SoCalHoops High School News
Spring is on the way. Actually, this is a sign that the high school season is almost over, because as teams start to drop out of the playoffs, the top prospects begin to show up at the Rockfish Spring League. This weekend marks the first series of games, and there's a lot to see if you're a college coach looking for the top unsigned talent, or if you're a hoop junkie wondering what to do now that most of the high school games are ending. Mark Mayemura, who together with Dave "Rockfish" Benezra, runs the league, sent us an announcement, and rather than try to paraphrase it, here's the announcment:
(Los Angeles, CA)- The 7th Annual adidas Rockfish Spring League, a high exposure all-star boys high school basketball league, which last year hosted over 100 Division One college basketball coaches who came to the league to discover potential recruits, will begin with a slate of games at Los Angeles City College (855 North Vermont Avenue/Located just north of the Vermont Avenue off-ramp of the Hollywood (101) Freeway, south of Santa Monica Blvd and north of Melrose Avenue) this coming weekend, February 27-28.
Sanctioned by the NCAA, the invitation-only adidas Rockfish Spring League (RSL) has established itself as the nations top spring exposure league for college basketball recruiters. The RSL is designed to be as recruiter-friendly and as player-friendly as possible. In surveying past RSLs, the league is so stocked with talent that at least 45% of the RSL players will go on to play Division I college basketball.
The teams play 40-minute stop-time game officiated by college referees. Many of the teams will play twice a day, maximizing their exposure before the college coaches/recruiters. Each team is loaded with height and plenty of talent; the majority of the players are at least All-League caliber players.
There will be five teams competing under the Los Angeles Rockfish banner along with many of the areas elite traveling team programs (Pump N Run, Branch West Basketball Academy-BWBA, Belmont Shore, Elite Basketball Organization-EBO, Inland, and Inland Empire Basketball Program-IEBP).
After this weekend, the RSL will continue on March 6-7, March 13-14, March 20-21, April 3 and April 10-11.
Expected to play in this years RSL is the West Coasts top junior prospect, 64 off-guard Deshawn Stevenson from Washington Union HS (Fresno, CA). Southern Californias top junior prospect, 68 Travon Bryant (Jordan HS/Long Beach) will also play in the RSL. And a couple of the West Coasts top juniors, 68 Julian Sensley (Kalaheo HS/Kailua, HI) and 62 point guard Luke Ridnour (Blaine HS/Blaine, WA) are expected to make at least one weekend of the RSL to showcase their respective talents.
A sampling of the nations top college programs who came to the RSL last year in search of recruitable talent included: UCLA, USC, Stanford, Cal, Utah, Kansas, Arizona, Clemson, Michigan, Michigan State, Gonzaga, West Virginia, Florida, Florida State, Providence, Miami-Florida, Xavier, Ohio State, Indiana, UNLV, New Mexico, Notre Dame and Illinois.
The Los Angeles Rockfish Basketball Club, which runs the Rockfish Spring League, is one of the countrys top all-star basketball traveling team programs. Since its founding in 1984, the Los Angeles Rockfish have competed across the country, in an effort to upgrade the recruiting exposure of its members and improve their basketball ability by competing against the top high school players in the country. Over 170 Rockfish have gone on to receive basketball scholarships and play Division One basketball. The Rockfish program is also the only team west of the Mississippi to ever win the National AAU Jr. Olympics 17 & Under Championship. There are currently six former Rockfish playing in the NBA (Keith Closs-Los Angeles Clippers, Austin Croshere-Indiana Pacers, Marlon Garnett-Boston Celtics, Sean Rooks-Los Angeles Lakers, Derek Strong-Orlando Magic, Scott Williams-Philadelphia 76ers).
