While the battle for the #1 spot in 2010 has generated much debate and there are plenty of serious contenders at this point including 6’8” Tristan Thompson (St. Benedict’s/Newark NJ/Texas verbal), 6’9” Josh Smith (Kentwood/Kent WA), 6’7” Jared Sullinger (Northland/Columbus OH/Ohio State verbal), 6’3” Brandon Knight (Pine Crest/Ft. Lauderdale FL) and 6’6” Harrison Barnes (Ames/Ames IA), it was 6’10” junior center Jeremy Tyler (San Diego/San Diego CA) who made a strong early

season case for the top 2010 slot. Tyler was the talk of the town this past weekend at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic being held at Torrey Pines HS (San Diego CA) – exhibiting in three games his wide variety of physical talents. Tyler was a dominating influence on both ends of the floor as well as in the scoring column – pouring in 44 points (also pulled down 24 boards) versus Santa Rita (Tucson AZ), 41 points against West Valley (Hemet CA) and 34 points (22 in 2^nd half) on Eisenhower (Rialto CA). Besides the customary thunderous dunks and power moves around the cup, Tyler also displayed great footwork and an accurate touch on his mid-range jumper as well as a new and improved extended
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perimeter range. What made Tyler’s efforts more remarkable was that he had very little team support due in large part to San Diego CIF commissioner Dennis Ackerman ruling San Diego’s three transfers (6’5” senior Terrence Boyd, 6’10” junior Zechariah Smith and 6’1” junior LaBradford Franklin) not eligible for varsity competition this year, charging that “undue influence” drew them to the school. The matter is expected to make its way to court soon. While Eisenhower’s constant double and triple-teaming of Tyler slowed him down enough to knock off the Cavers 67-58, there was no doubt that Tyler’s special trio of performances had the near-

capacity Torrey Pines crowds (which included locals like Phoenix Suns GM Steve Kerr and former Chicago Bull Jud Buechler) buzzing. Eisenhower’s 6’2” senior point guard Andrew Bock (Creighton signee) was instrumental in his squad’s win – knocking down 26 points (many from long range including 22 points in the 1^st half). Other players at Torrey Pines making noise included tourney MVP 5’11” junior Aaron Bright (Bellevue/Bellevue WA), 6’4” senior Abdul Gaddy (Bellarmine Prep/Tacoma WA), 6’7” senior Colton Christian (Bellevue/Bellevue WA), 6’4” senior Darius Morris (Windward/Los Angeles CA), 6’9” senior Brendan Lane (Rocklin/Rocklin CA) and 6’1” junior Terrell
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Stoglin (Santa Rita/Tucson AZ). Bright led his team to the National Division title – knocking off Eisenhower 58-54 in the final and having a big scoring effort (26 points) in Bellevue’s 60-47 semi-final win over Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland CA). Gaddy was his usual smooth self here (Abdul had 30 points/4 assists in a win over Santa Rita/Tucson AZ). Christian was one of the top surprises of the event – the bouncy unsigned senior made plays at both ends and really boosted his stock here. Morris seems to have finally shaken off the effects of a nagging back injury (he scored 23 points in a decisive win over Newark Memorial (Newark CA). Lane showed signs of being a legitimate “face-up” post with

real 3-point range and Stoglin had offensive outbursts versus San Diego (26 points) and Bellermine (30 points). ……………… Sparked by 6’1” junior Gary Franklin’s team-high 25 points, #1 ranked Mater Dei (Santa Ana CA) held off St. Patrick (Elizabeth NJ) 52-45 to capture the prestigious City of Palms Classic crown in Ft. Myers FL last week. The Monarchs also received excellent performances from North Carolina-bound senior twins 6’9” Dave and Travis Wear and 6’8” senior Stanford-signee Andy Brown as well as 6’5” junior wing Tyler Lamb (committed to UCLA). Lamb’s two free-throws with 5.5 seconds remaining allowed the Monarchs to avoid a 2^nd round upset at the hands
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of Roman Catholic (Philadelphia PA). Mater Dei followed up its City of Palms title by capturing the Orange Holiday Classic (held at Chapman University/Orange CA on December 26-30) – knocking off upstart Squalicum (Squalicum WA) 79-50. Dave and Travis Wear were named as tourney co-MVPs………………………Speaking of the Monarchs, Former Mater Dei (Santa Ana CA) product 6’4” Jamaal Trice decided to spend a post-grad year this season at Mt. Zion (Durham NC) in order to hone his skills and attempt to attract more D-I attention. His effort has paid off as UConn recently offered a scholarship and Trice was quick to pull the trigger. Trice is a strong wing with a very

