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Prep Preview and Report

North Hollywood High School--October 5, 1997

This marks our first high school prep report for 1997. . .the first of what we hope will be many to come. North Hollywood High, the alma mater of Stanford Guard Arthur Lee, has some fine prospects for this coming year, from the freshman team, the sophomore team, to the varsity. The varsity is coached by Rob Bloom, who replaced long-time coach Steve Miller. Rob Allan, long a fixture at the school, coaches the Freshman and Sophomore teams, which are in league play from September 16 through October 29. This year, Bloom has enlisted the aid of longtime club coach Dr. Burt Stern (Northridge Knights, past AAU So.Cal president) to coach the Junior Varsity.

The news so far on the freshman and sophomores: Everything is good. So good, that out of 10 collective games (5 games a piece for each level) only one game was lost (the frosh to South Gate, and then only by 4 points). Notable standouts for NoHo are:

Nathan Stern (6'0"), Fr : moved up to the Soph squad reportedly after only a few games, Nathan is a smooth 2 guard, who has a great dribble and can hit the J out to about 20'. Nathan played well this past summer in the Slam-N-Jam NIT in Long Beach and at the Maccabi Games in Seattle, and Charlie Sands' Snow Valley Basketball camp in Santa Barbara. One of the smartest and most mature players to come to the magnet program at NoHo.

Ken Hauser (6'2") Soph: Kenny is truly a fine young post player, with a great drop step and turn around jumper from anywhere inside the key. Good hands, great leaping ability, and good post up moves. With a bit of maturing, Ken will be a true D-1 prospect.

William Kim (?) Fr: According to NoHo sources, Kim is lightening fast with great lateral movement. Haven't seen him play, but he was moved up to the Soph team with Stern after a few games. Look for Stern, Kim and Hauser to play JV this year and start for the varsity next year.

Haven't seen many of the other players, but here are the rosters: Freshman Team: Martin Teodoru, Habib Haida, Ralph Villanueva, Johnson Ngo, Adolfo Mundo, Art Ambrosio, Tim Foster, Ricardo Landeros, Ellsworth Herring, Javier Grajeda, Atibu Wright, Sean Castuja, Nehemias Colindres, and David Hernandez.

Soph Team: Ken Hauser, Nathan Stern, William Kim, Max Viqueuz, Sean Den Bok, Mohamed Feld, Cesar Garcia, Jorge Lopez, Dustin Palmer, Justin Mayer, Quan Pheu, Alex Esquieul, Leo Hayakawa, Jose Mendoza, and David Danipour.

Varsity: The Bloom's varsity squad will not be blessed with height, but will have quickness. The big news for the varsity this year is Sr. shooting-guard, small forward Keron Williams, a former 1st team All-League selection in 96-97, who averaged 20 points per game last year. Word is that he is being recruited by Wyoming, Tulsa, Sac State and other Div. I schools.

Dejon Lee (Sr.PG) will return as well (2d Team All League last year), as will Sr. Chinna Wright (6'2") who has great jumping ability. NoHo will have some height with Sr. Edward Baisden (6'7") and Jonathan Hicks, who at 6'3" and 230lbs, is a Division I football prospect, who plays PF for Bloom.

The big news though is that NoHo will have two transfers: A 5'7" PG transfer from NY namded Rahnell Johnson, who is reportedly "lightening quick", and another transfer from Marshall High named Arson (didn't get his last name) who is only 5'6" but who is supposed to be even faster than Johnson.

According to our sources, NoHo believes that it will be the top contender for League honors, with the only competition coming from Grant and possibly Van Nuys (although Howie Levine at Grant would probably disagree. . .we'll see if we can get him to commit on the record later).

For those of you interested here are the NoHo Schedules and the results as of October 5, 1997:

Frosh Games at 2:30
Freshman Team
Date Score Opponent W/L
9/16 51-55 South Gate L
9/18 67-22 Verdugo Hills W
9/22 48-37 Cleveland W
9/25 54-12 Canoga Park(Conf) W
9/30 74-48 Van Nuys (Conf) W
10/7   Reseda (Conf)  
10/9   Monroe(Conf)  
10/14   Grant (League)  
10/16   Poly (League)  
10/22   Sylmar (League)  
10/23   Grant (League)  
10/28   Poly (League)  
10/29   Sylmar (League)  
Soph Games at 4:00 pm
Sophomore Team
Date Score Opponent W/L
9/16 72-525 South Gate W
9/18 80-60 Verdugo Hills W
9/22 59-50 Cleveland W
9/25 72-33 Canoga Park(Conf) W
9/30 72-52 Van Nuys (Conf) W
10/7   Reseda (Conf)  
10/9   Monroe(Conf)  
10/14   Grant (League)  
10/16   Poly (League)  
10/22   Sylmar (League)  
10/23   Grant (League)  
10/28   Poly (League)  
10/29   Sylmar (League)  

The Swish Award

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