News Bits
Junior newcomer Andrew (West Campus High/Sacramento City College) Ferrara-Jones scored 39 points, shooting 14-17, 8-11, 3-5 respectively, in the UC Santa Cruz 89-85 road win versus Colorado College on Monday. Sophomore teammate Miles (Bishop O'Dowd) Burrows finished with 21 points on 8-13, 3-5 and 2-2 shooting respectively.
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Dennis Marshall: "A whole lot of programs realizing that transfer portal ain’t garnering the results they expected. Hell, u can get a good high school kids that can average 3, 4, 5 ppg. That’s what a lot of transfers are doing. There’s only a handful of difference makers. Not as many as made out to be."
The low majors don't necessarily get to pick and choose. Realistically, most mid majors too. Currently, college experience is manna from heaven for college coaches since so many collegiate players hit the transfer portal. It's true that high schoolers are getting the short shrift in recruiting since developing a prospect or a prospect developing in a couple of years is a feat not encountered much nowadays for multiple reasons.
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6-foot-2, 200 Cole Williams/St. Vincent De Paul High disappeared from sight after high school. I knew he was somewhere collegiately but couldn't find his new address. Santa Rosa area coaching legend Tom Bonfigli (Williams' high school coach) knew and once contacted, he wrote "He is a grey-shirt with Coach (Craig) McMillan—working out with Santa Rosa JC. I talked to Cole—he plans to play next season."
Williams should be a JC force next season after tutelage from McMillan. Here is our January 2024 Williams feature.
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6-foot-6 freshman Tyler (Vanden High) Thompson is apparently redshirting this year at Montana as he is listed on the official roster but has yet to appear in a game this season.
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"UNDERSTANDING THE NEW SCHOLARSHIP AND ROSTER LIMIT RULES IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL STARTING 2025"
Man, it's the Wild, Wild West, East, North and South on the horizon.
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St. Mary's Hoops: "Once again 🙌 Congratulations to Mikey (Prolific Prep) Lewis who has been named WCC Freshman of the Week for the second time this season! Lewis recorded a combined 26 points over two games and logged back-to-back double-digit scoring games 👏"
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6-foot-7 190 forward Chris (De La Salle) Bell is a junior at Syracuse and in 15 games/13 starts and 24.4 minutes an outing, he is averaging 10.3 points a contest while shooting 39%, 27% and 75% respectively. He is also averaging 2.6 boards.
Here's a January 7 anecdote posted by Samantha Croston: "The announcer for MBB just had a fascinating story for why Chris Bell is coming off the bench instead of starting. Autry told the announcers that Chris Bell was struggling mentally w/ the pressure of starting, and by coming in off the bench, he could switch his mindset from “when am I coming out of the game” to “when am I going in the game.” So far tonight, Bell is 3-for-3 from the field and has 7 points and leads all scorers."
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"Rookie Jaylen Wells registered his first double-double on Monday (January 6) to help lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a win over the Dallas Mavericks at FedExForum to snap a two-game skid.
Wells produced 17 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and one assist in the 119-104 victory. He went 10-of-11 from the free-throw line and was a plus-18 in nearly 35 minutes on the court in his 32nd start of the season for coach Taylor Jenkins and the Grizzlies.
The 39th pick struggled to shoot from the field, knocking down just three of his 11 shot attempts. But Wells remained active on both ends of the court and found success penetrating into the paint to draw contact and get to the free-throw line..."
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Sam Kayser: "NEWS: 2026 5⭐️ Toni Bryant will take an official visit to Boston College beginning on January 9th, a source tells @LeagueRDY. Bryant took his first official visit to Cal back in September and has since taken unofficials to Tennessee, Florida State and Oklahoma State. #14 in the ESPN60."
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Courtney Anderson Jr. redshirted last season at Colorado after graduating from Dublin High. This season, he has played just 15 minutes in the first 13 games and I don't believe he is currently injured. (An October 2024 team preview contained this: "...Anderson has been hampered by injuries thus far in practice...") The Buffaloes also have at least two incoming prep backcourt recruits but only the Andersons know where Courtney Jr. will be playing next season if that decision has even been made.