accurate shooting touch as well as a great kid……………Minnesota-signee 6’1” senior lead guard Justin Cobbs sparked Bishop Montgomery (Torrance CA) to a huge 65-58 upset of Bishop O’Connell (Arlington VA) at the Mission Prep Christmas Classic (San Luis Obispo CA) last week. Cobbs outplayed heralded North Carolina-bound 6’3” junior point guard Kendall Marshall in the title game (scored 23 points) and was named tourney MVP……………Tourney host Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas NV) outlasted all invited guests including tourney finalist East (Denver CO) 64-59 to capture the 2^nd annual Bishop Gorman Holiday Classic (December 17-20) in Las Vegas NV. Bishop Gorman’s 5’8” junior water bug PG Jonathan Lloyd was named MVP. Others that were named all-tourney here included 6’1” senior Kylel Coleman (Bishop Gorman/Las Vegas NV), 6’2” junior Evan Roquemore (Foothill/Henderson NV), Yale-bound 5’11” senior Austin Morgan (Reno/Reno NV), 5’11” senior Czar Robotham (Bishop Gorman/Las Vegas NV) and 6’4” junior Keala King (Dominguez/Compton CA)………………After disappointing performances at the Westchester Tip-Off Classic and the Bishop Gorman Holiday Classic, Dominguez (Compton CA) led by new coach Duane Cooper (former USC star guard and Los Angeles Laker) outlasted Fairfax (Los Angeles CA) 58-56 to capture the prestigious Les Schwab Invitational (Liberty HS/Hillsboro OR) behind 22 points (19 in the 2^nd half) by 6’3” senior Myron Green. Despite being on the losing end of the ledger, Fairfax’s 6’9” senior Renaldo Sidney’s 32 points in the championship game helped him earn tourney MVP honors………………………6’8” unsigned senior Victor Rudd (Findlay/Henderson NV) scored 16 points (to go with 12 boards) en route to MVP honors as Findlay handily beat Rice (New York NY) 84-64 to capture the Rock Holiday Classic at Henderson Intermediate School (Henderson NV). Findlay improved to 12-0 on the season……………6’0” unsigned senior point guard Michael Williams hit a 3-point shot with just 5 seconds remaining to help Taft (Woodland Hills CA) edge Etiwanda (Etiwanda CA) 63-61 and take home the hardware at the 2008 Modesto Christian Holiday Hoop Classic (Modesto CA). Williams was named tourney MVP………….Fueled by 6’3” senior Keon Pledger’s 44 points, Lynwood (Lynwood CA) beat Crenshaw (Los Angeles CA) 92-87 in overtime to win the 2008 Lynwood Christmas Challenge……….….In a recent major development, former Arizona Wildcat 7’0” center Jeff Withey has decided that Kansas will be his new home next season – becoming eligible in December 2009. Although he doesn’t officially count in most major media’s recruiting 2009 class rankings, Withey may have as much national impact as any post newcomer next year – giving the Jayhawks a very agile shotblocker with an underrated shooting touch around the paint…………..Promising 6’5” junior wing Allen Crabbe (Price/Los Angeles CA) committed to Cal on Christmas Day. Crabbe (a very good student) is a sharp-shooting off-guard with size that has Top 100 potential. Stanford, Oregon State, Utah and Nevada were among the schools showing interest prior to the commitment …………...6’9” sophomore Malcolm Thomas (San Diego City College/San Diego CA) is arguably the top JC talent in the California ranks this season and his 22.3 ppg and 14.1 rpg has to make his future D-I college coach Steve Fisher excited about him joining the San Diego State program next season. Fisher has done an outstanding job recruiting top-notch players to San Diego State this past recruiting year. Besides Thomas, other excellent prospects that will be Aztecs next season include 6’6” soph transfer Tyrone Shelly, 6’10” junior transfer Brian Carlwell, 6’6” Khawhi Leonard (King/Riverside CA), 6’6” Alec Williams (JSerra/San Juan Capistrano CA) 6’2” Chase Tapley (Sacramento/Sacramento CA) and 6’1” Eric Lawton (West Valley/Hemet CA). Shelly is a strong and athletic scoring wing that is sitting out this year after transferring from Pepperdine, Carlwell (an Illinois transfer) gives Fisher some needed size down low, Leonard is a top 100 caliber recruit that is among the most underrated national 2009 prospects, Williams is a wide-body forward that is a deceptive athlete and high-octane scorer, Tapley is a solid defender and dangerous slashing scorer and Lawton is an exciting athletic combo with 3-point range………One of Southern California’s most underrated juniors 6’3” James Walker (Los Alamitos/Los Alamitos CA) was on center stage earlier this month at the North-South Orange County Challenge at El Toro (Lake Forest CA) – showing that he could more than hold his own with two touted Ocean View (Huntington Beach CA) juniors 6’6” Anthony Brown and 6’4” Avery Johnson. Walker scored 27 points (including 4 “threes”) in Los Alamitos’ 83-63 win over Ocean View – displaying in the process that this strong wing is deserving of Division I attention………….Next year’s NBPA Camp (held annually each June in Richmond VA) will have a brand new look and direction – having replaced as its camp director Bob Gibbons with Scout.com’s main man Dave Telep. Besides being responsible for inviting players, Telep will also help mold the camp’s new and improved format……………Just one year ago Kyle Fogg was a 6’3” senior guard at Brea-Olinda (Brea CA) with zero Division I offers. Oh what a difference a year makes! After a strong spring 2008 on the club circuit with Belmont Shore, Fogg started receiving several offers including one from Arizona which he accepted. Fogg, now just a true freshman, has started the last 5 games for the Wildcats including big wins over Gonzaga (was perfect from the field and the free-throw line for 6 points to go along with 4 assists in 31 minutes) and Kansas (14 points/5 boards in 25 minutes). Fogg’s continued development will be crucial to Arizona if it expects to continue its current record streak of consecutive NCAA tourney appearances……………….In my last column, I indicated that Georgetown-signee 6’7” Hollis Thompson had left De La Salle (Concord CA) and moved to the Atlanta GA area. But apparently, Hollis will not stay in Atlanta too long as he will enroll in Georgetown at the start of the spring 2009 semester – six months earlier than other members of his original 2009 class.

*** Photos courtesy of Nick Koza (SportsAmp.com.

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