cobbs first impressions

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SoCalHoops High School News

Richard Cobbs Making Big
First Impressions--(Dec. 14, 1999)

The Riverside Press-Enterprise does a great job covering prep hoops in the Inland Empire area, and they frequently (not often enough though) feature profiles of teams and players, and today's edition of the paper had a profile of Canyon Springs' new prodigy, Richard Cobbs. So for all you Cobbs fans out there, you can get the profile at the PE's website (through the link above, just click on "High School Sports" and it should be there for at least the next week. After that, you can read it below and continue to access it in our archives. Richard is already a surprisingly effective player, smooth and smart on the court, and he can shoot the lights out. We watched him all spring at the Rockfish Spring League and then in the summer at various tournaments (Vegas, Best of Summer, etc) literally take apart bigger and stronger players, post them up, guard 6'-9" guys like they were smaller, and shoot about as well as any rising senior out there. . . .except that Richard was, at the time, just a "rising" freshman. . . meaning he had not yet even played his first game of high school varsity basketball. He was just an 8th grader. Admittedly he still has a lot of work left to do on his game, but he's made huge strides in the last year alone. Nice story about a young man who will be a big time player. And about his family support, as mentioned in the article, it really is tremendous. Not mentioned in the story is the fact that Richard's father, (Richard Sr.) is a firefighter employed in Carson. . . which is about, oh, what, 75 or 80 miles from Moreno Valley. And yet the elder Cobbs never misses a game. We're sure there must be some building fires that just get left burning, but hey, there are more important things in life sometimes. . .

He can't yet drive, but this freshman can score
By Ben Harrer
The Press-Enterprise
MORENO VALLEY A freshman basketball player's career can get sidetracked so many ways that Moreno Valley Canyon Springs coach Jeff Stovall doesn't like to get too worked up over any first-year players.

But he's willing to make an exception with Richard Cobbs. "He's the real deal," Stovall said of Cobbs. "He's definitely legit."

Cobbs, a point guard whom Stovall describes as "6-foot-5 and growing taller every day," is ranked the second-best freshman in the nation in both West Coast and adidas magazines. He spent the decade on AAU and travel teams, playing with and against the best age-group competition around. On top of that, he has a 4.0 grade point average after his first quarter of high school.

"You'd never know all that by the way he acts, though," said Stovall. "He's soft-spoken and very coachable. He's quiet, but I like to say he's quiet and dangerous. He looks humble, but when he gets the ball or that whistle blows he's ready to go."

Cobbs, who is averaging a team-high 23 points through the season's first five games, has benefited from strong family support "They've been there for me every step of the way," he said.

His father, also named Richard, said the family's schedule revolves around Canyon Springs basketball. "We're right there rooting for him every step of the way," said the elder Cobbs. "But we don't mind because we like basketball. "He's got two younger sisters who I'm trying to get to play basketball. They don't really seem to want to, but they are tall . . . "

The younger Cobbs said he has enjoyed his first month of varsity basketball, but the high school game is far different from the travel teams on which he has fine-tuned his game. "High school teaches you more," he said. "The coaches have welcomed me to the team, and I've learned a lot about playing on a team.

"The (travel teams) are more about showing what you've got, about individuality." Stovall said the teamwork aspect is what makes high school basketball most beneficial to a player of Cobbs' caliber. "The scouts want to see that you can fit in with a team," he said. "They want to see you accepting responsibility and looking for more than just personal statistics."

Cobbs said he devotes three to four hours a day practicing at school and working on his game at home with his best friend, teammate Leon Rosborough. "All his experience helps make him a cut above," said the elder Cobbs. "He's worked very hard to get to where he wants to be."

Stovall said Cobbs' devotion can be summed up by a decision he made this past summer. "He stopped playing travel ball to play with us in summer league," he said. "He proved himself to us." As for his future, Cobbs is hoping to accomplish a few things at Canyon Springs before moving on to college.

"I want to help bring a CIF championship or two to this school," he said. "Then with college, I'd like to go to somewhere kind of close, like UCLA or Stanford, but if someone like Duke or Kansas recruited me, that wouldn't be too bad."

Between now and then, however, Stovall is happy to have Cobbs on his side. "In my 15 years of coaching he's the best, most-promising talent I've seen," he said. "He's so developed so young. Reggie Miller (who went to Riverside Poly) didn't even really develop until 11th grade."