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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

One Man's Opinion #2: Top 10 Wing Forwards In U.S.
Features Two From SoCal--(Aug. 28, 1998)

Keith Cavanaugh from FastBreak magazine in an article posted at ESPN's college basketball site, now writes about his Top 10 high school senior wing forwards (swingmen) in the country. Again, we recognize that this is only one man's opinion, but as with Cavanaugh's guards, it's just as impressive that from among ten players nationally, two SoCal players have emerged. One, Jason Kapono, is not a big surprise, but the other selection is pretty amazing, not because he doesn't deserve to be among the top 10 in the country, but simply because he hasn't been on a lot of people's lists previously, and he has to be one of the most under-recruited players in this year's senior class. How good is Shipp? Well, we've known for several years that Shipp was very, very good, but up until now, he hasn't attracted any real national attention. But all that should change now that ESPN's Cavanugh has selected him as one of the 10 best in the entire country at his position. Here's what Cavanaugh had to say about Kapono and Shipp:

California sharpshooter Jason Kapono (6-7, 218) of famed Artesia High (home of Ed and Charles O'Bannon) is one of the nation's premier long-range strokers and our pick at No. 5. Kapono, who maintains that he's wide open on schools, has an impressive list, led by USC, Cal, Stanford, Utah, Syracuse and UNLV. He has a 3.6 GPA and said he may wait until the spring to sign.

At No. 7 is another Californian, Los Angeles native Joe Shipp. The 6-5, 215-pounder also has a strong inside-out combination, and reminds some of an Adrian Dantley-type small forward with a nose for the hoop and a back-to-the-basket game.

And in case you're interested, the rest of Cavnaugh's Top 10 list looks like this:

1. DerMarr Johnson
2. Damien Wilkins
3. Donnell Knight
4. LaVell Blanchard
5. Jason Kapono
6. Jason Richardson
7. Joe Shipp
8. Michael Bauer
9. Julian Swartz
10. Chuck Eidson

Pretty good company to be in.