Guerrero Tears Up the Trinity League;
McDonald’s Game Needs to Fix Selection Process
(February 3, 2011)
Although he has a near zero chance to make this year’s McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago, very few senior point guards in America have had more impressive senior seasons than 6’0” scoring sensation Cezar Guerrero (St. John Bosco/Bellflower CA). Guerrero (widely viewed by several national scouts as the nation’s #1 unsigned senior lead guard) has followed up an impressive non-league campaign with a torrid Trinity League assault – averaging 34.2 points and 4.9 assists per game during league play, including signature performances like his 48 point outburst versus nationally ranked Mater Dei and 41 points (including the game winning shot) against Orange Lutheran. Cezar’s talents have not gone unnoticed as he is now attracting heavy interest from a multitude of programs from the Big 12, SEC, Big East, ACC, Big 10, Pac-10 and Mountain West conferences. After the McDonald’s Game participants were announced in 1998, family and friends mounted a fierce effort to add future Stanford and NBA player Casey Jacobsen to the game and they were
successful in doing so when McDonald’s Game chairman Morgan Wooten realized that the leading scorer in Southern California history would not be participating in the event. Cezar seems to have a similar case as Jacobsen. Although, Cezar sat out his junior season due to CIF transfer rules, Guerrero did average 27.4 points per game as a sophomore at Workman (City of Industry CA) – leading the Lobos to a 20-6 record and their first CIF play-off win in over 20 years. As a freshman at St. John Bosco, Cezar averaged 17 points per game and 5 assists and had Trinity League efforts of 22 points against J Serra and 19 points versus eventual state champ Mater Dei. If Cezar had not missed his junior year due to eligibility issues, he was on pace (taking his scoring average of his last two HS years) to score in the vicinity of 2,600-2,700 career points which would place him in the Top 10-15 all-time in Southern California history. Additionally, last August “CJ” squared off against several future 2011 and 2012 McDonald’s All-Americans at the adidas Nations in Chicago and was widely considered by the NBA-types that were there to be at the top of the list of players performing in that loaded event. Based upon all this evidence (and other facts too large to present here), I believe that Cezar should have been at least a finalist for this honor as well as a real contender to be selected to the game as should be 6’8” senior Ryan Anderson who is enjoying a tremendous senior year himself – leading Long Beach Poly to an undefeated record to date as well as a #4 national ranking. But then again, Cezar would not be the first person deserving of the honor to not be selected to the game……………….Speaking of the McDonald’s Game, the officials for that event recently decided to enlarge the voting committee adding the likes of Jerry Meyer
California history. Additionally, last August “CJ” squared off against several future 2011 and 2012 McDonald’s All-Americans at the adidas Nations in Chicago and was widely considered by the NBA-types that were there to be at the top of the list of players performing in that loaded event. Based upon all this evidence (and other facts too large to present here), I believe that Cezar should have been at least a finalist for this honor as well as a real contender to be selected to the game as should be 6’8” senior Ryan Anderson who is enjoying a tremendous senior year himself – leading Long Beach Poly to an undefeated record to date as well as a #4 national ranking. But then again, Cezar would not be the first person deserving of the honor to not be selected to the game……………….Speaking of the McDonald’s Game, the officials for that event recently decided to enlarge the voting committee adding the likes of Jerry Meyer (Rivals.com), Evan Daniels (Scout.com), Eric Bossi (Rivals.com), Rob Harrington (PrepStars.com) and John aaaaaaaaaaaaaa
(Rivals.com), Evan Daniels (Scout.com), Eric Bossi (Rivals.com), Rob Harrington (PrepStars.com) and John Lucas (former NBA great) but have done very little to address the continuing erosion of the game’s once high credibility and legitimacy. First off, it is an absolute joke that a player’s high school senior season has become irrelevant with respect to the voting process. The voting is essentially over before a senior player starts league play and the regional and state play-offs carry absolutely zero weight in considering a player for that honor. A player’s senior season should carry great weight in the voting process or if it is not relevant, let’s just have the voter’s just decide the teams after the July period ends. That would make more sense and eliminate this mirage that this committee cares about a player’s high school career (including his senior season). The McDonald’s Game website outlines a very detailed voting process and indicates that the 2011 team will be announced live on ESPNU on February 10th, yet word has already leaked out on who the game’s participants are. The Chicago Tribune is already reporting that Chicago natives Anthony Davis and Wayne Blackshear have been selected to the game – making a mockery of both the scheduled ESPNU announcement and selection process. Some have speculated that early notice of selected participants is important to give players and their families time to make arrangements to attend the event. With the game held the very last week in March every year, I believe that if voting would take place the last two weeks of aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
