sophomore small forward/wing players

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

SoCalHoops Sophomore Class: Top Small
Forward/Wing Players In SoCal--(May 11,1999)

Last year we only cursorily covered the underclassmen, and we decided to be a bit more thorough this year. So we'll be posting a series of articles on the entire sophomore class in SoCal. Third in the series are the small forward/shooting forwards among the current sophomores (juniors to be this summer and next season).

As with the current junior class, we haven't ranked the players by number, because generally we think that's pretty silly and doesn't mean much. College coaches and other scout types see lists such as this and target the players they've seen or heard about anyway. Calling someone "No. 1" or some other number doesn't mean much, except perhaps to the player who thinks he's No. 1. From our perspective, these lists are just an indicator that a player has made his presence felt in recruiting, that he's a blip on some college coach's radar. Of course, some players are bigger blips than others. Some deserve to be watched more closely than others, but that's generally a decision that is made by college coaches, not guys like us who follow the players and write about then. Most on these lists are D-I material, many are certainly at least D-II, III and virtually all of them will play somewhere when they graduate from high school. All of the players are varsity level players, and many are the top prospects on the West Coast; several are even high level national recruits.

To compile these lists, we've gone through all of the rosters and articles we've written the past year, gone through all the notes of the games we watched, reviewed tapes of many players, and selected those players who, in our view, are clearly D-I material, those who have potential, and those who play the position well enough to deserve recognition and who might have what it takes to play at the next level, whether that's D-I, D-II, D-III or NAIA. The lists include players are from Fresno in the North, to San Diego in the South. Generally the region constituted by the CIF Southern Region (including Central Section, Southern Section, LA City and San Diego Sections) of the CIF.

All the players on these lists are shown by their primary position. That may be the position they normally play in high school, or it may be the position they play on their travel or club teams. At least it's the position we believe these players will be recruited at for college should their development continue during the next two seasons. Again, if you don't see a player on the list where you'd expect to see him, look at another list, because he's likely listed somewhere.

As with the juniors, what we mean by "small forward/shooting forward" is generally what you think it means: Someone who typically has the body of a larger player, is very mobile, can play defense out to the wing, rebounds well, and can shoot from the perimeter to inside; it may also mean a player who slashes to the hole off a cut, who can spot up from either in close or three-point range, who may be an excellent catch-and-shoot player but is generally bigger than a guard (either point or shooting) but not generally as big or as strong as the inside a power forward/center players, and typically not a post player. And because these guys are only sophomores, they will all probably still be going through growth spurts, so whether they'll stay at the small forward or wing spots only time will tell.

All the players listed below are currently sophomores ("rising juniors"). Again, they are currently all varsity level players. Most of them have already drawn the attention of college coaches, and some have drawn national media attention as well. Most of the players listed below have been team, league, or even CIF stats leaders, and almost all have received varying degrees of attention from the basketball or general media, or are already established stars. Some are obviously not as well known: For those in the "Rest of the Best" category, they've shown promise or potential, and could break out during the summer circuit or during their senior year and thus have the potential to attract the attention of the colleges at the D-I through NAIA levels. In other words, we believe they are all players.

All the listings are in alphabetical order. We have not assigned numerical rankings, but we have grouped the players into "Top 10 Prospects", and the "Next Top 25"; because this list is so small, we don't have the "Best of the Rest" because frankly, this is about all there is, or at least all we've been able to identify so far.

For those who are counting, there are only 35 players on the list that follows. The reason why this list is relatively small is that most of the players who are currently playing varsity or on the high profile travel teams are juniors or unsigned seniors. As a result, this list probably represents the upper-end, skilled small forwards in the class who have been identified thus far. As time goes on, more players who are currently playing frosh-soph ball and jv will move up and be identified, and the great thing is that these players really have two full years of high school eligibility left. But for now, these are the top prospects among the sophomore small forwards who played at the varsity level this past season. Not all will end up as top D-I prospects. Most are excellent players, and they all have the potential to be a lot better, and fortunately time is still on their side. A few are truly outstanding.

If there's someone we missed (and we're sure there are many we did) let us know and we will add them to the list. And if you think someone doesn't belong on the list, let us know that too (but be nice; these are, after all still just kids). Either post a message on the board, or send us an e-mail.

SoCalHoops Top 10 Sophomore Small Forwards/Wing Players

Josh Childress (6'-5" So. SG/SF) Mayfair
Jonathan Harper (6'-5" So. SF/SG) Long Beach Poly
Dillon Hayes (6'-6" So. SF) Tustin
Malcohm Herron (6'-5" So. SF) Artesia
Tajaun Jackson (6'-2" So. SF/PF) Gahr
Daniel Knott (6'-4" So. SF/SG) Diamond Ranch
Keith Sconiers (6'-6" So. SF) Fresno Washington Union
Jamaal Williams (6'-6" So SF) Corona Centennial
Markee White (6'-4" So. SF/SG) Long Beach Poly

SoCalHoops Next Top 25 Sophomore Small Forwards/Wing Players

Adam Allegro (6'-4" So. SF) Agoura
Ron Banks (6'-3" So. SF/SG) Long Beach Jordan
Eddie Cheers (5'-10" So. SF)Ambassador Christian
Daveon Cole (6'-5" So. SF/PF) Compton Centennial
Sean Cole (6'-7" So. SF/PF) Pacific Hills
Willie Dunn (6'-4" So. SF) LA Fremont
Krishna Evans (6'-4" So. SF) Van Nuys Grant
Jason Greenlee (6'-3" So. SF/SG) San Dimas
Otis Hankins (6'-4" So. SF) Inglewood
Jed Harmsen (6'-3" So. SG/SF) Crossroads
David Harris (6'-5" So. SF) West Torrance
James Hartman (6'-3" So. SF/SG) San Clemente
Keyon Kensi (6'-3" So. F) Lynwood
Dennis Kingsland (6'-3" So. SF/PF)AB Miller
Shelby Marcus (6'-6" So. SF/PF) St. Monica's
Ryan Moore (6'-3" So. SF) Brea Olinda
David Newkirk (6'-5" So. SF) Maranatha
Brian Rakusin (6'-6 So. SF) Los Alamitos
Kali Ross-Mau (6'-2" So. SF) La Jolla Bishops
Erik Scott (6'-3" So PF)AB Miller
Marcus Shelby (6'-5" So. SF/SG) St. Monica
Josh Sherman (6'-4" So. SF) Calvary Chapel Santa Ana
David Simpson (6'-2" So. SF) Gardena
Jimmy White (6'-2" So. SF) Santa Monica
Ryan Zimmerman (6'-5" So. SF) Arroyo Grande