Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (2/6)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup published every Monday during the season.

Commits

UCLA-bound forward James Keefe was a factor in disrupting Campbell Hall's rhythm early on, asserting his 6-foot-9 frame at both ends of the floor, scoring five of the Eagles' first 10 points and grabbing five first-quarter rebounds. Keefe, who finished with 15 points and 18 rebounds, opened up space for senior teammate Mychel Thomson, who led Santa Margarita with 17 points.
Said junior forward Justin Holiday, who finished with eight points and 11 rebounds: "That was the most tired I've been in a basketball game. It was pretty hard (guarding Keefe). He's a good player." L.A. Daily News 2/5


Recruits

"This is my second time here, and it's just awesome to be in this environment," Kevin Love said. "The fans and the players have really been showing me some love." "You can just see the class, and dignity about his program," Love said. "I wanted to play for a program that knows how to carry themselves, and treat their players well." "UCLA certainly does that." "UCLA is where it's at," Kyle Singler said in a shoutout to the fans. "This place is awesome." Daily Bruin 2/6

LA's student section included Kevin Love and Kyle Singler in their pregame roll call, and a group of students painted letters on their chest spelling out their names. Saturday was a big day for UCLA at Pauley Pavilion, and not just because No. 14 UCLA completed its first regular-season series sweep of Arizona since 1997 with an 84-73 victory. It was because Love and Singler, both from Oregon and the Bruins' top two targets for the 2007 recruiting class, were on unofficial visits. L.B. Press-Telegram 2/5

Watching in the stands may be UCLA's answer to sustaining that status for the near future. According to sources, heralded and much sought-after high school juniors Kevin Love and Kyle Singler, who both hail from Oregon, will be in attendance on Saturday during an unofficial visit to UCLA. The duo, who played on the same Amateur Athletic Union team together, are the most highly touted recruits to come out of Oregon in several years, and together could possibly vault a program into instant elite status. Daily Bruin 2/2

No. 1 South Medford beat crosstown rival North Medford 63-40 behind Kyle Singler and Kendall Gielow. Singler finished with 20 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks; Gielow added 19 points and 12 rebounds. . . . No. 2 Lake Oswego stayed unbeaten in Three Rivers League play with an 84-64 win against Milwaukie. Four players scored in double figures for the Lakers, led by Kevin Love with 33 points The Oregonian 2/1

By the way, Kevin Love and Kyle Singler have three of the same prospective colleges on their list — Duke, North Carolina, UCLA — with Singler also considering Arizona and Kansas. Both will visit UCLA this week. Neither is looking seriously at Oregon or Oregon State, including Love, whose father, Stan, played for the Ducks. “Dad’s not pressuring me to look at them, not anymore,” he says. Portland Tribune 1/31

"Mike came out shooting the ball well, and if someone comes out like that, you want to make sure you get them the ball," said South junior Kyle Singler, who had 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. "I think that’s what we did tonight, and I give credit to Mike because he made the shots." Mail Tribune 2/4

Russell Westbrook finished with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds to lead Leuzinger. But it wasn't just the senior standout who made the plays. "I feel real confidence (in our post players)," Westbrook said. "At first, they were not into our system but now they're rebounding and boxing out." Daily Breeze 2/5

Leuzinger star Russell Westbrook, who is averaging 26.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, scored 13 points in limited action as the Olympians held him out for much of the second half with the game in hand. Daily Breeze 2/1

Russell Westbrook - Leuzinger's offensive machine - Westbrook smiled while teammates shook their heads in disbelief. Opposing coaches credited the senior with a fantastic performance. Impressive? No doubt. Surprising? Not so much, at least not to Leuzinger coach Reggie Morris Jr. The performance forced others to open their eyes to the same player Morris fell in love with when Westbrook was a 5-foot-7 freshman with size-14 shoes. "A lot of people looked at me like I was crazy, even my own dad," said Morris, whose father is the men's basketball coach at L.A. Southwest College. "I knew his body just needed to catch up with his ability and heart." Daily Breeze 1/31