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Wed, Jan 8, NCAA D1 scores
Stanford 70, Virginia Tech 59 box. Maxime Raynaud went for 19 points plus 14 boards while teammate Oziyah (Modesto Christian) Sellers also tallied 19 points, shooting 7-12, 4-7 and 1-1 respectively. The Cardinal won despite enduring a nine minute scoring absence in the initial 20 minutes.
California 75, Virginia 61 box. The Bears won both 20 minute sessions as Andrej (Jesuit High) Stojakovic didn't even attempt a trey but still finished with 23 points, aided by going 11-13 at the foul line.
Thu, Jan 9, NCAA D1 scores
Louisiana Tech 81, Florida International U 64 box. In 25 minutes, Al (Franklin High/San Diego City College) Green soulfully produced 21 points on 7-9, 5-7 and 2-4 shooting respectively in the victory.
Northern Colorado 83, Montana State 82 box. Northern Colorado came from behind down by 20 in the second half and nabbed a close win on the road to go 3-0 in conference action. 6-foot-8 Isaiah (Tracy High/USF) Hawthorne led the victors with both 18 points and nine rebounds.
UC Davis 63, Cal State Fullerton 53 box. For the winners, sophomore guard Connor (Dougherty Valley High) Sevilla scored a team best 18 points and also pulled down five rebounds in the homecourt success.
Pacific 95, Washington State 94 OT box. Put this one into the Upset of the Season category. Too bad it wasn't on February 17 (Washington's birthday) as, in Pullman, 6-foot-4 transfer guard Lamar Washington both scored 40 points (16-22, 4-6, 4-5 shooting respectively) and buried a triple at the buzzer for the game-winning shot. The young man is a darkhorse candidate for mayor of Stockton.
Santa Clara 82, Oregon State 81 OT box. For the Broncos, Elijah (West Valley College) Mahi led with both 21 points as well as five assists and added six boards to his mix.
San Francisco 81, Portland 72 box. With four starters scoring in double figures and shooting 50% overall and 39% as a team. USF won both 20 minute sessions and went to 4-1 in conference, 14-4 overall.
Idaho 80, Sacramento State 67 box. Jacob Holt enjoyed a 35 point, 10 rebound double-double but support from his teammates, but one, fell short as Idaho grabbed a solid road victory. Julian (St. Joseph Notre Dame/CCSF, U of Alberta) Vaughns contributed 13 points plus four assists in the Hornet cause but no one else for Sacramento State reach double figures scoring.
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Wed, Jan 8, CCCMBCA scores
City College San Francisco 126, Cañada College 49
Las Positas College 72, College of San Mateo 59. Top scorers for Hawks (15-0, 1-0 Coast-North): Sterling McClanahan 20 pts, 5 reb., Jorren Edmonds 18 pts, 8 reb, 5 ast. and Elijah Mobley 17 pts, 5 reb.
West Valley College 81, Foothill College 52
Columbia College 86, Fresno City College 80
College of the Sequoias 127, Coalinga College 45 CC box 56-20 was followed by 71-25.
Lassen College 86, College of the Siskiyous 85
College of the Redwoods 87, Butte College 74
Shasta College 73, Feather River College 65
College of Marin 90, Mendocino College 81
Los Medanos College 77, Solano College 71
Contra Costa College 76, Napa Valley College 68
Yuba College 75, Merritt College 62
Skyline College 89, DeAnza College 74
San Jose City College 92, Hartnell College 56 box. Remarkably, nobody on SJCC scored more than 11 points. The Jags jumped out to a 51-22 first half lead.
Cabrillo College 88, Gavilan College 56
Ohlone College 72, Chabot College 70
Thu, Jan 9, CCCMBCA scores
Santa Rosa Junior College 70, Cosumnes River College 68 box. 6-foot-2 sophomore Andrew (Rancho Cotate High) Pengel led SRJC with 23 points but didn't shoot well at 6-17, 2-10, 9-11 respectively. He did lead with eight boards though.
Modesto Junior College 67, San Joaquin Delta College 63 (closer than I expected)
Sacramento City College 82, Diablo Valley College 75
Sierra College 108, Folsom Lake College 71
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