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SoCal High School & Prep Report

1998 Snapple Eddie Jones
All-Star Classic All-American Game--(March 31, 1998)

As you know from the last article, the Snapple Eddie Jones All-Star Classic will be held Sunday April 19th at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, and there will actually be two separate All-Star Games-- an "All Southern California" game, which will get underway at 5:30 p.m., and an "All-American" game, which will start at 7:30 p.m.

We've already told you about the SoCal game's confirmed players; here's the All-American Game rosters, which consist of the "West All-Stars" and the "United States All-Stars", the latter presumably consisting of players from outside the SoCala and western U.S.

There are some pretty big-time players coming, including some recent additions in the last two days: Corey Maggette and Anthony Glover, both of whom were on the McDonald's All-American team. Considering the fact that NCAA regulations only permit prospective student athletes to compete in two "all-star" events following the conclusion of the senior year season, it's pretty impressive that Dinos Trigonis and Phil Gatton were able to get these two guys, along with some other very impressive talent. You won't want to miss this event.

Here's who's confirmed as of today for the All-American Game:

West All-Stars

Ricky Anderson (6'-8" Sr. C) Long Beach Poly (U of Arizona)
Matt Barnes (6'-8" Sr. C/F) Fair Oaks Del Campo, Sacramento (UCLA)
Tony Bland (6'-4" Sr. SG/SF) Westchester High, Los Angeles (Syracuse U)
David Bluthenthal (6'-8" Sr. F) Westchester High, Los Angeles (USC)
Senque Carey (6'-4" Sr. G) St. Francis, Woodside (U of Washington)
Shea Cotton (6'-6" 5th yr. G/F) St. Thomas More Prep (uncommitted)
David Hamilton (6'-9" Sr. PF/C) Compton High, Compton (Auburn U)
Richard Jefferson (6'-8" Sr. F) Moon Valley High, Phoenix (U of Arizona)
*Chris Jeffries (6'-8" Sr. F) Washington Union, Fresno (U of Arkansas) * injured
Freddie Jones (6'-5" Sr. G/F) Barlow High, Gresham Oregon (U of Oregon)
Tayshaun Prince (6'-7" Sr. G/F) Dominguez High, Compton (U of Kentucky)
Luke Walton (6'-8" Sr. F/C) USDHS, San Diego (U of Arizona)
Doug Wrenn (6'-6" Sr. F) O'Dea High, Seattle, Washington (U of Washington)

Coach: Russell Otis, Dominguez High, Compton, CA

United States All-Stars

Lonnie Baxter (6'-8" Sr F) Hargrave Mil. Acad., Chatam, VA (U of Maryland)
Rashon Burno (5'-8" Sr PG) Winchendon School, Winchendon MA
Rasual Butler (6'-7" Sr F) Roman Catholic, Phila., PA (La Salle U)
Sam Clancy, Jr. (6'-7" Sr F) St. Edward High, Lakewood, OH (USC)
Dennis Gates (6'-5" Sr G/F) Whitney Young High, Chicago, Ill (undecided)
Anthony Grundy (6'-3" Sr PG/SG) Hargrave Military Academy (undecided)
Altron Jackson (6'-5" Sr G/F) Riverview High, Sarasota, Fla (South Florida)
Corey Maggette (6'-6" Sr. G/F) Fenwick High, Oak Forest Ill (Duke University)
Jerome Moiso (6'-10" Sr. C) Milford Academy, Milford Academy (UCLA)
Myron Piggie, Jr. (6'-0" Sr PG) Hargrave Military Academy (undecided)
JaRon Rush (6'-7" Sr F) Pembroke Academy, Kansas City (UCLA)
Alex Wesby (6'-6" Sr F) Ben Franklin High, Philadelphia, PA (undecided)
Korleone Young (6'-8" Sr F) Hargrave Military Academy (undecided)

Coach: Scott Shepard, Hargrave Military Academy, Chatam, VA

It looks like just about all the seniors from the Hargrave Academy team will be playing, and that's certainly a good thing, since it will finally allow most of us here in SoCal a chance to see Jerome Moiso live and in the flesh; he's being recruited heavily by UCLA. It will also aloow us a chance to see Sam Clancy play against his future teammate David Bluthenthal, and with future cross-town rival JaRon Rush, who has announced he'll sign with UCLA when the spring signing period opens on April 8 next week. Finally, it will give us all the chance to see some other very spectacular players, including Dennis Gates, whom Clark Francis has described as among the top 50 players in the entire country. The latest word on Dennis Gates from Whitney Young is that he is "undecided" as to college. He was selected to the Associated Press Third Team All-State in Illinois this year, and was the Chicago All-Academic Player of the Year. In addition to the Eddie Jones Classic, he will play in the Derby Classic (more on that later). Last fall he took an official visit to Northeastern University and was accepted into the six-year Masters Physical Therapy program. He also has a visit planned to see Ben Braun at Cal April 10-12 (and depending on how badly Cal wants him, look for Ben in the stands at the Eddie Jones Classic). Braun visited Gates at home on March 16th Monday (16th), and the word was that he would probably offer him a scholarship at that time, although we haven't confirmed that yet. Gates has also said that he may visit Auburn following the Eddie Jones classic, but if Ben Braun offers, look for him at Cal. And if you want to see one of the less modest self-promotion vehicles, Dennis has his own website. Here's the link.

Don't miss either game, the SoCal All-Star game or the All-American All-Star game. April 19th, beginning at 5:30 at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood. No reserved seating as far as we know, so get there early.

See you there.