Some of the current college players who are RSL alumni include: Andre Miller/Utah; Billy Knight/UCLA; Mark Seaton/Stanford; Gordon Scott/Idaho; Jason Hart/Syracuse; Justin Mott/Florida State; Keith Bean/North Carolina State; Frank Brown/Penn; Solomon Hughes/California; Josh Greer/St. Marys; Ruben Douglas/Arizona; Ben Jones/UC Irvine; Jeffrey Berokoff/San Diego State; Jan-Michael Thomas/Washington State; Elton Mashack/Loyola-Marymount; Eric Holmes/Alabama-Birmingham; Drew Gaulden/New Mexico; Mike Simmons/Miami-Florida; Delano DOyen/Santa Clara; Jeff Trepagnier/USC; Rico Harris/Cal State Northridge; Tony Bland/Syracuse.
10 high school seniors, who traveled and competed for the Rockfish this past spring/summer, have already signed scholarship national letters-of-intent with Division One colleges. These Rockfish players and their respective college choices are: Brian Wethers (Murrieta Valley, CA)-Cal Berkeley; Shantay Legans (Goleta, CA)-Cal Berkeley; Nick Vander Laan (Sacramento, CA)-Cal Berkeley; Dalron Johnson (Los Angeles, CA)-UNLV; Rafael Berumen (Simi Valley, CA)-New Mexico; Koko Archibong (Pasadena, CA)-Penn; J.J. Todd (Chatsworth, CA)-UC Santa Barbara; Adam Parada (Alta Loma, CA)-UC Irvine; Jake Dederer (Rolling Hills, CA)-Missouri Kansas City; and Nick Dodson (Los Angeles, CA)-Howard.
The league is free of charge to the public.
For more information regarding the RSL, call (818)783-2244
1999 7th Annual adidas Rockfish Spring League (RSL)
Los Angeles City College - Los Angeles, California
Schedule For The First Weekend
Head Coaches in Parenthesis
Saturday, February 27, 1999
9 a.m. IEBP (Keith Howard) vs Belmont Shore (Dinos Trigonas) 10:30 a.m. Barracudas (Erik Harden) vs Orcas (David Benezra) 12:00 noon Marlins (Hernando Planells) vs. Hammerheads (Mark Berokoff) 1:30 p.m. Branch West (Bob Gottlieb) vs. Tiger Sharks (Guy Margo) Sunday, February 28, 1999
9 a.m. Orcas (David Benezra)vs. Branch West (Bob Gottlieb) 10:30 a.m. Barracudas (Erik Harden) vs. Belmont Shore (Dinos Trigonas) 12:00 noon Orcas (David Benezra) vs. Hammerheads (Mark Berokoff) 1:30 p.m. Marlins (Hernando Planells) vs. Barracudas (Erik Harden) 3 p.m. Hammerheads (Mark Berokoff) vs. Tiger Sharks (Guy Margo)
4:30 p.m. Marlins (Hernando Planells) vs. Inland (Elvert Perry) 6 p.m. Pump N Run (Dave Goosen) vs. IEBP (Keith Howard) 7:30 p.m. Tiger Sharks (Guy Margo) vs. Inland (Elvert Perry) Other 1999 RSL Dates
Saturday, March 6 Sunday, March 7 Saturday, March 13 Sunday, March 14 Saturday, March 20 Sunday March 21 Saturday, April 3 Saturday, April 10 Sunday, April 11
1999 7th Annual adidas Rockfish Spring League (RSL)
Los Angeles City College - Los Angeles, California
Expected to Partipate
Unsigned Seniors
Aaron Abrams 63 senior Rancho Buena Vista HS (Vista) Chris Bennett 610 senior Marshall Fundamental HS (Pasadena) Jacquay Carlisle 66 senior J.W. North HS (Riverside) Kent Dennis 62 senior Cleveland HS (Reseda) Trenell Eddings 59 senior Eisenhower HS (Rialto) Noel Felix 68 senior Inglewood HS Gabriel Hughes 610 senior Bishop Montgomery HS (Torrance) Tito Maddox 64 senior Compton HS Richard Manning 68 senior Edison HS (Fresno) Jack May 67 senior Ayala HS (Chino Hills) Chris Monroe 68 senior Granite Hills HS (El Cajon) Garreth Read 69 senior Montclair HS Dustin Schultz 69 senior Exeter HS Eric Siess 63 senior Redlands HS Ryan Sims 69 senior Crenshaw HS (Los Angeles) Bradley Jackson 59 senior Bridgeton Academy (Bridgeton, ME) Juniors
