riverside player of the year

Riverside P-E Names Brian Wethers As Riverside
Player Of The Year--(March 29, 1999)

Murrieta Valley High's Brian Wethers (6'-5" Sr. PG/SG/SF) has been selected by the Riverside Press-Enterprise as the Riverside County Player of the Year. Wethers averaged 10.4 rbpg, and led all Riverside county scoring with an average 26.4 points, will attend and play for Ben Braun's Cal Berkeley Bears next season. In his high school career, he scored a school-record 2,079 points, and led the Nighthawks to two league titles.

Also selected First Team All-County were Jerry Dupree of Valley View (16.3 ppg) Derek Mgbeke of Riverside North (18.2 ppg, 7 rbpg), Preston Norman of Moreno Valley Rancho Verde (20.3 ppg, 16.1 rbpg), and Jamaal Williams of Corona Centennial (23.6 ppg, 10.4 rbpg).

Moreno Valley's Jim Long was named Coach of the Year. In his first season at Valley View, Long took the Eagles to the Division 1AA quarterfinals, a 21-8 record and a Sunbelt League co-championship. Valley View had been 12-12 and finished fourth in the Sunbelt League in 1997-98.

Unlike the voting and selections for San Bernardino County, the P-E article which detailed the voting selections for Riverside County didn't have a first, second and third team selection table, so we have no idea who was selected to the second team or the third team. And we also have no idea who was chosen an All-County "Honorable Mention" either for Riverside County. What we do know is the number of votes which the top players received for Player of the Year and the number of votes which each coach received, which is sort of an odd thing to publish, but hey, if that's what the Press-Enterprise wants to put out there, that's up to them. Here are the tables published by the P-E last Friday.

Riverside County Player of the Year: Brian Wethers, Murrieta Valley
Riverside County Coach of the Year: Jim Long, Moreno Valley

**PLAYER OF THE YEAR**
Player, school	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Brian Wethers, Murrieta Valley	8	1	1	44
Preston Norman, Rancho Verde	2	5	1	26
Jamaal Williams, Centennial	0	3	3	12
Jerry Dupree, Valley View	0	1	2	5
Derek Mgbeke, North	0	0	1	1
J.S. Nash, Rancho Verde	0	0	1	1
Darnell Thompson, Rubidoux	0	0	1	1

**COACH OF THE YEAR**
Coach, school	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Jim Long, Valley View	8	1	0	43
Pete Rettinger, Elsinore	1	7	0	26
Val Popov, Centennial	1	1	2	10
John Dahl, Moreno Valley	0	1	6	9
Stan Smith, Banning	0	0	2	2

The Press-Enterprise also published a poll taken of coaches to select the top players in the region in various skill areas. The Press-Enterprise received 27 ballots from coaches in the area, and the list below are the players who received more than 2 votes in the category in which they appear:

Best pure shooter -- J.S. Nash (Rancho Verde) 6, Ryan Coyle (Murrieta Valley) 3, Jacare Smith (Norte Vista) 2, Joey Gill (Palm Desert) 2.
Best ball handler -- Jamaar Walker (La Sierra) 7, Mark Peters (Valley View) 2, J.S. Nash (Rancho Verde) 2.
Best defensive players (forwards-centers) -- Preston Norman (Rancho Verde) 4, Brian Wethers (Murrieta Valley) 3.
Best defensive players (guards) -- No one with more than one vote.
Smartest player -- Bobby Russo (Elsinore) 3, Brian Wethers (Murrieta Valley) 2, Jamaar Walker (La Sierra) 2.
Clutch player -- Brian Wethers (Murrieta Valley) 7, Derek Mgbeke (North) 3, Jamaar Walker (La Sierra) 2.