NIKE III announce

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Nike Extravaganza III: Orange County
& Nation's Best--(January 16, 1998)

Just in case you thought the 4th Annual MLK Challenge was the only "big-time" event taking place in the next couple of weeks, it's not. It is the biggest and best event of its kind taking place over the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday weekend, and will take place this coming Monday, January 9, 1998 at Pauley Pavilion. Tickets are available at the door, $8 for adults, $6 for students (at least we think that's correct), and parking is available for $5 at at least two large parking structures just to the south and east of Pauley. The doors, we are told, will be opening at 9:00 am and the first game starts at 9:30 am. So come on out and test your basketball endurance, since the games will not really conclude until about 11:00 pm Monday night.

So after this event it's back to the regular season until the playoffs, right? Well for most teams that's true, but there is a very special event which will take place Saturday Feburary 7, 1998 on the campus of UC Irvine at the Brn Events Center, and it's the Nike Extravaganza III hosted by Mader Dei High School, and sponsored principally by Nike and the Orange County Register. There are a whole bunch of other sponsors, and we'll list them later, but the big news about this event is the teams which will play. We actually wrote about the Nike Extravaganza III on October 21, 1997, but it's time for a reminder as the games approach.

The event will actually feature two "separate" types of exhibition competition. The daytime portion of the program will feature "Orange County's Best". The doors open at 10:00 am for this event, and all tickets are only $8.00 for six games. We presume that with that flat ticket price, the event will feature non-reserved, festival-style seating.

The Orange County's Best will feature several good matchups including:

Ocean View v. Etiwanda--Etiwanda will be playing in the MLK Challenge as well

Servite v. Santa Margarita-- Servite will square off against the No. 1 rated team in Orange County this year

Los Alamitos v. Capistrano Valley-- Los Al played at the John Wooden High School Invitational this year, and is an exciting team, featuring Matt Komer and Rick Garibay.

But the real "feature attraction" will get going at 4:30, when the doors open again for the "Nation's Best Evening Session" which will feature the following teams matching up:

Mater Dei v. St. Patrick's, New Jersey

Dominguez v. Oak Hill Academy, Virginia

Glendora v. Beaverton, Ore.

We don't know a thing about Beaverton (yet) but all of the rest of these teams are first rate, and even though Mater Dei is in this one probably by reason of last year's "reputation", just as they were featured in the Wooden High School Invitational for probably the same reason, they will be matching up with one of the (if not the ) top teams in the United States in St. Patrick's which arguably, at least according to USA Today's Dave Krider is the No. 1 prep team in the country.

St. Patrick's features Al Harrington (6'-8" Sr. PF) who is also rated as one of the top players, and perhaps the top power forward in the country this year. In the Slam Dunk to the Beach Tournament played over the Christmas holiday in Lewes Delaware, St. Patrick's defeated Alameda St. Joseph, CA, as Harrington scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and in that same game he demonstrated why many scouts rank him as the #1 prep player in the nation. He dominated inside, but also went away from the basket to hit mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers, blocks shots, took charges, and played every possession like it was for all the marbles. Harrington also had a tremendous performance with 29 points and 21 rebounds in the Championship game, as he led St. Patrick to a 56-47 victory over Baltimore Dunbar, Maryland, a team which upset Compton Dominguez in the first round of the tournament. Mater Dei, with its young and relatively inexperienced team will certainly have it's hands full in this one.

The next game though, we wouldn't miss for anything. Compton Dominguez, with Tayshaun Prince, who will be going to Kentucky next year, Tyson Chandler, the 7'-0" freshman phenom, and possibly (if the recent reports of his return are true) Jason Thomas, who is one of the best players on the west coast, and certainly in SoCal, who will play for USC next year on a football scholarship. Dominguez will be going up against the only team to have beaten mighty Mt. Zion (Durham, N.C.), this year, and Oak Hill is every bit as good this year as ever.

Oak Hill Academy, from Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, is one of the top national high school basketball powers. The school prides itself on being a serious Academy which focuses on the basics: School, training and basketball. According to their coach, in a 1995 article appearing in the Orange County Register, their coach described the program as follows:

``Breakfast is at 7 a.m., classes are from 8:20 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. Study hall is at 4:30 p.m. Practice is from 7:30 to 9:30. Lights out at 11 p.m. The players have got video games and ping-pong in their dorm. There's one TV in their dorm, but it doesn't have cable. Another dorm has one that does. Sunday morning there's church. There's a dress code at the school. Everything has to be navy, khaki or white. No jeans, no athletic shoes.''

Oak Hill is truly a basketball phenomenon, ranking along with DeMatha and more recently, Mt. Zion in national stature. From 1976 through 1996, Oak Hill was 504-52, and had only lost seven games from 1990 to 1995. In five of the six years from 1990 to 1996, the Oak Hill Warriors have been rated as the No. 1 national prep basketball team. The one year they were not rated first, they were rated second to Mt. Zion. Alumni include at least eight NBA picks, including Rod Strickland, Cory Alexander and Jerry Stackhouse, all of whom were first-round picks. Ron Mercer is also a graduate of Oak Hill.

Oak Hill has been more than competitive this year and Dominguez probably has as good a shot as ever to avenge last year's loss, particularly with players of the caliber of Prince and Thomas. Last year's Oak Hill team included William Avery, 6-2, (Duke), Attila Cosby, 6-9, (Pittsburgh), Jermaine Medley, 6-1, (Villanova), and Dee Tolliver, 6-5, (UNC-Charlotte). Returning this year is Center Alex Sanders, 6-7 and Kevin Lyde, a 6'-10" kid who plays center spectacularly well.

And the final game between Glendora and Beaverton, should be a good one as well. We're still trying to find out about Beaverton, but we know that Glendora is a fine young team, featuring some exciting players. They recently won the Bellevue, Washington Holiday Shootout Classic in December, and they feature Casey Jacobsen (6'-6" Jr SG) , as well as Chad and Chris Clark (6'-6" Sr F), twins who are tremendously athletic.

Tickets for the Evening Session "Nation's Best" will be a bit harder to come by than the daytime session, and the $50 Courtside seats are apparently already sold out. Reserved Seating at $12 per ticket and General Admission at $8 per ticket are still available, and can be purchased at either the Bren Event s Center Ticket Office (714) 824-5000, at the Mater Dei Ticket Office (714) 850-9573, or at Ticketmaster (714) 740-2000.

The event will be sponsored (in addition to Nike and the Register) by Webb Automotive Group, Gatorade, Chick's Sporting Goods, National Junior Basketball (NJB), Tradewind Bus Lines, the Olive Garden Restaurant, Arco-AM/PM, Ducommon Incorporated, Scantron, Fox Sports West 2, Student Sports Magazine, the Anaheim Hilton, and Salt Creek Grille. Additional sponsorship opportunities are still available. Contact Steve Kasper at (714) 996-3980.

Don't miss this great event. We'll be there, reporting the games so keep tuned in.