pump third installment

socalogo.gif (8739 bytes)
SoCalHoops High School News

Double Pump Shootout: Finally,
The Third Installment Arrives. . .--(March 30, 1999)

This, our third report on the Double Pump Spring Shootout held on March 20 & 21, may not be as complete as we had hoped it would be, but at least we're getting it done and out of the way with the balance of the Double Pump Shootout Rosters and profiles from the Spring Shootout included. We saw only about one 1/3 of all the participants at the Double Pump High School Shootout on March 20 and 21 at Cal State Dominguez Hills, so where we have nothing to say about a player we've done exactly that and just confined it to the listing of the players on the rosters. We expect that we will see many of the same players playing during the Double Pump Spring Tournament in about two weeks, on April 9, 10, & 11 at Cal State Dominguez Hills, so if we didn't write about individual players, there's still a good chance that we'll see them again later in the spring or summer.

We've already posted our first installment in which we profiled about the first 1/4 of the teams playing, and our second installment featuring the second 1/4 or so of the teams and players we saw or who were listed in the program, and this report will be for the next 1/4, which means that there will be at least one more installment. . . which we're going to get done today. Really. We mean it. Today.

Inflight Elite

Ryan Rantic (6'-2" Jr. G) Temecula Valley
Justin Kurtz (5'-11" Jr. G) Chaparral
Ryan Cooke (6'-4" So. F/C) Chaparal
CJ Richardson (5'-11" So. G) Murrieta Valley
Mike Louis (5'-11" So. G) Temecula Valley
Joe Buller (6'-2" So. G/F) Chaparal
James Phillips (6'-4" Jr. F) Temecula Valley
Adam Watson (6'-3" So. F) Temecula Valley
Shaun Scott (6'-3" Jr. F) Chaparal
Ben Owens (6'-6" Jr. F/C) Temescal Canyon

To be perfectly honest about it, we watched an entire game between Inflight Elite and Pump N Run II and we never really focused too much on the Inflight team, coached by Mike Livacarri. Ben Owens played well down low, but he was overmatched on the boards by Bo Segeberg who was filling in for Pump N Run II which was without the two big men they had on the roster, Scott Borchart and Dustin Villapigue, (more about them later). Pump II also had Brandon Duplessie, and at 6'-6" was also giving Ben and Ryan Cooke fits. When the two taller Pump N Run players weren't in though, Owens and James Phillips were effective around the blocks. Ryan Rantic (at least that's who we thought we were watching) looked strong in the open court, had a nice handle and moved well with and without the ball. Justin Kurtz is also a good guard, capable with a good handle, nice court vision, but we didn't see all that much outside shooting from anyone in the one game we saw this team play. Ryan Cook dropped in some from the perimeter and rebounded well too. We hope to get a better look at some of these guys in the Double Pump Spring Tournament on April 9, 10, and 11 at Cal State Dominguez.

IEBP AGT

IEBP sent three teams to the shootout, and all of them were loaded with up and coming talent, and there are more than a few siblings of some already established high school star players, some of whom are showing promise and could be even better. We have no idea what "AGT" stands for, but Keith Howard brought some really good players with him on this team:

George Simpson (5'-4" Jr. PG) Corona Centennial
Lemar Ruffin (6'-5" Jr. F) Murrieta Valley
Jemal Ruffin (6'-1" Jr. PG) Murrieta Valley
Ken Mgbeke (6'-0" So. G) J.W. North
Allen McCall (5'-9" So. G) Moreno Valley
Donnie Jury (6'-2" So. G/F) San Bernardino
Jason Johnson (6'-8" Jr. F) Upland
Doane Cole (5'-6" Sr. G) Murrieta Valley
Matt Christensen (6'-2" Jr. G) San Bernardino
Chris Adams (6'-5" So. F) San Bernardino
Shaddean Aaron (6'-2" Fr. F) Claremont

