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SoCalHoops High School News

Simi Valley's Branduinn Fullove
Profiled By VC Star--(Dec. 14, 1999)

Richard Cobbs isn't the only local SoCal player getting profiled by the print media today. If Cobbs is just getting started, then Branduinn Fullove is a good example of what Cobbs can achieve (or exceed) if he's willing to work as hard. Today's edition of the Ventura County Star featured a story written by sports writer Loren Ledin, a really nice piece on Simi Valley's Branduinn Fullove. It's about the hard work he's put in over the year, the sacrifices he's made in his social life and the dedication he's shown in order to achieve the level of success he has thus far in his career, which has thus far been rewarded by earning a scholarship to UCSB for next season. If you recall a similar story Eric Sondheimer wrote last year in the LA Times, about Branduinn's constant training, the running at dawn, lifting weights, and so on, this one is pretty similar, but there's more to it this time around, including some interesting perspectives on the Fullove-Don MacLean connection at Simi Valley. Since the Star doesn't archive their stuff beyond 90 days, and because we do, here's the full story below. For now, you can access it also at the VC Star's own website (which you ought to do to support their advertisers, and also to see the pictures that go with the story).

For the Fullove of the game
BOYS' BASKETBALL: Simi Valley senior has molded himself into a top player

By Loren Ledin
Ventura County Star
Staff writer
Published Tuesday December 14, 1999

See Branduinn soar. And score, and outplay, outhustle and many nights, plainly outclass opponents of the Simi Valley High boys' basketball team.

See Branduinn Fullove, the Pioneers' standout 6-foot-5 senior guard, make plays all over the court and rack up numbers across the board. Like the 16.6 points he averaged last year, leaving him No. 5 among the program's all-time scorers with 1,449 points, along with his junior-season stats of 5.3 rebounds, 141 assists and 46 steals.

See Fullove make it look easy.

Only it's not.

What you don't see is all the toil and sweat, stretching back years and years, that have transformed him into one of the Southland's top players and a bonafide scholarship athlete. This fall, he accepted UC Santa Barbara's offer to join the Gauchos program beginning next year.

While Fullove garners the spotlight on game nights, what escapes notice are the early morning runs, well before the first class at school and the rigorous weight-training. Team practices are mandatory, of course, but what isn't are the voluntary workouts that Fullove undertook, right before the season, with former Simi Valley High star and seven-year NBA veteran Don MacLean.

First-team, All-CIF-Southern Section Division I honors, such as Fullove earned as a junior, are tangible proof of Fullove's status among Southern California's elite players. What got him here is a lengthy agenda of dedication and sacrifice: The summers spent honing his game on travel-ball teams and at all-star clinics and tournaments, the winters focused on school work and basketball and little else.

"The hard work is something my parents (Bobby and Marianne) instilled in me when I was very young," says the 19-year-old Fullove. "My goal early on was to get a college scholarship. To have that happen is something I'm very proud of. "You have to make some sacrifices and give up some things in order to make your dreams come true. Last year, I missed the prom because I was playing in a tournament. But I have to say it has all paid off. One of the happiest days of my life was getting that scholarship."

Fullove's blue-collar work ethic isn't lost on Simi Valley coach Christian Aurand. "Nobody is ever going to outwork Branduinn Fullove," said Aurand. "He's right there with anybody who's ever gone through this program. He shows the way in games, and he shows the way in practices. He's always working to get better."

Being good is plainly not enough for Fullove. Not even his standing as the top player in Ventura County is sufficient. The sessions with the 6-10 MacLean, still the all-time leading scorer at Simi Valley High and at UCLA, may hold both an immediate and far-ranging impact for Fullove.

The fiery, intense MacLean stressed one key point to his Pioneer protegy -- Fullove's greatest challenge in his senior season should be himself. "Branduinn's such a talented player that he could go out there half-heartedly and still dominate most of the guys at this level," said MacLean. "When you're that much better than the players you go against most nights, you can get sloppy. But there's no reason for that to happen.

"You've got to hold yourself to a higher standard. No matter who you're playing, you've got to go out and produce every single game." While at Simi Valley High from 1985 to 1988, MacLean used to sharpen his game with workouts against UCLA's Trevor Wilson. As MacLean awaits his latest call from the NBA, he hopes to serve a similiar role for Fullove. The Simi Valley senior is appreciative. "If there's any way to get better, I'm going to do it," he said. "He's such a great player, has so much experience, that it can't help but make be a better player to learn from him. It definitely will help me get ready for the next level."

For now, there's this level that demands Fullove's focus. The past two seasons, Simi Valley advanced to the semfinals in Division I before losing to the eventual Southern Section and state champions. A year ago, Simi Valley's season ended at 28-3 with a loss to Mater Dei at UC Irvine.

Though 6-9 center Rafael Berumen has graduated, Fullove and fellow senior Brett Michel form the region's most formidable
one-two punch. With his team off to a 5-0 start, Fullove said the expectations have not lessened. "Being a senior, I want to be sure and enjoy this season as much as possible," he said. "I want to have fun, but that doesn't mean our goals have changed. We still want to win every tournament we play, and go as far as we possibly can in the playoffs. The stats don't really mean anything to me this year.

"All I want to do is win."

Impact player:

Branduinn Fullove: Simi Valley senior, age 19, in the midst of his fourth season as a Pioneer starter.

What He's done: Already Simi Valley's No. 5 all-time scorer with 1,449 points. Last season, averaged 16.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7assists with 46 steals.

What's next: After wrapping up high school career, Fullove will begin college at UC Santa Barbara.
Quote: "Basketball is something I love to do."