tito maddox & marlon parmer 1/26/99

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SoCalHoops High School News

Tito Maddox & Marlon Parmer To UCLA?
Sure, Ok. Whatever You Say.--(Jan. 26, 1999)

Today's Orange County Register carried Frank Burlison's weekly basketball column. Frank was at Pauley Pavilion a week ago Monday as were we, watching Compton take on Crenshaw, and Verbum Dei take on Long Beach Jordan. And today, Frank writes that UCLA coaches (Jim Saia and Brad Holland) who were in attendance at the games were paying close attention to Compton's and Verb's point guards, and we're not talking about Huston Hollis either. Nope, according to Frank, the UCLA coaches were checking out Tito Maddox (6'-4" Sr. PG) from Compton, and Marlon Parmer (6'-1" Sr. PG) from Verbum Dei, arguably two of the best point guards anywhere in the senior class. Never mind that Tito doesn't have much of a shot anymore, or that Marlon can't (or won't) seem to drive to his right: These are two of the highest scoring, quickest and best ball-handlers around.

Why is UCLA looking at them? Here's what Frank had to say:

"Should sophomore guard Baron Davis enter the NBA draft--and that's not a far-fetched notion--the Bruins would add a pint guard to their recruiting shopping list for the spring.

"And if Davis continues to play as he did last week against USC and Louisville, it's difficult to imagine any point guards-- with the possible exceptions of Andre Miller of Utah and Mateen Cleveas of Michigan State--being rated higher by NBA scouts.

"At moments agasinst the Trojans and Cardinals, Davis looked every bit as gifted as three other Pac-10 point guards of recent vintage--Jason Kidd, Damon Stoudamire and Mike Bibby."

While we agree with Frank about the possibility of Baron going out at the end of the year, we think Tito and Parmer will not only be pursued by the Bruins but will also be actively recruited by the Trojans, and by several other Pac-10 teams this spring. Questions remain about Tito from an "off-court" perspective (i.e., what happened with his recruitment at UConn, transcripts, etc., ) but there's no doubt that he'd be an instant contributor to just about any program immediately. And the Michigan coaches were also out showing the colors at Pauley, and we know that Tito has an interest in the Wolverines, so this won't be an easy fight. As for Marlon, well, he can play, but the only question is whether he'll continue to show the intensity needed to get a spot at the D-I level. He's smart, quick, and very coachable, and frankly, we think he'd be a tremendous asset to the Bruins. Heck, the rest of the team can already go right. . . .