Donnie Jury is an excellent wing player who drives well to the hole and finishes; Ken Mgbeke is the younger brother of Derek Mgbeke, who was named All-County by the Riverside Press-Enterprise, and he's perhaps not the outside shooting artist yet that his older brother is, but he's got a lot of promise; a strong player, good handle, excellent sense for the game. Lemar Ruffin is an excellent athlete, perhaps a better athlete than Brian Wethers overall, but he still is developing the skills that Whethers had last year and improved to perfection this year; his confidence seems to have vastly improved from last summer, and he could definitely be at least a mid D-I player by the end of the summer. Jason Johnson is a big guy who will fill the post and could be a major player next year if he has a big summer but he'll have to work on his footwork but overall very athletic. IEBP, like Elvert Perry is partial to little, speedy point guards (ala Avery McQueen), and George Simpson and Doane Cole are just that, speedy, quick and little. We didn't get too much of a look though at the rest of these guys, so we'll have to wait for the Double Pump Spring Tournament to get a better read on who's who with IEBP.

IEBP Ballers N Players

Demarcus Williams (6'-8" Jr. C) Upland
Damiel Ware (6'-5" Jr. F) Arlington
Jourdan Walker (6'-6" Jr. F) Fontana
Mike Stevenson (6'-0" Jr. G) Fontana
Chris Smith (5'-9" Jr. G) Pacific
Lemar Ruffin (6'-5" Jr. F) Murrieta Valley
Brennan Martin (6'-6" Jr. F) Trabuco Hills
David Joiner (6'-6" Jr. SG/SF) Rialto
Jamal Johnson (6'-6" Jr. SF) San Gorgonio
Ryan Dillian (6'-3" Jr. G) Victorville
Derrick Andrews (6'-3" Jr. G) Rancho Cucamonga

On Sunday, IEBP B&P played Golden State Select and Streetwise, and on Saturday, they played NC Spartans and West Valley II, and unfortunately, all of their games were schedule during blocks of time when we were at Rockfish or elsewhere. We did happen to catch Demarcus for a brief moment and saw a bit of the West Valley II game, and this is a very talented group of players. Brennan Martin is one of those pure shooters, a guy who can bomb in three's all day if given an even halfway open look; Lemar we briefly described above; and the rest of these guys we only saw glimpses of, not enough to really provide enough insight to matter. Again, we're sure that most of these players will be back on April 9, 10 & 11 at the Double Pump Spring Tournament, and we'll be looking especially at David Joiner and Demarcus Williams, and the future of Fontana without Gary Holmes, Joe Dawson and Baron Baker as Mike Stevenson could develop into an even better point than Baker and Jordan Walker is a sort of inside-outside guy with decent post moves and good rebounding skills, and a developing shot out to about 17'. Again, a very talented group and you should definitely check them out again in a couple of weeks.

IEBP III

Here's a team that we didn't see at all, so we really can't tell you much about any of them, including for most of them where they attend school, because the program was pretty much a blank. We're going to make it our mission at the Spring Tournament to check these guys out. Really. These are the young guys, and we absolutely need to know where the talent is coming from, so we'll make it a point to see them.

Michael Thompson (?? So. G)
Deon Simpson (5'-5" 8th Gr. G)
J.R. Reese (?? Fr. ??)
Marcus McGhee (6'-2" Fr. F) Arlington
Edward Matthews (?? Jr. ??)
Quentin Matthews (?? So. ??)
Coray Jammison (?? Fr. ??)
Aaron Gibson (?? Fr. ??)
Chris Duffy (?? So. ??)
Anthony Davis (?? Fr. ??)
Talonnie Calhoun (??Fr. ??)
Marcus Allen (6'-4" Fr. F) AB Miller

LA Elite

John Giannoni (5'-11" Jr. PG) South Lake Tahoe
Eric Leong (6'-1" Jr. G) Calvary
Joe Nellesen (6'-2" Jr. G) Templeton
Justin White (6'-1" So. G) Silverado
Christopher Brazelton (6'-4" So. SF) Redlands East Valley
Mike Yildiz (6'-1" Jr. G) Bell-Jeff
Joshua Rachelson (6'-2" Sr. G) Taos
Sam Luong (6'-0" So. G) McLatchy
Alex Acker (6'-0" Fr. PG) Cajon

