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SoCalHoops High School News

Martin Iti: Some Local Notes
From Two Sides--(Oct. 15, 1999)

Martin Iti (6'-10" So. PF/C) who recently moved to Southern California from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to enroll at Servite HS in Orange County, is attracting a lot of attention, most of it good. But when we first saw him, playing with Bob Gottlieb's BWBA team at the Long Beach Fall Hoops Classic in early September, he was stiff, slow and didn't have very good footwork, not much speed, and bad hands, and the result was that he didn't play too much. Two weeks later, we saw him again with Gottlieb's BWBA team at the Pump Fall Premier Tournament, and he was a changed player. Agile and with good hands and footwork, he blocked shots, ran the court, and showed real promise as a scoring threat. Gottlieb believes he's got the potential to be a really high major D-I player, and with Iti and Harrison Schaen (6'-8" Fr. PF) on his BWBA squad, his team promises this spring to have two of the best big men in Orange County and perhaps all of SoCal and the West Coast.

Several local sportswriters have written about Iti this past week. Here are two different views of Iti, one from Frank Burlison of the Orange County Register, and the other, a small piece by Paul McLeod of the LA Times Orange County Edition:

Frank Burlison, Oct 12:

Few high school coaches in Orange County and the rest of Southern California are aware of the caliber prospect that 6-10 Servite sophomore Martin Iti is. But the transfer from Cardinal Gibbons High in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., will have an immediate impact on Coach Brian Kenney's Friars, especially as a rebounder and shot-blocker. And by the end of the season he could be among the top 10 dominant post players in Southern California. Iti impressed college coaches while playing for Bob Gottlieb's Branch West Academy team during September tournaments at Long Beach City College and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Paul McLeod, LA Times OC Edition:, Oct 13

The newest big man on campus in boys' basketball is Martin Iti, a 6-foot-11 sophomore who transferred to Servite 10 days ago from Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He's the second major addition for the Friars, who picked up Canyon High transfer Roger Hogan, a guard, last spring. Hogan averaged 17.2 points and 8.5 assists in leading the Comanches to the Century League title last season.

The newcomers played together for the first time two weeks ago in a fall league game at Ocean View and impressed several observers. The Friars step up into the new Serra League this season against the likes of traditional basketball powers Mater Dei and Santa Margarita. Of course, Hogan is a proven commodity in the county, Servite Coach Brian Kenney said. But Iti "is pretty raw," according to the first-year coach. "He needs to get in the weight room," Kenney said. "But he's got some talent. If he's willing to work on it, we'll see if we can develop that talent."