Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (3/24)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.

Commits

Jrue Holiday is an accommodating guy. He signs every autograph, doles out wristbands and gives away just about every award he's ever received to some lucky kid. So when Holiday was officially named 2007-08 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year during a ceremony in North Hollywood, Calif., on Wednesday, was there any chance he'd part ways with what is arguably the nation's most prestigious honor in high school sports? “Most definitely not,” said a soft-spoken and smiling Holiday. RISE Magazine 3/19

Best of the best from the SF Valley/North region: Player of the Year: Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall) Sr. -- No-brainer pick here. UCLA-bound guard was unstoppable in leading Vikings to third state title in four years. He averaged 25.3 points, 12.1 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.4 blocks a game. LA Times 3/19

In my 13 years at the paper, I have never seen a preps debate that’s harder to decide than this: Should Drew Gordon be on the All-Mercury News first team? Our winter sports high school section will be in Sunday’s paper, and we still can’t decide. What do you think? Nobody’s crazy enough to argue that the Mitty senior isn’t the best basketball player in the Central Coast Section. When UCLA and everyone else wants a guy from Santa Clara County, that tends to draw some attention around here. It’s no exaggeration at all to call Gordon the best basketball prospect in Santa Clara County in 30 or 40 years, since Kurt Rambis at Cupertino in the 1970s or the Ogdens (Lincoln High) and Dennis Awtrey (Blackford) in the ’60s. Mercury News 3/19

McDonald's Sunday Practice: Two likely starters Jrue Holiday of the West and Tyreke Evans of the East didn't make it to Milwaukee in time for practice because of flight complications. In their absence, both squads practiced with what appeared to be a first team. For the West the first five consisted of Brandon Jennings at the one, Malcolm Lee at the two, DeRozan at the three, Monroe at the four and B.J. Mullens at the five. Rivals 3/23

Recruits

North Carolina-bound point guard Larry Drew Jr. of Woodland Hills Taft has been selected the City Section player of the year in boys' basketball by a panel of sportswriters....The first-team All-City selections: Renardo Sidney, Fairfax, Jr.; Justin Hawkins, Taft, Jr.; Eugene Phelps, Taft, Sr.; Tony Freeland, Fremont, Jr.; Laron Armstead, Fremont, Sr.; Dominique O'Connor, Westchester, Jr.; Oscar Bellfield, Westchester, Sr.; Chris Solomon, Fairfax, Sr.; Nigel Carter, Dorsey, Sr.; Jarred Dubois, Westchester, Sr. LA Times 3/19

Andy Shannon of El Camino and Brendan Lane of Rocklin will compete for Team USA in the Albert Schweitzer basketball tournament next week in Mannheim, Germany....Shannon and Lane are 6-foot-10 centers, though Lane also can shoot three-point baskets. A senior, Shannon helped lead El Camino to a No. 1 seed in the Northern California Division III playoffs, and Lane was instrumental in the Thunder winning the Division II section championship. A junior, Lane is a national recruit. Sac Bee 3/19

Think of the great University of San Diego High basketball teams when the Waltons played for the Dons. Then recall how good the St. Augustine teams were in the same era. Now combine the two rosters and you have Compton Dominguez, L.A. Fairfax or Santa Ana Mater Dei. “A player like (San Diego's) Jeremy Tyler is great and he might have one or two players around him, but not like the Los Angeles Section or Southern Section teams that go 10 deep.” San Diego Union Tribune 3/19

Pinewood Prep junior Milton Jennings has been named the Gatorade South Carolina boys' basketball player of the year. Jennings is one of the top prospects in the country for 2009 and is getting recruited from coast to coast. He has narrowed his list to five schools: Clemson, South Carolina, UCLA, Georgetown and Florida. He could announce his decision soon after Pinewood Prep resumes classes after spring break. Jennings, a 6-9, 210-pound power forward, averaged 18.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots this season to lead the Panthers to a 27-4 record and their third straight SCISA Class AAA state championship. Charleston Post Courier 3/20

Mayo could be the first in a parade of one-and-done players at USC, with DeRozan coming in next season and possibly Fairfax High center Renardo Sidney for the 2009-2010 season. Sidney has said he would attend college in California and appears to have narrowed his choices to USC and UCLA. LA Times 3/20

Thabeet's departure and potential transfers could open up more scholarships to be filled, perhaps, by guard Nate Miles and a post player. Miles still hopes to gain academic clearance from the NCAA, and UConn is focusing its big-man recruiting efforts on Ater Majok, a 6-10 forward/center from Sudan via Australia. Majok will make an official visit in April. Courant 3/23

(photo credit RISE Magazine)