Even though it's not clear where Smith would find a scholarship, he's apparently offered one to 6-foot-10 center Phil Jones, a fifth-year senior at Laurinburg Prep in North Carolina.
Jones, rated by Scout.com's Dave Telep as the nation's No. 12 post-graduate recruit, is averaging 16 points and eight rebounds for one of the nation's top prep-school teams. Texas Tech, Miami, Connecticut, Clemson, Marquette and Providence also have been recruiting Jones, one of the top big men left in the class of 2006. He's originally from Brooklyn, N.Y. Courier Journal 2/5

South Lakes' Julian Vaughn scored 26 points, including his first shot of the night — what Murphy called an NBA 3-pointer."You can't defend that," said Murphy. "We pressured the guards and made it hard for them to get him the ball." Connection Newspapers 2/1

After trailing by eight points at halftime, Los Angeles Fairfax stopped relying on the outside shot and turned to its two big men, 6-foot-9 Matt Shaw and 6-8 Chace Stanback, to pull out a 67-52 victory over Westchester and clinch the Western League boys' basketball championship.Fairfax (19-2, 8-0), ranked No. 2 by The Times, outscored the fifth-ranked Comets (18-5, 6-2), 21-4, in the third quarter. Stanback had two dunks, Jerren Shipp had two three-point plays and Shaw dominated the boards in the quarter. L.A. Times 2/3

Campbell Hall 73, Kilpatrick 43: Justin Holiday scored 14 and Taylor Henry added 13 as Campbell Hall of North Hollywood (19-3, 6-0) defeated visiting Kilpatrick of Malibu in an Olympic League game. L.A. Daily News 2/4

#3 Mitty 53, St. Ignatius 49: Sophomore post Drew Gordon (14 points) led three Mitty players in double-digit scoring in a WCAL victory at St. Ignatius. S.F. Chronicle 2/5

Washington coach Lorenzo Romar was in the stands at the Mitty-Serra game, evidently to get an early viewing of Mitty 6-foot-9 sophomore Drew Gordon, who didn't disappoint with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, including a partial tip of a game-tying layup attempt at the buzzer by Serra's preseason all-state standout Decensae White. S.F. Chronicle 1/31

Interestingly, the Spartans, who improved to 8-2, were coming off an 80-66 loss to Westview in which they had no answer for the Wildcats' 6-foot-11 center, Andy Poling, who had a game-high 24 points. Westview began the week at 8-2, having won five in a row. In addition to defeating Hillsboro last week, the Wildcats posted a 59-51 victory at Beaverton on Friday, with Poling scoring 22 points. The Oregonian 2/2

"Taft is on another level," Sylmar assistant coach Charles White said. "To be the best, you have to play and compete with the best. They're tough." Calvin Haynes scored a game-high 29 points for Taft. Teammate Larry Drew scored 13 points and had 11 assists. Mat Hankins led the Spartans with 18 points. L.A. Daily News 2/5

"We are on another level and wanted to come out and make a statement," Taft coach Derrick Taylor said. "No knock on them, but we wanted to win this game by 30 points." Larry Drew scored nine of his game-high 15 points in the third quarter. Oscar Bellfield had 12 points, including three 3-pointers, and Calvin Hanyes finished with 12 points and eight assists for Taft (16-5, 7-0). L.A. Daily News 2/2

A customer got to see nine games for a $12 or $22 ticket at the Nike Extravaganza on Saturday night at Anaheim Convention Center. The Westchester-Mater Dei matchup was worth the price on its own. It was a double-overtime spectacular, with Mater Dei prevailing, 91-89, in a battle of nationally ranked teams. Westchester, of Los Angeles, ranked No.41 in studentsports.com's national rankings, scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to force the first overtime. After the teams scored eight points each in the first overtime, they combined for 30 in the second, with No.34 Mater Dei outscoring the Comets, 16-14, in that final four-minute period. Mater Dei junior Taylor King scored 38 points, and junior teammate Kamyron Brown scored 16 with 12 assists. O.C. Register 2/5

(BruinBasketballReport.com)

(photo credit: Steven Nehl/the Oregonian)