Potpourri, Dec 16

News Bits

This one is the best interview of Wells to date: "How Grizzlies guard Jaylen Wells went from Division II to All-Rookie Team Candidate"

In it, Wells gives props to his stay at Sonoma State with: "...It started in high school when I committed there. Everybody was telling me I should’ve gone Division I and tried to walk on. I thought that was the best decision for me to be in a program that wanted me there, had a plan for my development, and allowed me to be a leader by developing on and off the floor..."

And: "...Shout out to Sonoma State because they helped me get to Washington State. At the end of the season, we had a conversation, and they said they’d do anything they could to get me to the best place possible, which I’d assume is not common for every school..."

Give credit to Sonoma State Head Coach Rich Shayewitz.

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"Demarreya Lewis-Cooper from Cal Poly Pomona claims FloCollege/CCAA Men’s Basketball Player of the Week"

He has made a remarkably quick adjustment to four-year ball from the JC level (Yuba College).

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"Sixers’ Jared McCain Out Indefinitely With Torn Meniscus"

McCain spent his early years in Sacto.

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"Warriors To Acquire Dennis Schröder From Nets"

The veteran guard is having likely the best season of his career. It should only get better playing alongside Mr. Curry.

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"Maxime Raynaud: A rapidly emerging star in the 2025 NBA Draft class"

Don't necessarily see him as an NBA center defensively, more a power forward but what do I know.

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"Cal-Hi Sports Northern California Boys Basketball Player of the Week

Will Corbett (Bellarmine Prep, San Jose) Jr.

There could be another solid early season outing for Will that we’re missing as his totals for 3-0 Bellarmine’s win on Tuesday vs Monte Vista of Danville (which was 4-1 entering the night) were not yet reported.

Corbett ended his sophomore season helping the Bells reach the CIF NorCal D2 semifinals where they fell to Oakland High and by just three points. Corbett, a crafty point guard, had 20 points in a 62-60 overtime win in the second round vs Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland. He was named first team All-West Catholic Athletic League, a strong honor as a sophomore in the best league in Northern California.

To start this season, Corbett didn’t have to do much in Bellarmine’s 66-29 win vs Half Moon Bay but still ended with 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds. He had 30 points in his second game, which was a 56-41 victory over Fremont of Oakland at the NorCal Ultimate Challenge.

Corbett also is coming into this season after enjoying a strong summer played for the Jalen Green Elite travel program. He had numerous writeups on recruiting platforms and is started to get mid-level D1 recruiting interest."

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Damarion Vann-Kelly: "First of all I wanna thank God and give all the glory to God for this opportunity! I wanna thank Coach Austin Claunch for this opportunity! Blessed to receive another Division 1 offer from UTSA."

I believe this is his third offer—all very recent.

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Jake Lieberman: "2025 6'8 guard Edvard Marius Herter out of Terror Prep is hearing from Pacific University, Cornell, Colorado Mesa, Gillete (Offer), among others.Just had a triple double against DME (22 points, 14 rebounds & 10 assists). From Estonia & played on their national team."

Yep, Terror Prep is real and located in Toronto.

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"Luke Harris tabbed MIAC Offensive Player of the Week"

Harris is a 6-foot-1 senior guard out of Piedmont High who has developed a solid game playing up in Canada.

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Located in Elk Grove, Monterey Trail High is killing it in early play—here are some recent scores:

"Final From Fresno: Monterey Trail 77, San Leandro 53

devdorrough4 23p 8r 2 blks;   DWhite2025 17p 5r 6a..."

"Final From Fresno: Monterey Trail 63, Pitman 50

ahzeill 16p (4-7 3P) 7r;   Rashawn Inglemon 12p 3r 3a;   devdorrough4 12p 5r 3 blks;   Elias Roche 11p 8..."

and

"Behind contributions from everyone, Trail beats Mitty 60-50

Rashawn Inglemon 16p 4r 2a;   devdorrough4 13p 6r;   ahzeill 11p 6r... "

and

Trail's only loss is a 67-58 defeat by Clovis West High

"devdorrough4 29p 12 reb 4 blks;   Elias Roche 7p 7reb 3blks"

Clovis West was the tourney host.

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Ethan Kassel: "Final: Salesian Prep 70, San Ramon Valley 68 Elias Obenyah puts back his own miss with 1.2 left to win it for Salesian Prep. The Pride will face Archbishop Riordan in the GIBT championship, a rematch of March’s Northern California Open Division Championship."

Ethan Kassell: "Final: Riordan 52, Salesian 51. Salesian had two free throws with 1.3 left and missed both. Archbishop Riordan HS Basketball wins its second Gridley championship and its first since 2006. Salesian Prep turned a 12-point deficit into a 5-point lead, but missed four free throws in the final 30 seconds."

Ethan Kassell: "The winning shot was Jasir Rencher’s 3-pointer with 13 seconds left. He went scoreless in a NorCal Open Division Championship loss to Salesian in March. Sweet redemption.These two teams, along with De La Salle, should be the three top teams in Northern California all year."

Ethan Kassell: "70th Official GIBT All-Tournament Team:

• Andrew Hilman, Riordan (Most Outstanding Player)
• Loukas Jones, Clovis North (Scoring Leader)
• McKae Amundsen, Clovis North
• Thomas Conley, San Ramon Valley
• Nes Emeneke, Riordan
• Elias Obenyah, Salesian
• Carlton Perrilliat Jr., Salesian
• Elijah Perryman, Clayton Valley
• Jasir Rencher, Riordan
• Jaylen Valdez, Destiny Christian"

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Coach Carter’s first game back at Richmond High underscores how times have changed.

