The 2009 NBA Draft was held last Thursday at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and there were several Southern California names and faces that were called to the podium by NBA Commissioner David Stern, including the 3rd pick James Harden (Artesia HS/Lakewood CA/Arizona State), the 9th pick DeMar DeRozan (Compton HS CA/USC), the 10th pick Brandon Jennings (Oak Hill via Dominguez/Compton CA/Italy), the 15th pick Austin Daye (Woodbridge/Irvine CA/Gonzaga), the 17th pick Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall/North Hollywood CA/UCLA) and the 22nd pick Darren Collison (Etiwanda HS CA/UCLA). Another player with SoCal ties – USC’s Taj Gibson – was taken by the Chicago Bulls with the #26 selection.
That’s seven of the 1st round’s 30 picks as well as three of the Top 10.Additionally, the first pick of the 2nd Round was Collison’s HS teammate and Harden’s fellow ASU Sun Devil Jeff Pendergraph while former Arizona Wildcat and La Costa Canyon HS/Carlsbad CA star Chase Buddinger (once thought to be a lottery pick) slipped to the mid-2nd round.An impressive day indeed for SoCal hoops it was!A day that also included some spicy draft drama as Jennings (once thought to be a lottery lock) was originally invited to the “green room” then told on draft day by the NBA that they thought it was likely that he was not going to be selected within the Top 14 picks and rumors continued to fester just minutes before Stern took the podium that there was a chance that he might slip out of the 1st round all together.Jennings and his family decided to watch the draft from their hotel room at the Westin Times Square (the NBA’s official draft hotel) but were pleasantly surprised when the Milwaukee Bucks pegged him with the 10th pick.That surprise announcement led to Jennings making the short trip from the Westin to Madison Square Garden and a Lazarus-type cameo appearance as
well as jubilant photo-op with Stern on the WaMu Theater stage.The draft was also a surreal experience for me as I witnessed in person the calling of three players in the Top 10 (Jennings, DeRozan, and Harden) as well as a fourth (Holiday) that I have had the opportunity to coach on my Belmont Shore squad.Looking back, there was plenty of reason to believe that all four would go on to future greatness, but to actually see it unfold before my very eyes is an experience that I will never forget.It was also a great day for the tradition of the Pangos All-American Camp as alums like Harden, DeRozan, Jennings, Daye, Holiday, Gibson, Pendergraph and the draft’s 8th overall pick Jordan Hill (Arizona/New York Knicks) added to the camp’s NBA list of former players…………… The departure of former USC coach Tim Floyd and arrival of Kevin O’Neil has caused 6’2” rising senior lead guard Gary Franklin (Mater Dei/Santa Ana CA) to reconsider his verbal commitment to the Trojans and is now officially back on the recruiting market. Look for Franklin to attract heavy interest this July as his strong spring play including impressive performances at the Pangos All-American Camp in Long Beach CA (dished out a game-high 8 assists in the Top 25 Game as well as recording a camp-high 11 “threes” in a game there) and the NBPA Top 100
Camp in Charlottesville VA (his 21 points in a camp game there was good for the 7th best scoring outburst there) has given him momentum going into this summer.Schools now in the mix include Oklahoma, Arizona, Baylor, Utah, Washington and Virginia……………………
Speaking of the recent NBPA Top 100 Camp, West Coast players that were in attendance included rising seniors Franklin, 6’9” Tristan Thompson (Findlay Prep/Henderson NV), 6’5” Tyler Lamb (Mater Dei/Santa Ana CA), 6’6” Anthony Brown (Ocean View/Huntington Beach CA), 6’9” Terrence Jones (Jefferson/Portland OR), 6’9” James Johnson (Morse/San Diego CA), 6’5” Daniel Bejarano (North/Phoenix AZ), 6’9” Richard Solomon (Price/Los Angeles CA), 6’10” Alex Kirk (Los Alamos/Los Alamos NM), 6’5” Kyle Collinsworth (Provo/Provo UT), 6’5” Desmond Simmons (Salesian/Richmond CA) and 6’5” Geoffrey Allen (Crenshaw/Los Angeles CA) as well as 6’8” rising junior Angelo Chol (Hoover/San Diego CA).
Continuing his rapid ascent up the 2010 rankings, James (“Air Canada”) Johnson followed up his impressive Pangos Camp performance with an excellent effort in Charlottesville – helping spark his Rockets squad to a perfect 7-0 record en route to the camp team championship.Schools now turning up the heat on Johnson include Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Virginia, Maryland, Georgetown, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Indiana, Iowa State and Washington.Expect that line of suitors to get longer before it gets shorter as July hits and colleges get a chance to get a first-hand look at this athletic and hard-working 2010 postman…………....One of the hottest rising 2011 prospects 6’8” DeAndre Daniels (Taft/Woodland Hills CA) was impressive at the recent Texas Elite Camp in Austin TX and left camp with an offer from the Longhorns.Besides Texas, Kentucky, Kansas, Memphis, Virginia Tech, USC, Virginia and Washington are starting to exert intensive recruiting pressure on this athletic Trevor Ariza-type forward……………….One of the nation’s top post sleepers is 6’9” rising senior Godwin Okonji (Findlay Prep/Henderson NV).Playing in the shadows of heralded Findlay Prep players like Avery Bradley (Texas signee and 2009 McDonald’s All-American) last season did not afford Okonji a lot of touches or opportunities to show his skills, but Godwin has made tremendous progress the past few months and will be the object of increased high-major attention once college coaches see him up close next month.Ute coach Jim Boylan will get a jump on his competition when Okonji attends Utah’s elite camp on July 1st……………...Recruiting is starting to also pick-up for 6’7” rising senior PF Jordan Salley (La Verne Lutheran/La Verne CA).Creighton, New Mexico, Tulsa, SMU, Cal, Pepperdine, San Diego State, Portland, San Jose State, UC-Riverside, Portland State and Cal State Northridge are showing serious interest.Salley will attend the Reebok All-American Camp in Philadelphia PA (July 8-10) as well as the Fullcourt Press All-West Camp (July 11-13 @ the HAX/Hawthorne CA)…………Another 2010 prospect attracting solid D-I attention is 6’2” LaBradford Franklin.“LB” has been offered by Gonzaga (attended the Zags elite camp this month), Santa Clara, Pepperdine and San Francisco and is also receiving interest from Virginia Tech, Boston College, San Diego State, SMU, Nevada, Utah State, San Jose State, UC-Riverside, Toledo and Columbia.Franklin will spend his senior year at Great Oak (Temecula CA) after being forced to miss his junior year at San Diego HS last season due to residency eligibility issues……………One of SoCal’s most rapidly improving rising senior forwards is 6’8” Frank Eteuati (Cathedral/Los Angeles CA).Long and athletic, Frank (son of former Long Beach State 49’er PF Frank Edwards) is an excellent slasher with ability to finish high above the rim as well as having a nice perimeter face-up game that extends to the three-point stripe.Eteauti has been working hard on improving his skill level with former prep phenom and Alabama star Schea Cotton (who now conducts skills training in the Southern California area)..………Hard-nosed 6’1’ rising senior sharp-shooter Kyle Boswell (Edison/Huntington Beach CA) has committed to UC-Santa Barbara…………..A national name for the future is 6’2” rising freshman Eric Cooper Jr. (La Verne Lutheran/La Verne CA).Cooper is a very skilled and poised lead guard that has attended elite camps at Stanford, Cal, UNLV and UCLA this month and has more than held his own against top 2010 and 2011 prospects there.
