Trigonis Tidbits:
“USC Pushing Hard To Make SoCal Its Holiday Recruiting Playground”
(September 9, 2006)
Ever since he stepped foot on the USC campus and stormed into that Trojan coaching box, Tim Floyd wasted no time in showing everybody, especially in Southern California, that he meant business when it came to harvesting the fertile SoCal talent soil. Getting early commitments from local stars like Daniel Hackett and Malik Story were just the first baby steps, but now Floyd is positioning himself to land perhaps the crown jewel of SoCal’s Class of 2008: 6’3” combo-guard Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall/North Hollywood) as well as Jrue’s very underrated brother and HS teammate 6’6” senior swingman Justin Holiday. While cross-town rival UCLA garnered a very recent commitment from 6’1” junior point guard Jerime Anderson (Canyon/Anaheim CA) who some (including Scouthoops.com west coast analyst Greg Hicks) presumed to be a key factor in helping the Bruins land the coveted younger Holiday (ranked as high as the #2 Class of 2008 prospect in the nation by Rivalshoops.com) due to the fact that the Holidays and Anderson played together on the club circuit this past spring and summer. In fact, according to reliable sources, Anderson’s commitment to UCLA appears to have very little impact on Jrue’s recruitment. However, USC’s rise to the top (along with Washington) of Justin Holiday’s recruiting list as well as his younger sibling’s resulted after a recent unofficial visit to the USC campus where it appears that Floyd’s southern charm (as well as the sparkling new Galen Center set to open in October) seemed to make a very good impression on the brothers. Justin (who is scheduled to have four home visits on Day One of the contact period that begins today) will officially visit on successive weekends the following five schools: SMU, Washington, Arizona State, Texas Tech and USC. Look for it to boil down to a two horse race between the Huskies and Floyd’s Trojans to have their NLI draw Justin’s ink in November. The Trojans’ biggest competition for Jrue may not be UCLA, but his childhood favorite North Carolina whose coach Roy Williams is scheduled to pay Jrue a visit at Campbell Hall on Tuesday. USC is also in great shape with Hoop Scoop’s #1 junior and SoCal native 6’1” point guard Brandon Jennings (now at Oak Hill Academy/Mouth of Wilson VA). Jennings now has USC at the top of his list alongside UConn with Arizona still trying to stay in the mix. Ultra-athletic 6’5” junior DeMar DeRozan (Compton/Compton CA) also visited USC on an unofficial recently and has the Trojans high on his list too along with UConn, Florida State, Arizona, Washington and Marquette. Getting Jennings, Jrue Holiday, DeRozan and Story in the same class would be a monumental recruiting event and dramatically change the basketball landscape and perception in Tinsletown………..…Back to Jerime Anderson for a moment. Some have questioned why UCLA would pull the trigger on this young guard so early while there are other promising fruit like Jennings and 6’0” junior Larry Drew (Taft/Woodland Hills CA) still on the table? While Jerime may not yet be the elite PG that most would expect to be drawn to the Bruins after the much championed Kevin Love verbal, Anderson is a smooth and efficient lead guard that makes very good decisions and has a nice physical upside – plus he is not yet of the national stature to scare away more high-profile playmakers in case Ben Howland decides to turn on the heat on other point guards (UCLA has been mentioned as a finalist in the Derrick Rose sweepstakes)……….Its official: AAU vagabond 6’9” sophomore Renaldo Sydney has officially enrolled at Artesia (Lakewood CA). While that is certain to draw raised eyebrows from other schools within the ABC School District as well as high school transfer critic Eric Sondheimer (Los Angeles Times), sources indicate that Sydney’s residence has been checked out and all his paperwork is in order and satisfactory to Artesia’s administration. Sydney’s arrival on Del Amo Blvd. bolsters a squad already anchored by Arizona State-bound 6’5” senior James Harden, sweet-shooting Story and 6’1” senior AJ Gaspora (a “tough as nails” combo-guard with deep shooting range) and makes the Pioneers the biggest threat to Mater Dei (Santa Ana CA) for SoCal high school supremacy………….Former Taft (Woodland Hills CA) star and Oregon State signee 6’2” off-guard Calvin Haynes did not qualify for NCAA freshman eligibility and will now head to South Kent (CT) prep school instead of Corvallis OR. It’s too bad that Haynes appears to have spent more time trying on all the adidas shoes and gear showered on him by the Pumps the last three years instead of studying for the SAT and completing all the necessary core classes needed for NCAA eligibility. As my high school coach Jim Ferguson always said: A word to the wise…………..Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos CA) product 6’5” small forward Charles Hinkle is attending Hebron Prep (ME) as a 5th year senior this school season………….High scoring 6’2” guard Derrick Strings has transferred from Marshall (Pasadena CA) to Leuzinger (Lawndale CA) for his senior season……….Congratulations to Basketball Writers Hall of Fame member Frank Burlison (Long Beach Press-Telegram & Scouthoops.com) who on his recent escapade to Hawaii decided to tie the knot with his girlfriend. Look for Burlison’s upcoming wedding (date TBA) to attract a Final Four crowd of coaches and be the college coaches’ social event of the year.