February and if the announcement of the teams would be around March 1st, that would allow a whole month to take care of everything currently done in the two months prior to the game. That is plenty of time to book flights, get time off from work and re-arrange class-work and test taking! More importantly, it would address my initial point of making the senior season relevant again! Additionally, the composition of the voting committee needs to be reformed. Voters that are directly connected to high school and grassroots teams as well as tourney/event directors have inherent conflicts of interest when it comes to the legitimacy of the voting and should serve the game in some other ceremonial capacity. Furthermore, older or inactive voters who are no longer regularly involved in evaluating players and/or attending events to make independent judgments on players should be respectfully phased out. As a matter of fairness, geographic diversity in the voter panel should also be important with the West Coast receiving additional voters to make up for the disproportionate number of voters in the East and South. Southern California native Joel Francisco (ESPN.com), a respected man with 15-plus years of scouting experience would make an excellent addition in that regard and is very well deserving of a McDonald’s vote. ESPNRise’s Ronnie Flores would make another terrific addition to the voting committee – adding to the panel’s geographic and ethnic diversity. Nobody studies and watches the national high school basketball scene (both teams and players) more than Flores!
The bottom line question is: what does a McDonald’s invite mean? Is it supposed to be a reward for an outstanding high school career or just a regurgitation of some national scout’s top prospect list? Is it supposed to be some “old boys” network or club with very little geographic or ethnic diversity (currently there are only 5 persons on the 35 man boys panel that are African-American) or should it’s panel reflect a cross-section of America’s basketball community? Some believe that the McDonald’s hierarchy cares little about these issues, but they must realize that if they value the integrity of their game and their image as the ultimate high school basketball honor, it is imperative that they address these issues in order to restore an eroding public perception of this great event………………..Guerrero’s former Belmont Shore teammate 6’4” combo-guard Christian Garrett (IMG Academy/Bradenton FL) decided to enroll at Kansas recently, just in time for the start of spring classes. Garrett will be a preferred walk-on for Bill Self – giving the Jayhawks a player with nice long-term upside as well as an impressive academic profile. Garrett (a resident of Westlake Village CA) decided on Kansas after considering North Carolina State, Alabama, Harvard, Columbia and Sam Houston State…………Speaking of quality floor leaders, 5’8” senior Chris Anderson (Canyon/Anaheim CA) is also having an excellent senior year – leading the Comanches to a sparkling 21-3 record which includes two narrow losses to Orange County superpower Mater Dei. Chris (the younger brother of UCLA PG Jerime Anderson) is averaging 21.2 points and 7.3 assists per game and is attracting interest from the likes of UC-Irvine and San Diego……………………
Another Southern California senior having a fantastic year is 6’3” off-guard Reece Morgan (Peninsula/Rolling Hills Estates CA). Morgan (a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo signee) is torching the twine this year – averaging 27.9 points and 7.0 boards per game for a Panther squad that is 22-1 (only loss is to Westchester). Morgan has had four 40 point or more performances this season – topping it off with a 54 point explosion against Leuzinger on Tuesday night. Morgan was an all-tourney pick at last July’s Las Vegas Fab 48..………One of the West Coast’s top sophomore “bigs” this year has been rapidly improving 6’9” Maurice Kirby (Poston Butte/San Tan Valley AZ). Kirby (an excellent student) committed to Arizona State shortly after earning Top 25 Cream of the Crop honors at last October’s Fullcourt Press All-Frosh/Soph Camp in Lynwood CA and has continued that momentum this school season – averaging 13.