (6'-7" Sr. PF) who will atttend Tennessee next season, and Travis Watson (6'-7" Sr. PF) who will attend Virginia. Oak Hill
also has one of the best supporting casts in Cliff Hawkins (6'-1" Jr. PG/SG) one of the best one-on-one defenders anywhere, Terry Reynolds (5'-9" Sr. SG) a great perimeter shooter, Abdou Diame (6'-8" Jr. C) the slender but highly skilled center from Senegal, and the "Human Highlight Reel" John Humphrey (6'-1" Sr. SG), who has the highest vertical of any player we've ever seen. We won't go through the lineup for Dominguez, because by now everyone has their roster committed to memory, but for those who've been living in a cave for the last six months, here's the link to the Dominguez
team preview.

In short, this event will feature at least 4 of the top 25 teams in the country according to USA Today (including the No. 1 team) and at least three others who are among the best in SoCal and the West Coast.

We don't know the details of ticket prices or early availability, but we expect to have those details shortly. In the meantime, plan on keeping February 6 open. See you there.  

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