Deshawn Anderson 61 junior Washington Union HS (Fresno) Jacoby Atako 60 junior Santa Monica HS Travon Bryant 68 junior Jordan HS (Long Beach) Richard Bluette 59 junior Crenshaw HS (Los Angeles) Nick Booker 66 junior Bishops HS (La Jolla) Doyle Cole 66 junior Serra HS (Gardena) Branduinn Fullove 64 junior Simi Valley HS Josiah Johnson 65 junior Montclair Prep (Van Nuys) Russell Lakey 61 junior Harvard-Westlake HS (Studio City) Deverion Mackey 64 junior Marshall Fundamental HS (Pasadena) Steve McMaryion 64 junior Palisades HS (Pacific Palisades) Brennan Martin 66 junior Trabuco Hills HS (Trabuco Canyon) Brett Michel 66 junior Simi Valley HS Ryan Mollins 65 junior Loyola HS (Los Angeles) Vili Morton 66 junior Twentynine Palms HS Ellis Myles 67 junior Compton HS Avery Queen 58 junior Maine Central Institute (ME) Luke Ridnour 62 junior Blaine HS (Blaine, WA) Ron Ruffin 66 junior Chatsworth HS Aerick Sanders 68 junior Serra HS (Gardena) Julian Sensley 68 junior Kalaheo HS (Kailua, HI) Ryan Stacey 67 junior Santa Margarita HS Jon Steven 64 junior Esperanza HS (Anaheim) Deshawn Stevenson 65 junior Washington Union HS (Fresno) Wesley Stokes 510 junior Poly HS (Long Beach) Dwayne Trotter 64 junior Morningside HS (Inglewood) Jordan Walker 66 junior Fontana HS DeMarcus Williams 68 junior Upland HS Lou Wright 66 junior Westchester HS (Los Angeles) D.J. Wyatt 57 junior Serra HS (Gardena) Sophomores
Torin Beeler 63 soph Ocean View HS (Huntington Beach) Scott Borchart 68 soph Chaminade HS (West Hills) Anthony Davis 65 soph Locke HS (Los Angeles) Kenny DOyen 59 soph Bishop Montgomery HS (Torrance) Josh Dunaj 511 soph Riverside Poly HS (Riverside) Kevin Eleby 510 soph Venice HS (Los Angeles) Alex Graham 611 soph Redlands HS Jermaine Harper 63 soph Blue Ridge School (Dyke, VA) Isaiah Fox 610 soph Crossroads HS (Santa Monica) James Jenkins 66 soph Crescenta Valley HS Phillip Johnson 611 soph Arroyo Grande HS Matt MacGinnis 63 soph Villa Park HS Shaun Michel 62 soph Simi Valley HS Rory ONeil 611 soph Burroughs HS (Ridgecrest) Cody Pearson 62 soph Notre Dame HS (Sherman Oaks) Douglas Thomas 67 soph Pasadena HS Dijon Thompson 65 soph Redondo Union HS (Redondo Beach) Jamaal Williams 66 soph Centennial HS (Corona) Wes Wardrop 62 soph Loara HS (Anaheim) Freshmen
DeAngelo Collins 69 frosh Tustin HS Lawrence Carrier 66 frosh Redlands HS Timothy Drisdom 63 frosh Calvary Chapel HS (Downey) David Gale 6'0 frosh Buckley HS (Sherman Oaks) Will Sheslow 60 frosh Montclair Prep (Van Nuys) Thomas Shewmake 68 frosh Cathedral City HS Donald Wilson 62 frosh Dorsey HS (Los Angeles)
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1999 All rights reserved
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