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. Kirby is also averaging 2.2 blocks per game and had a monster 22 point/24 board effort against Chavez (Phoenix AZ) earlier this year. Look for Kirby to work his way onto major national 2013 Top 100 lists this spring and summer after media and scouts get a chance to get a long look at this true back-to-the-basket player……..Another underclass post player having a break-out season this year is 6’7” junior Chris Reyes (Damien/La Verne CA). Reyes is a rugged interior player with soft hands, runs the floor very well and has deceptive athleticism around the cup. Chris is putting up good numbers – going for 18.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game for a 20-2 Spartan squad (ranked #10 in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times) this season. Reyes pumped in 30 points (shooting a perfect 11/11 from the field) and grabbed 10 boards in Damien’s 75-52 win over South Hills (West Covina CA) last Friday ……………..Hard-working but undersized 6’6” junior power-forward Brandon Perry (Taft/Woodland Hills CA) has committed to Cal State Northridge – giving the Matadors a physical and strong future inside presence…………One of the best West Coast games of the year this season was a recent Sin City battle between Findlay Prep (Henderson NV) and Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas NV) held on Saturday January 22ndbefore a capacity crowd at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion (Las Vegas NV). 6’1” unsigned senior lead guard Kevin Kaspar knocked down a 3-point bomb at the buzzer to finally nudge Findlay over Gorman 89-86 in double OT. Game MVP 6’1” senior point guard Myck Kabongo (Texas signee) scored 26 points and 6’6” senior Amir Garrett (St. John’s signee) and UNLV-bound 6’3” soph Nigel Williams-Goss both added 17 points each for Findlay. 6’5” junior Shabazz Muhammad was a force all-game long for the Gaels – scoring 33 points in a losing cause. Underrated 6’8” junior Ben Carter contributed 17 points for Gorman…………5’10” junior playmaker Chass Bryant (Oaks Christian/Westlake Village CA) is having a productive junior campaign – averaging 15.4 points and 4.8 assists per game. Chass is a quick and crafty point with extended 3-point range and is also an excellent student……………….Former Dos Pueblos (Goleta CA) star and current UTEP senior point guard 6’7” Julyan Stone has had a great career for the Miners – topping it off last week when he became the all-time Conference USA assist leader. Don’t be surprised if the multi-dimensional Stone gets drafted in next June’s NBA Draft as many NBA squads including the Miami Heat love his size and passing ability for a NBA lead guard…………While Stone is finishing his college career on a high note, another former Belmont Shore point guard 6’4” Darius Morris (Michigan) is paving his own NBA path. Morris is having a break-out soph season – leading the Big Ten in assists (4thin the nation) with 7.2 dimes per contest and prompting several college analysts to deem him as arguably the most improved player in college basketball. A recent scientific study in a Wall Street Journal article raised the question of which college player was the “most valuable” to his team’s success. In other words, calculating which players were “involved in the highest percentage of their team’s field goals, either via assists or by making shots themselves.” Their conclusion was that Morris was (“in a landslide”) the top player in that category. Look for Darius to climb up fast in future 2012 NBA mock drafts………………. …Last weekend I traveled through snow and braved the cold to attend Basketball Spotlight’s Clash for the Cup in Neptune NJ. Southern California’s own Cali Style also made the trek to the Jersey Shore and came away with titles in the 12 & under and 14 & under divisions of this strong event (made-up mostly of top East Coast squads). 6’4” Tyler Dorsey and 5’10” Marcus LoVett were amazing all tourney long and were the talk of town after combining for 46 points (Dorsey 25/LoVett 21) to stun the area’s top 14&u squad Team Final (a New Jersey/Philly team coached by former Louisville legend and NBA star Pervis Ellison) in a pool play game on Saturday. Cali Style would run the table during Sunday’s play-offs - knocking off quality squads like the Philly Aztecs (semis) and New York-based Team SCAN (finals) to take home the hardware. 6’8” PF Stephen Zimmerman also came up big in the championship game while 5’10” DeVearl Ramsey (a 7thgrader playing up) played stellar defense and provided poised ballhandling and 6’2” SG Robbie Feinberg contributed timely outside shooting. The 12&u Cali Style squad endured a very narrow Saturday pool play loss to New Jersey-based Team IZOD (former NBA star Darryl Dawkins serves as an assistant on that squad) and bounced back to capture the 12&u crown on Sunday afternoon (going 3-0 in the playoffs). 6’6” 6thgrade man-child Cody Riley was a work-house all weekend long for the Cali Style 12’s (also suited up for the 14&u squad) – playing in 10 tourney games on Saturday and Sunday. 5’7” guard Michael Feinberg displayed a lethal stroke from the 3-point range and the basketball IQ and leadership skills that also helped spark Cali Style to the 12u title.