This was one of the "put together" teams made up of individuals who entered the shootout separately (which is sometimes not a bad way to enter an event like this because it gives every player the opportunity to play just about equal minutes without worrying about the "star" players getting all the minutes, because the Pump coaching philosophy of shootouts is to get everyone the most exposure possible. Of course there are always standouts, and Mike Yildiz just stood way out above the rest of the players on this team. With his quickness, long arms, excellent handle and ability to drive to the hole in traffic and finish, Mike is a player to watch this summer. It's interesting to wonder just how good Grant High would have been with both Gilbert Arenas and Yildiz in the backcourt, but sometimes the chemistry just isn't there. We don't think Mike is going to have the same kind of high school notoriety that Ruben Douglas had, but he can definitely be a mid to low D-I player. Alex Acker and John Giannoni were also both nice point guard-types, and we enjoyed watching them both play. John is a smooth player who can distribute the ball and run the floor, and Alex is a developing player with good skills and plenty of time to improve.

Metro Stars

Casey Markovic (6'-4'So. F) Bell-Jeff
Dominique Criss (6'-0" So. G) Montclair
Kevin Turner (6'-2" Fr. G) Diamond Bar
Carlos Arroyo (6'-6" Jr. F/C) Bell-Jeff
Christian Dundas (6'-1" So. G) Bishop Amat
Byron Kingsberry (5'-11" So. G) Chatsworth
Chase Ulicny (5'-9" So. PG) Brea Olinda
Timothy Drisdom (6'-3" Fr. PG) Calvary Chapel

Another "thrown together" team of guys who entered as inidividuals, and because of the gosh-awful times their games were scheduled, we didn't get to see them. But it's fair to describe most of these guys as the "next-generation" of players at their respective schools. We've seen Tim Drisdom play a lot this spring, and he's very, very talented: Good court vision, runs the floor very well, smart, knows spacing and outlets the ball well, and will be, potentially, a major prospect by the time he's a senior. We've also seen Markovic during the season, and he's a promising, developing young player. We'll keep an eye out for the rest as the spring and summer roll on.

The next four teams we just have roster for, and maybe a few comments on the standout players:

NC Condors

Ryan Griep (6'-0" Jr. G) North Monterey County
Phillip Gubser (?? ?? F) North Monterey County
Jared Judnick (6'-1" Jr. F) North Monterey County
Ben Logue (6'-0" Jr. G) North Monterey County
Joey Cordero (5'-10" Jr. PG) North Monterey County
Jonathon Nason (6'-6" Jr. F) North Monterey County

Nor Cal Gridley

Ben Rogers (5'-9" Jr. PG) Colusa
Thomas Quiring (6'-0" Jr. G) Gridley
Brandon Brown (6'-0" So. G) Gridley
Matt Sligar (6'-5" Jr. F) Gridley
Matt Stanley (6'-2" Sr. PG) Chico
Scott Land (6'-2" Jr. G/F) Chico
Craig Peterson (6'-3" Jr. G) Hilmar
Andy Collins (6'-4" So. F) Gridley
Eric Hoogeveen (6'-3" Jr. G) Gridley

North County Spartans

All of these players are from Villa Park High School. This was essentially the younger guys from Villa Park (some varsity guys, and a lot of jv guys):

Cory Hall (5'-11" Jr. PG)
Dan Steagall (6'-1" So. PG)
Matt MacGinnis (6'-3" So. G)
Tommy Stankan (6'-1" So. G)
Matt Waldrip (6'-2" So. G)
Kyle Egkan (6'-8" So. F/C)
Austin Beardsley (6'-4" Jr. F/C)
Jeff Maxwell (6'-3" Fr. F)
Eric Tajeda (6'-5" So. F)
Brice Prather (6'-6" Fr. F/C)

OCP

We watched these guys (intermittently) get hammered Saturday morning by the 4D players, including Felipe Williams, Misha Taylor and the rest, and frankly some things in life just aren't fair, but OCP had a bunch of fine young players, all sophomores who are developing and will improve; they were just overmatched in the game we watched.

