wood402

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Wooden Awards: Bluthenthal, Jacobsen,
Kordich, Prince, Long, Douglas
& Adamczak--(April 2, 1998)

Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times reported today that seven SoCal boys high school basketball players and one coach will be honored with John R. Wooden awards Friday night at a banquet at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The awards are part of the announcement of the "Wooden Award" to the outstanding college basketball player made by the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

The high school players who will receive the awards are:

City Section:

Division 4A: David Bluthenthal (6'-7" Sr PF) Westchester High
Division 3A: Allen Kordich (6'-2" Sr. SG) San Pedro High

Southern Section:

Division I: Casey Jacobsen (6'-6" Jr SG) Glendora High
Division II: Tayshaun Prince (6'-8" Sr. PG/SG/F) Dominguez High
Division III: Scott Long (6'-5" Sr. SG) Chaminade Prep
Division IV: Ruben Douglas (6'-4" Sr. SG) Bell-Jeff High
Division V: Conrad Adamczak (6'-4" Sr SG) Pacific Hills

Ed Azzam, coach of the CIF City, CIF Southern Region and CIF State Champion Westchester Comets will receive the Wooden Award as well as the "Coach of the Year". In addition to the awards received, each player's school also will receive $500 for its athletic fund.

The award ceremony will precede the announcement of the Wooden Award--presented annually to the nation's top college basketball player--and the college All-American team.

Bluthenthal, the City 4-A player of the year, averaged 23 points a game and will attend USC in the fall. He helped Westchester win its first City 4-A and Division I state titles and scored 16 points in the Comets' 52-40 state-final victory over Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame.

Kordich, the City 3-A player of the year, averaged 27 points and led San Pedro to the 3-A semifinals.

Jacobsen, the Division I winner, a junior, averaged 32 points for Glendora, during the regular season, and then averaged an amazing 44 points per game during the playoffs. Glendora won the Southern Section Division I-A championship, but then lost in the State Southern Regionals.

Tayshaun Prince, the Division II winner, as most folks who read this site well know by now, signed with Kentucky over UCLA, is a McDonald's All-American, and he was named the State "Player of the Year" by Cal Hi Sports, all without winning a third consecutive State Championship, as Dominguez lost to Compton in the State Regionals. He averaged 22 points during the season.

Scott Long, a four year varsity player at Chaminade in West Hills, will attend the U.S. Naval Academy. He averaged 15 points per game, and his team won it's first ever Southern Section III-A title.

Ruben Douglas, the Division IV award winnner, averaged a 34.6 points per game this season, which was either the highest or second highest average of any player (the other was Fremont's Steve McIlwain, who also averaged 34.6 ppg, but who scored fewer overall points this season). Ruben will play for the former national-champion Arizona Wildcats next year.

Adamczak, the Division V winner, led Pacific Hills to both a Southern Section V-AA title and a State Division V title, averaging 22 points per game. Adamczak will reportedly play for Iona next season.