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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

UCSB News: Some Recruiting &
Current Player Notes--(Oct. 19, 1999)

Here's an interesting article that several of our friends alerted us to which appeared in the Santa Barbara News-Press this past Saturday to mark the opening of the college basketball practice season. It's mostly about the new UCSB recruiting class, but it also quotes SoCalHoops in several places. Interesting and amusing, and pretty flattering. Mark Patton is a genius; here's what he wrote:

UCSB recruits are talking a good game

MARK PATTON
10/16/99
Santa Barbara News-Press

Today's youth isn't committed, you say? Don't say that around a half-dozen high school basketball players who are itching to attend UCSB National letter of intent signing day is still nearly a month off, but the Gaucho men's and women's basketball teams enter today's first day of practice with nearly their entire rosters filled ... for next year. They have each received three verbal commitments in the last few weeks.

And while the men would still like to sign 6-foot-8 forward Aerick Sanders of Gardena's Serra High, and the women are hoping that 6-foot Santa Barbara High star Lisa Willett elects to stay home, both teams have already rearmed themselves to the teeth for future seasons.

SoCalHoops Recruiting News wrote that the Gaucho men this week completed "a clean sweep, 3-for-3," with the verbal commitments of 6-foot-1 guard Jacoby Atako of Santa Monica High, 6-8 forward Casey Cook of Sacramento's El Camino High and 6-5 swingman Branduinn Fullove of Simi Valley High.

Earlier, UCSB's women assured themselves of future nationally ranked powers by wooing a trio of players who are on everyone's All-America list: 6-4 forward Jessica Combs and 5-9 guard Syretta Coleman from Arizona's Chandler High, as well as 5-9 guard LaConia Hatcher from Lynwood High.

Everyone's talking about UCSB's recruiting coups. Everyone, that is, except the Gaucho coaches. It's an NCAA no-no. Call me back in a couple of weeks, says men's coach Bob Williams. After all, nothing's binding until letters of intent are signed, sealed and delivered -- a process that can't begin until Nov. 10.

Larry Brown learned that the hard way at the University of Kansas in the fall of 1985 when a skinny, Santa Monica High senior by the name of Carrick DeHart told them he was going to become a Jayhawk. A few weeks later, the intensely loyal and sentimental DeHart considered life away from family and friends and changed his mind.

UCSB got a surprise in the mail: DeHart's letter of intent. And the rest was Gaucho basketball history. This might be the Gauchos' best recruiting year since DeHart, Eric McArthur and Mike Doyle entered as freshmen in the fall of 1986. With UCSB expected to redshirt this year's entire incoming class of Santa Clara High guards B.J. Ward and Nick Jones, as well as 6-11 J. J. Todd from Chaminade High, SoCalHoops mused about the Gauchos' fantastic freshmen of next year.

Remember Michigan's Fab Five? You could call this UCSB's Sensational Six. "Fullove and Cook will be a formidable combination," SoCalHoops reported, "and with Jones also on the wing, Atako and Ward in the backcourt, next year's team will be a very quick one, capable of doing some serious scoring damange in the Big West. And if J.J. Todd develops as everyone hopes, they'll have a true big man in the middle.

"Fullove is a solid athlete ... with a good handle and a deadly accurate 3-point shot, good quickness and a very strong, powerful body. Cook is a face-up forward who can play out to the wings in 3-point territory or inside pounding away for rebounds; he runs the floor well, gets out ahead, but will usually trail the break."

Williams is willing and eager to talk about this year's team. He enters today's first practice more upbeat than last year, when UCSB won the Big West Conference's Western Division. "We're in much better physical shape than we were a year ago," he said. "We're much stronger physically and we're more cohesive than we were a year ago. This group is just awesome. Right now, they're as cohesive as a rat pack. They do everything together. We're hearing a lot of teasing among them.

"There's a great rapport going on in the program at this time. We're way further along in terms of those intangible kind of things than I thought we'd be in just one year."

Williams, in fact, said the players "have been so antsy to get going," he had to sit them down on Thursday to calm them. "They're just so excited to get going," he said. "They all realized that they paid the price this summer, and they're all so positive about things -- and just want to put it out on the floor and see how we look.

"But, as usual, the key to our success depends on Leroy Heu. He's the MVP of the season before we ever get going." Heu is UCSB's trainer, and his main order of business is returning starting guard Larry Bell back to health. Bell, one of the team's leaders, had surgery last week for a broken foot and isn't expected back for five more weeks. But if anyone can hang tough, it's Bell. He proved that last Sunday when Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers landed in his lap while pursuing a loose ball into the front row of the Thunderdome stands during their intrasquad exhibition. Bell made the catch while deftly swinging his casted leg out of the way. A piece of cake for a guy who is still riding his bike around campus.

"He rides around with his crutches hanging over his shoulder, and his backpack full of books," said Williams, shaking his head. "I think his foot is going to heal just fine," he added with a chuckle, "it's his head I'm worried about."

Bell rotated between the three perimeter positions last year, giving Derrick Allen an occasional breather at point guard. So who'll back up the point until Bell's return? "Erick Ashe is a definite possibility -- we groomed him for that last year when Larry was hurt (with an ankle sprain)," Williams said. "Brandon Payton has played a lot of point guard in his career, and LaRon Bryant played it some in high school. Any of those guys can do it. And at times, with what we run, the off-guard initiates the offense on top, anyway. "Besides, Derrick Allen looks like he's in pretty good shape. He might be just the guy who can play 40 minutes of point. It might not be that bad to have him on the floor for 40 minutes . He's awfully good."

Williams caught himself and took a deep breath. He was starting to sound a little antsy himself.