Danny Lambert (6'-3" So. G/F) Woodbridge
Ashkan Nazeri (6'-0" So. G) El Toro
Jeff Gloger (5'-11" So. G) Santa Margarita
Aaron Tudor (6'-1" So. G) Trabuco Hills
Aaron Yarnel (6'-1" So. G) Newport Harbor
Doug Koeller (6'-3" So. G/F) Woodbridge
Dillon Hayes (6'-6" So. F) Tustin
Chris Parish (6'-3" So. G) El Toro

Jeff Gloger is athletic, and could improve to be even better than his older brothers. He's probably ahead, skill-wise, of where brother Spencer Gloger (committed to Princeton) was at this age, but Jeff will have to catch up in height. Aaron Yarnel is also an athletic guard, with a nice shot out to about 17' who runs the floor and moves well with and without the ball. Dillon Hayes may have to do it alone at Tustin next year, because we hear that DeAngelo Collins will be leaving the school and may not be able to play anywhere (more on this rumor later).

Pacific Rim

Rickey Bartley (6'-3" So. G) Oakland McClymonds
Randy Koch (6'-3" Jr. C/F) Amphitheater
Madison Butts (6'-4" Fr. G/F) St. Patrick-St. Vincent
Matt Williams (5'-9" Jr. G) South Lake Taho
Brandon Daum (6'-1" Grad. PG) Hinkley (Colorado)
Tim Graham (6'-6" Grad. F) Hinkley (Colorado)
David Wilkinson (6'-1" Jr. PG) Boulder
Chase McQuillen (5'-8" Fr. PG) Palm Desert
Taylor Varley (6'-5" Jr. F) Amador Valley

This was another team put together from players who entered individually. Tim Graham, was attracting quite a bit of attention. Strong, with a definite D-I body, he ran the floor well, rebounded and dunked like a maniac. Tim is currently attending the Air Force Prep School in Colorado, and is one of the nicest young men you'll ever meet. His teammate Brandon Daum is a capable point, with a decent handle and good speed. Tim has good footwork, boxes out well in the paint, and even had a decent turnaround jumper. But at 6'-6" he is certainly in need of an outside shot, but that didn't stop the coaching staffs from Oregon and Washington who were both out checking him out.

Pump N Run I

The Pump's had two "showcase" teams this weekend, and this was the top team. There were a couple of changes to the roster but here's who is anticipated to be on the team when the Double Pump Spring Tournament gets going in two weeks:

Branduinn Fullove (6'-5" Jr. SG/SF) Simi Valley
Travon Bryant (6'-8" Jr. PF) Long Beach Jordan
Lou Wright (6'-6" Jr. SG/SF) Westchester
Doyle Cole (6'-5" Jr. F) Gardena Serra
Joe Travis (6'-8" Jr. F/C) Long Beach Poly
Terrance Lawson (6'-4" Jr. G) Westchester
Aerick Sanders (6'-10" Jr. F/C) Gardena Serra
Jason Brelin (6'-3" Jr. SG) Westchester
Jonathan Sanders (6'-7" Jr. PG) Belleview Christian

There were some notable substitutions. The basic local core of the team, Branduinn, Travon, Lou, and Aerick were there; Jason Brelin wasn't, Jonathan Sanders didn't make it to LA, and Terrance Lawson had to tend to family business. So Coach Dave Goosen had to secure the services of a couple of his own Venice players, including Montel Duhon (6'-4" Jr. SG), and Gregg Guenther (6'-8" Jr. F/C) from Crespi. Branduinn has pumped up tremendously over the course of the year, and where we were describing him last summer and even into the early part of the season this year as "heavy legged" he's thinned out and developed up top incredibly well. Fast, quick, strong, he's one of the high D-I prospects in SoCal this year, and we'd expect major things from him. Branduinn will attend the adidas ABCD Camp this summer, and this spring he'll be in France playing with Lou and Scott Borchart on the Nike California Sports Express team coached by Miles Gonzales in Douai at the Junior Worlds. Branduinn shot well from the perimeter, and defended adequately. The big news was the play of Travon Bryant on Saturday. Travon adds a whole different dimension to this team, dunking, slamming, great drop step moves, and there's no doubt that almost every college coach will be all over him by the end of the summer. Travon has more than a few schools on his list, including UCLA, Arizona, and others; the rumor circulating around Dominguez last weekend was that Travon would transfer to a) Long Beach Poly, b) Dominguez, c) Artesia, or d) Simi Valley (the last one was a sort of running joke with Branduinn and Travon). We don't know about Artesia, but we do know that Poly is probably not happening because coach Palmer just doesn't work that way, and the rumor about Dominguez is clearly just that, i.e., a rumor. We'd actually be very surprised if Travon moved at all. Aerick "Chief" Sanders, has so greatly improved, it's hard to recognize the spindly legged, skinny kid who got hammered a lot last summer by Carlos Boozer and Andrew Goodin. Aerick has filled out some (he's still pretty skinny, but he's strong as an ox), and he's a legitimate 6'-10" (even though they had him listed as 6'-8" in the program). Runs the floor, shoots well from inside the paint, defends, rebounds, a ball maniac, big time potential and should attract a ton of attention this summer. Lou Wright: Not a better shooter right now on the West Coast, in our humble opinion. Lou bombed in about 4 three's in the game against BWBA, and in the game against Pump II, he used that high, rainbow arc shot that he's becoming known for to launch several over Derrick and Errick Craven. Montel Duhon is a great rebounder and Greg Guenther could be a major prospect at the D-I level if he gets the chance to play both football and basketball like we know he will if he should sign with USC.

