Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (2/18)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.

Commits

Los Osos' fourth-quarter rally came up short as the Grizzlies lost to Riverside Arlington 82-79 on Friday in a Division I-AA playoff game. Sophomore point guard Kendall Williams scored 17 points to lead Los Osos (18-12). Senior forward Derrick Rodgers just missed a triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and senior forward Mychael Blalock finished with eight points and 13 rebounds. SB Sun 2/14

The full roster for the 2008 McDonald's All-American Game will be released on Feb. 19. The McDonald's Game, the nation's premier high school basketball all-star game, will be held in Milwaukee on March 26 at 9:30pm EST. The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN....The expected favorites to be named McDonald's All-Americans are Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Greg Monroe, Jrue Holiday, B.J. Mullens, Demar DeRozan, John Riek, Delvon Roe, Al-Farouq Aminu, Eloy Vargas, Tyler Zeller, Ed Davis and Elliot Williams. TransWorld News 2/14

Huntington Beach figured Kyle Caldwell would be big trouble, and Caldwell was just that. Caldwell, a 6-foot-9 center for Newport Harbor, scored 26 points. Huntington Beach held Caldwell's teammates to a combined 28 points, and the Oilers beat Newport Harbor, 63-54, Friday in a CIF-Southern Section Division I-A first-round playoff game at Newport Harbor.... Caldwell, who has committed to UCLA for volleyball, had 16 rebounds and six blocked shots. OC Register 2/15

A colleague told me the floppy-haired Reeves Nelson reminded him of former Gonzaga All American and current Charlotte Bobcats’ super-shot Adam Morrison. All such comparisons and build-up had me frothing for the opening tip-off and it took less than a minute for me to see what all the hoopla was about. On his team’s first possession, Nelson got the ball in the block, went baseline and spun in a reverse lay-up. Sweet, I thought. The next time down he buried a three-pointer. Adam Morrison, here we come. But the rest of the quarter, until he swooped in for a fastbreak hoop at the buzzer, Nelson played more like Adonal Foyle. Max Preps 2/16

Recruits

Ater Majok, a 6-foot-10 forward originally from the Sudan, will visit UConn on March 1 to see the Huskies take on West Virginia. Currently living in Australia, Majok is also considering Kansas, Maryland, UCLA and Baylor. Connecticut Post 2/14

Mason Plumlee grew up cheering for the University of North Carolina's men's basketball team. On Monday, the 6-foot-11 former Warsaw Community High School player was offered a full-ride scholarship by the Tar Heel's biggest rival - the Duke Blue Devils. "The offer from Duke wasn't something I expected," Plumlee said....Among the schools he's most interested in, Plumlee listed Duke, Georgetown, Michigan, UCLA and Indiana. Times-Union 2/14

The Pinewood Prep (22-4, 6-0) boys finished the regular season by knocking off SCISA rival Porter-Gaud, 59-52, behind 19 points and 10 rebounds from Milton Jennings, and 16 points by Ryan Steed. The win clinched another league title for the Panthers, who have won eight in a row. 5 News Live 2/14

It appears as if a couple of schools from the Big 12 Conference have emerged from a group of several powerhouse basketball programs as the early front-runners in the ongoing recruiting battle for Jordan Hamilton of Compton Dominguez, one of the most sought after prospects among the 2009 class. There's a couple of different reports circulating around the Internet leading me to believe Texas is high on his list. However, these quotes, right here, indicate Kansas is a major player as well. Plans for an unofficial visit to Lawrence could be in the works for the 6-foot-7 swingman. UConn and Syracuse have scholarship offers on the table. UCLA and USC are in the mix as well. But for the time being, it looks like everyone in the Hamilton sweepstakes is trailing the big boys from the Big 12. LA Times 2/15

If IU is banned from the NCAA tournament, current high school juniors who made non-binding oral commitments to IU or are considering playing for IU could decide to go elsewhere. Even the four seniors who signed a binding letter of intent in November could ask to be released. "I'm really concerned," said Stephan Van Treese, the state's top-ranked junior and one of the nationally ranked players in his class considering Indiana. "If they have violations that they can't go to the tournament, why would I want to go there? The main thing I want to do when I go to college is play in the tournament. I think a lot of players feel the same way. A lot of people won't want to go there if they can't go to the postseason." USA Today 2/15

Christ School junior Mason Plumlee was surprised to see the large number of Duke students camping outside Cameron Indoor Stadium in "Krzyzewskiville," got to tour the Blue Devils' new practice facility, had his name chanted by the Cameron Crazies and got to sit directly behind the bench for Wednesday's 77-65 victory over Maryland. Summing up the unofficial recruiting visit, the 6-foot-11 forward from Winona Lake, Ind., said Friday, "The (scholarship offer from Duke) obviously meant a lot, but it was pretty fun to actually get to visit the campus and look around. It was a really good visit, I learned a lot more about Duke and got to talk to more of the players and coaches." Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski and assistant Chris Collins flew into Arden on Monday and offered a scholarship. But Plumlee reiterated Friday that a commitment to any school, including Duke, is not imminent. Citizen-Times 2/15

The moment Colony's depth caught up with the San Gorgonio High School boys basketball team was exactly when the game got away. The seventh-seeded Titans ripped off a 14-0 fourth-quarter run to end the Spartans' hopes in a 76-63 win in the first round of the CIF-SS DivisionII-AA playoffs Friday night. Colony will play the winner of Sonora and No. 9 seed Vista Murrieta in the second round on Tuesday. Seven Colony players scored at least four points, led by sophomore Tyler Lamb's 20. SB Sun 2/15

(photo credit: Citizen-Times)