dada reminder

Once again, another reminder about the 3rd annual Dada All-Star Classic (formerly known as the Eddie Jones game) which will be will be held on Sunday, April 18, 1999 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. The All-Southern California Game will tip off at 3:00 p.m. and will be followed by the All-American Game at 5:00 p.m. Tickets are only $8.00 and $6.00 for students.

We got the final rosters today from Dinos Trigonis, and here's who's playing:

WEST ALL STARS

US ALL STARS

Andrew Gooden 6'9" El Cerrito, CA (Kansas)
Donnell Knight 6'8" Phoenix, AZ (ASU)
Joe Shipp 6'5" LA, CA (unsigned)
Jamal Crawford 6'5" Seattle WA (Michigan)
Brian Wethers 6'5" Murrieta, CA. (Cal)
Curtis Borchardt 6'-11" Redmond, WA (Stanford)
Gilbert Arenas 6'3" Van Nuys, Ca. (Arizona)
Chris Osborne 6'9" LA, CA (Arizona State)
Kevin Gaines 6'4" Las Vegas, NV (Michigan)
Justin Davis 6'8" Alameda CA (Stanford)
Tito Maddox 6'4" Compton CA (Prep)
Julius Barnes 6'1" Rowland Heights CA (Stanford)
Keith Kincade 6'5" Compton, CA (unsigned)

Jason Parker 6'8" Charlotte, NC (unsigned)
Kareem Rush 6'5" KC, MO (unsigned)
Josh Moore 7'0" Oakdale CT (Rutgers)
Leon Smith 6'10" Chicago, IL (unsigned).
Marlon Parmer 6'3" LA, CA (unsigned)
Travis Watson 6'8" Mouth of Wilson, VA (Virginia)
Josh Kroenke 6'5" New Hampton Prep, NH (unsigned)
Kirk Hinrich 6'3" Sioux City, IA (Kansas)
Brent Darby 6'1" Detroit, MI (Ohio State)
Demetrius Hunter 6'2" Las Vegas, NV (Georgetown)
Marshall Williams 6'5" Milwaukee, WI (unsigned)
John Cox 6'3" Philadelphia, PA (USF)
Chris Ogden 6'7" Seminole, TX (Texas)

West Coast basketball fans who attend the game have a real advantage in getting an advance preview of many future stars in the Pac 10, WAC, WCC, and Big West. Many of the players who are unsigned are going to be making their decisions in the next week or so, among them Joe Shipp who will reportedly decided between Cal, USC, or Maryland (we hear that Oregon State isn't recruiting him any more since he reportedly lost interest in them. And while Tito Maddox continues to express interest in either UConn or Arizona State, it's looking more and more likely that he won't have the grades in the core classes to qualify so he'll probably go the prep school route, or possibly go Prop. 48 at DePaul, or maybe red-shirt a year at Fresno. Jason Parker is reportedly looking at Michigan or North Carolina, Kareem Rush should be making a decision shortly between UCLA and Missouri (a lot of people are betting on Missouri with he and Jason Kapono as a package deal, but then the UCLA guys all seem pretty confident that brother JaRon can persaude him to come here); Leon Smith, like Tito Maddox is also considering DePaul or Fresno State, but if he doesn't go to either school, look for him to announce for the NBA; Marlon Parmer is still being actively recruited by USC, Utah (although we don't expect him to sign with Majerus, who's got one point in reserve and another JC guy who just signed) and with UNLV and San Diego State getting into the hunt. Marshall Williams is supposed to be looking at Georgia Tech or North Carolina, but we really know nothing about his recruitment.

But regardless of which specific schools the unsigned players go with, the fact remains that this game will be a great opportunity for local fans to see some great players who will star for many of the best college basketball programs in the country. Only in its third year, the Dada All-Star Classic is striving to deliver on it's claims of being an "elite status" event, and according to the organizers, it is now considered by the Sporting News as one of the top five All-Star events in the nation, and unlike many of the other cream-puff events, the organizers stress to the players that they want a real game played to win with a real emphasis on defense.

If you've followed this game the past two years, then you know that some of the more famous alumni of the game include Pac 10 starters Richard Jefferson, and Ricky Anderson of Arizona, Jeff Trepagnier, Sam Clancy and Brandon Granville of USC, Earl Watson, Matt Barnes, and Jerome Moiso of UCLA, Senque Carey of Washington, and Fred Jones of Oregon. Former players now with other universities include Kaspers Kambala of UNLV, Tayshaun Prince of Kentucky, Alvin Jones of Georgia Tech, Tony Bland of Syracuse, Erron Maxey of Providence, David Hamilton of Auburn, Lonnie Baxter of Maryland, Anthony Grundy of NC State, Doug Wrenn of UConn, and Rasual Butler of LaSalle, Stephen Jackson who was drafted by the Phoenix Suns, Korleone Young of the Detroit Pistons, and Schea Cotton who starred in junior college last year and recently signed with Alabama.

In addition to the two games, event organizers have also asked us to spread the word about becoming an "Event Patron." What this gets you is an invite to a great player/media luncheon on Saturday where you can meet and talk to the players. In addition you'll get courtside seating on press row for the game and access to the hospitality room. Fans interested in becoming Event Patrons can E-mail PGatton373@aol.com or call (562)984-8355 for further information.

We'll also be posting up some player profiles which Phil Gatton says he's threatening to write, and if they're up to our lofty standards, we might not even change them too much.

In any event, the games will be at 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. next Sunday, April 18, 1999. See you there.