SoCal High School & Prep Recruiting Report

LA Times' Sondheimer on Jed Hall
of Montclair Prep--(November 23, 1997)

Today's San Fernando Valley edition of the LA Times featured a very nice article by Eric Sondheimer on Montclair Prep (Van Nuys, CA) standout senior and top prospect Jedediah Hall (6'-71/2" Sr PF/C). Sondheimer usually focuses on Valley Sports, formerly wrote for the Daily News (which is for sale), and now is the Associate Sports Editor for the Valley Edition of the Times. Oh, and he also has a brother who works in the athletic department at UCLA, so he sometimes gets some scoops the rest of us aren't privy to.

Today's article was about Jed's adjustment to life a continent away from his home in Virginia at a prep boarding school type of environment. It also focused on how he's developing as a player. Jed was home schooled until the 11th grade by his mother Debi. His father works as an executive for the Christian Broadcasting Network and visits Los Angeles occassionally. But, his mother told Sondheimer that even though they've given Jed an 800 number to call to keep the costs down, "We could probably fund a college education on phone calls."

Montclair Prep, is a small, 380-student private school that runs from middle school through high school. The fact that they are contenders for this year's State Championship and a CIF Championship in Division V says a lot about the network which looks for basketball talent to come to the school, and about Head Coach Howard Abrams' abilities as a coach.

The school itself is not much to look at, although it does have a really nice gym floor, and it was built utilizing the shell of a former motel located on Sepulveda Boulevard just south of Roscoe Boulevard in Van Nuys. It's not a picturesque spot, and if it wasn't for the quality of the program and the potential exposure which Jed will get playing there, you'd have to wonder why his family picked the school. It didn't hurt that his former Atlantic Shores Christian School coach in Virginia Beach, Virginia is the son-in-law of Montclair assistant coach Greg Jones. Nope, didn't hurt a bit. Hall came to visit this last summer and decided to stay. His parents think the education is good, and they like his chances as a major D-I prospect. So do we.

As we've reported before, thus far Hall has had official visits to USC, CSUN and Cal Coach Ben Braun has stopped by the Van Nuys campus to take a look at the talent. That talent includes not only Hall, but a lot of other players. But Braun is in the market for BIG players, and Hall might just fill the void that will be left by graduating senior Sean Marks.

Sondheimer notes that not only Jed, but all four of the Hall children, ranging in age from 11 to 18, have been taught at home by their mother. But that hasn't impeded Jed's academic progress and according to Sondheimer, Hall scored 1120 on his SAT/ "Our attitude was not so much to protect them from the outside but to prepare them," Debi told Sondheimer. "We taught them to be independent, to make their own decisions, to stand on their own, to not succumb to peer pressure."

Hall told Sondheimer that he simply wants to be the best player he can be. Does he expect to return to Virginia after he graduates? Probably not. "I don't want to go back," Hall told Sondheimer. "I want to go to college here."

The article is worthy of paying a buck for the Sunday Edition. It's also online, at the LA Times website, but only for a limited time. Catch it while you can, because the Times only keeps these articles for about a week, and then charges $1.00 per article to access their archives.

©Copyright SoCalHoops 1997
All rights reserved
Questions? Comments? Need Information?
Contact: jegesq@SoCalHoops.com