Trigonis Tidbits: (April 8, 2006)

“Ahmaad Cook Seeks Release from LOI: Becomes Hottest Available
West Coast PG Prospect”  

When 6’1” senior point guard Ahmaad Cook (Westchester/Los Angeles CA) signed with Weber State last fall, few realized what a steal it was for the Big Sky program.  The younger brother of Georgetown point guard Ashanti Cook is an athletic floor leader and a stingy defender with the ability to make big shots.  Cook was the playmaker that helped lead Westchester to yet another LA-City title – knocking off favorite (and nationally ranked) Fairfax in the semi-finals and Taft in the title game.  Cook (a good student) is hard to guard in the open court and is a pin-point passer.  Due primarily to the dismissal of  former Weber State coach Joe Craven, Ahmaad has asked for and is expected to shortly receive a release from his LOI and his availability should trigger the sincere interest of mid-to-high majors looking for a quality late get at the PG position……….While the Class of 2007 appears loaded with quality depth at the wing spots, the point guard position is still surprisingly soft with 6’1” Kamryon Brown (Mater Dei/Santa Ana CA) and 5’11” Alex Tucker (Redondo Union/Redondo Beach CA) being just a few of the top-notch points in this class that presently have high major potential.  But as the spring quickly unfolds with tourneys like the upcoming Las Vegas Easter Classic, look for sleepers at this position to emerge like 6’4” Carlon Brown (King/Riverside CA) and 6’5” Julyan “JuJu” Stone (Dos Pueblos/Goleta CA).  Brown (a very good student) is currently a combo-guard that can really shoot the rock, but his size and his ability to handle the basketball as well as create off the dribble could result in an Andre Miller-type point at the next level.  Stone is one of SoCal’s top sleepers!  Long and athletic (with a size 17 shoe), Stone reminds some in the 805 area of a young Jamal Crawford and his length, versatility and high lead guard skill level could have high majors calling before the spring’s sunset has set…………….While fellow sophomore guards/wings like 6’1” Brandon Jennings (Dominguez/Compton CA), 6’3” Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall/North Hollywood CA), 6’5” DeMar DeRozan (Compton/Compton CA), 6’0” Larry Drew (Taft/Woodland Hills CA) and 6’2” Oscar Bellfield (Taft/Woodland Hills CA) have already become household names in the Class of 2008, don’t sleep on sharp-shooting 6’2” soph Dallas Rutherford (Hillcrest Christian/Granada Hills CA).  Rutherford had an outstanding 2005-06 season, averaging 22.2 ppg (connecting on 55% of his FG attempts while nailing 45% of his shots beyond the 3-point arc). Dallas also led his Eagles in assists (5.1) and steals (3.0) per game.  There is speculation that Rutherford will transfer to Campbell Hall (North Hollywood CA) next school year and if that happens, Dallas would join Jrue Holiday and 6’1’ junior Rob Ford  to form perhaps the best shooting  perimeter trio in SoCal………...6’2” senior Derrick Glasser (Artesia/Lakewood CA) was recently added to the roster of players participating in the prestigious Sonny Vaccaro Roundball Classic joining North Carolina signee 6’9” Alex Stepheson (Harvard-Westlake/North Hollywood CA) as one of just 2 California players selected to play in the event which is being held at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday. The USC-bound Glasser has reportedly made a profound impression on St. Benedicts (NJ) coach Danny Hurley who is coaching one of the two all-star teams.  If the Hurley name sounds familiar, it’s because Danny is the brother of former Duke star and NBA player Bobby Hurley and son of legendary high school coach Bob Hurley Sr. (St. Anthony/Newark NJ).  The Roundball Classic will be televised nationally by CSTV (3:00pm CST)…………..Speaking of Artesia HS products, Glasser’s Pioneer teammate 6’5” James Harden has emerged as arguably California’s top junior wing prospect.   Harden’s athleticism, versatility and ability to make big plays on both ends of the floor has led to James being a top target of high-majors like UCLA, USC, UConn, Georgia Tech, Texas, Syracuse, Kansas, Cal, Wake Forest, Texas Tech and Washington State.