Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (4/9)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.

Commits

The big guns were blazing for the West Tuesday night in the 43rd
Annual Roundball Classic All-Star Game in its 144-123 romp at The
United Center in Chicago....The West tri-MVP's were Kevin Love with 21 points (10-17 FG), a game-high 16 rebounds and six blocks ESPN 4/5

Fairfax's Chace Stanback, who committed to UCLA, was named the top
player in Div. I; Campbell Hall of North Hollywood's Jrue Holiday
earned the distinction in Div. III; and Buckley of Sherman Oaks' Richie
Polan took home the award in Div. IV. LA Daily News  4/7

For Kevin Love,
it was a memorable ending. And for the United States, it was evidence
that rugged defense and teamwork have returned to the guys in red,
white and blue. The United States Junior National Team continued its dominance of
the Nike Hoop Summit on Saturday night, easily defeating the World
Select Team 100-80 at the FedEx Forum....Love finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists despite
playing just 18 minutes and fouling out in the fourth quarter. The Oregonian 4/7

Holiday's running mate in the backcourt Jerime Anderson also played very good basketball on Sunday. In the finals, he scored 19 points which included three three-pointers and dished out five assists. He did a fine job navigating the high-ball screen and took care of the ball while making sharp decisions throughout the game. Gator Bait 4/9

Recruits

Mitty's Drew Gordon displayed more of his athletic prowess by throwing
the discus 175 feet, 8 inches to finish third at Stanford. A week earlier, the
6-foot-9 junior led the Monarchs into the state basketball finals. San Francisco Chronicle 4/3

Junior guard Jrue Holiday from North Hollywood Campbell Hall has been selected the Gatorade player of the year in California for boys' basketball. The
6-foot-3 Holiday led Campbell Hall to a 33-1 record and the state
Division IV championship, averaging 22.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 6.5
assists. A Times All-Star, Holiday scored 38 points in an overtime victory over
La Cañada in the Southern Section Division III-AA championship game. LA Times 4/5

Players got a one game tuneup at the one of the spring's most
prestigious events, The Real Deal on the Hill, before the college
coaches roll in on Saturday to evaluate the action....
The Pump N Run squad with Jrue Holiday, Jerime Anderson (commit), Victor Davila, Nelson Reeves, Travis Wear and David Wear appear to be one of the favorites to win this event. They cruised out to a 50-24 lead at half in their opening game.
Holiday looked impressive as usual. Anderson did a fine job distributing the ball, and Travis Wear stood out. Irish Illustrated 4/7

For the Pump N Run, Jrue Holiday was impressive as the top prospect on the court, but he failed to take
the game over in the second half. He did finish with 18 points as he
led his team in scoring, assists and steals and was one of his team's
top rebounders along withn Reeves Nelson.
Holiday got into the lane at will against the Southeast Elite defense,
but forced a few too many shots at the rim instead of pulling up for
the mid-range jumper. Jackets Online 4/8

Renardo Sidney looks extremely impressive with his new travel team LA Dream Team,
which is coached by his father. Over the high school season Sidney has
conditioned his body and is playing inspired basketball. Besides the
fact that he scored from all over the court, perhaps the most telling
sign of Sidney's development is the way he organized his teammates and
communicated on defense. Jackets Online 4/8

Jordan Hamilton put up 21 points and six rebounds in a Lamar Odom-I Can All Stars' win
over the Arkansas Hawks. Known as a sharpshooter, Hamilton hit a couple
threes but was more impressive handling the ball in the open court and
finishing at the rim....Hamilton has interest from USC, Florida, Arizona State, Texas, Oregon, Arizona, North Carolina and NC State. Jackets Online 4/8

Travis Wear and David Wear
reiterated that they will attend the same college. Right now they are
most interested in UCLA (offer), North Carolina (offer), Arizona
(offer), Washington and Stanford. Jackets Online 4/8

Drew Gordon (Mitty): His per-game averages won't wow
you  --  13.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.6 blocks - but just about everything
else does. With remarkable athleticism, speed and leaping ability, the 6-9 junior led
Mitty to a 29-6 season, The Chronicle's top ranking and its first Northern
California championship. "He does so many things that don't show up in a box score," Mitty coach
Brian Eagleson said. San Francisco Chronicle 4/8

Renardo Sidney is a stud inside for the L.A. Dream Team.  He played just less than half the game this afternoon, but scored an unofficial 19 points.  He can flat out get to the glass in a hurry on both ends of the court. He has interest from UCLA, Ohio State, and LSU at this point, but look for that list to grow! CSTV 4/8

Jrue Holiday 6-foot-3 guard had some bright spots in his pool play leading his team to the championship bracket.  But his twin teammates 6-foot-9 bookend forwards David Wear and Travis Wear were equally impressive when we watched.  They still need to get stronger, but boy are they skilled. CSTV 4/8

The No. 2 ranked prospect in the Rivals150 for the class of 2008, Jrue Holiday had a game-high 20 points. A terrific all around player, Holiday controlled the point guard position down the stretch of both the semifinal and final game of the tournament. In the finals, he chipped in three assists and three rebounds. Gator Bait 4/9

For the LA Dream Team Renardo Sidney was so impressive throughout the tournament that he received a "second place" MVP even though he didn't play his best basketball in the final game. It still wasn't that shabby of a game as he scored 17 points and collected six rebounds. But Sidney just didn't provide the energetic, dominating game that his team needed from him to win the championship game. Gator Bait 4/9

Travis Wear and David Wear, who were both coming off impressive offensive games against the Atlanta Celtics in the semifinals, just made a dent in the stats during the finals, but more impressive was their defensive effort against Sidney. Gator Bait 4/9

(photo credit: LA Times/Robert Lachman)