Pump N Run II

Errick Craven (6'-3" So. G) Bishop Montgomery
Torin Beeler (6'-5" So. G/F) Oceanview
Jonathan Harper (6'-5" So. F) Long Beach Poly
Derrick Craven (6'-3" So. G) Bishop Montgomery
Baker Dunleavy (6'-1" So. G) Portland Jesuit
Dustin Villapigue (6'-9" So. F) Simi Valley
Craig Smith (6'-7" So. F) Fairfax
Mike McCrain (6'-1" So. G) Portland Jesuit
Scott Borchart (6'-8" So. F) Chaminade
David Gale (5'-11" Fr. PG) Buckley
Evan Burns (6'-5" Fr. F) Fairfax

Again, due to travel restrictions, some of the players who were on the printed roster weren't there, including Baker Dunleavy (6'-1" So. G) from Portland Jesuit and his teammate buddy Mike McCrain (6'-1" So. G). Likewise, Craig Smith and Evan Burns from Fairfax didn't show and Dustin Villapigue (6'-9" So. F) from Simi was committed instead to play for his Rockfish team, which had a scheduling conflict with every single game that Pump N Run II was scheduled to play in, and Scott Borchart also decided to take some time off from basketball until the May Douai, France tournament. But the basic local core of guards was still there, including the Erick and Derrick Craven, David Gale, Jonathan Harper, and there were a couple of very nice additions, including Tim Graham (6'-6" Gr. F) from Hinkley, Colorado, Brandon Duplessie (6'-6" Jr. F) from St. Bonaventure (who may be transferring to Crespi), Kevin Elleby (5'-10" So. PG) from Venice, Bo Segeberg (6'-9" Sr. F/C) who has committed to Sacramento State, Steven Brown (6'-6" Jr. SG/SF) from Venice (a transfer from Brentwood) and even Will Sheslow (5'-11" Fr. PG/SG) who came over from Rockfish with David Gale on Saturday after their RSL games were finished. The Cravens played about as well as we'd ever seen them play, running, jamming, and even distributing the ball well among others whose last names weren't "Craven". Actually these two guys take a bad rap, largely undeserved, for not passing to anyone besides themselves, but we didn't see any of that during the shootout, and they played very unselfishly, involving everyone. Derrick still needs to look right a bit more for the open man, and Errick's first instinct is to drive to the hole even if there's a player who might have a more open shot, but these are the things that come with experience and age. These to players are huge, big-time prospects, and college coaches would do well to keep an eye out for them. David Gale had a good game against the Inflight Team, and played well also against the Pump N Run I team, even if he did get trapped in the second half when Coach Goosen, coaching the Pump I team decided to throw Montel Duhon and Branduinn Fullove at him with a double-team half-court trap; Gale had some nice moves in the open court, distributed the ball well, and showed good quickness taking it to the hole past a defending Lou Wright twice in the Saturday game. Kevin Elleby also moved the ball well, showing good speed on the transition and nice passing. Steven Brown demontrated excellent shooting ability from the perimeter and also showed good speed with several nice moves to the basket; a sort of slashing type of guard, Steven has a good handle and reasonably good range and by the summer there should be some schools of the low D-I type taking a hard look at him.

* * * * *

Believe it or not, there are still 9 more teams left to profile from this event, and we'll do that in a separate report which we will post up shortly.