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Other Scores

Last Thursday, Cal State U Monterey Bay bested visiting UC Merced 69-62 as the Sea Otters shot 50% overall, 11-18 on trey attempts and 8-10 at the foul line. For the Merced-ites, Cameron (Bishop O'Dowd) Brown totaled 16 points plus three boards with teammate Aidan (Dougherty Valley High/Regis University) Sevilla adding 13 points and a team high three assists.

On Saturday

Chico State hosted and beat Cal Poly Humboldt 93-81 with three Wildcats scoring 20+ points—conference scoring leader JoJo (Piedmont High) Murphy led with 26 points (as well as five assists), Isaiah (St. Francis High/Montana) Kerr totaled 24 and Miles (De La Salle) Daniels 22. Rob Diaz paced Humboldt with 23 points.

On the road, Cal State East Bay topped Seattle Pacific 71-64 as 6-foot-5 senior Teiano (Vanden High/Sacramento State) Hardee's 17 points paced the Pioneers. He shot 5-9, 2-4 and 5-6 respectively.

Despite falling 88-67 at home to Mount Vernon Nazarene, Illyaas (Marysville High/Yuba College) Rafiq totaled 19 points including five treys and point Drew (Galt High/Sacramento City College) Fischer dishes out six assists in 21 minutes for Cal Maritime.

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Friday, Dec 13 NCAA scores

Weber State 73, Utah Tech 71 box. Nigel (Archbishop Mitty/CCSF/Idaho/Utah State) Burris came close to a double double with nine points plus eight rebounds.

Sat, Dec 14, NCAA scores

UMassLowell 92, Dartmouth 83 box. Freshman guard Connor (Clovis North High) Amundsen scored 28 points in 38 minutes and also led the Big Green in assists with six. He shot 8-16. 6-8 and 6-6 respectively.

California 84, Northwestern State 66 box. The Bears used a 48-33 second half to pull away from NS as Andrej (Jesuit High/Stanford) Stojakovic exploded for 31 points. He shot 10-14, 4-6 and 7-8 respectively, adding seven rebounds, four assists and a trio of rejections.

Santa Clara 84, Bradley 74 box. In Henderson, Nevada, Elijah (West Valley College) Mahi paced the Broncos scoring with 23 points.

Boise State 67, St. Mary's 65 OT box. None of the Gael "primary shooters" enjoyed even a solid night. The best that can be gleaned is redshirt freshman Andrew (Granada High) McKeever going for nine points and eight boards in 24 minutes. Paulius Murauskas played but 14 minutes and was likely injured either prior to the game or during it.

San Jose State University 107, Cal Poly 100 OT box. Sadaidriene Hall posted a 33 point, 11 rebound double-double and teammate Josh Uduje lined up 23 and 10 as the Spartans were firing on all pistons offensively. But so was Cal Poly. However, defending for both teams received a DNP.

UC Davis 69, Sacramento State 62 box. Julian (St. Joseph Notre Dame/CCSF/ Alberta) Vaughns of the Hornets proved to be the best local on either team with a total of 15 points on 5-8, 3-4, -2 shooting.

UNLV 72, Pacific 65 box.The Tigers earned six more free throw attempts but were out-shot in long distance (going a paltry 4-21) and overall accuracy. Pacific is now 0-6 on the road.

Seattle 111, Pacific OR 44 box 6-foot-8 forward Will (Williams High - Marin County) Heimbrodt scored 11 points in 23 minutes during his first extensive playing time for the Redhawks.

Hawai'i 71, Texas A&M CC 62 box. Marcus (Archbishop Mitty/Houston Christian) Greene concluded with 15 points in the win

Sun, Dec 15, NCAA scores

Incarnate Word 93, Our Lady of The Lake 69 box. 6-foot-5 senior Dylan (Healdsburg High) Hayman scored 23 points (10-14 overall shooting, 3-4 on treys) in 31 minutes as host IW, what else, sank Our Lady of The Lake in San Antonio.

San Francisco 76, Loyola Chicago 66 box. A 52-38 second half powered the Dons to victory after tallying just 24 points in the first 20 minutes. Guard Malik Thomas exploded for 35 points on 11-16, 2-4, 11-12 shooting respectively.

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Fri, Dec 13 CCCMBCA scores

City College San Francisco 99, College of the Redwoods 71

West Valley College 70, Chabot College 58

San Jose City College 89, College of the Siskiyous 45

Feather River College 79, College of the Sequoias 72

Santa Rosa Junior College 65, Skyline College 57

Yuba College 77, Sierra College 71

Allan Hancock 55, Monterey Peninsula College 50

Fullerton College 72, Modesto Junior College 56 box. Fullerton game report. A 40-25 start after 20 minutes proved too difficult for Modesto to overcome. The Hornets are looking like the #1 team in the Southland.

Solano College 86, Folsom Lake College 82 box. Justiz (Vanden High) Wilson tallied 32 points in the victory, on a total of 12 shot attempts, including 4-8 on treys plus 12-12 on free throws. Miko (El Dorado High) Bear led FLC with 17 points.

Butte College 102, Sacramento City College 88 CCCMBCA: "Sacramento City’s leaders tonight: Freshman Exander (Christian Brothers) Irving - Romero 16 points, Freshman Jayden (El Dorado High) Ferriera 16 points, Sophomore Sid (Monterey Trail High) Duplessis 14 points."

Mendocino College 84, Hartnell College 78

Sat, Dec 14, CCCMBCA scores

Columbia College, Gavilan College postponed due to weather

Ohlone College 73, San Joaquin Delta College 72 OC's top three scorers: Amos Hodgson 15 pts, 3 reb /// Michael Fastion 14 pts, 7 reb;   Ryan Unkelbach 14 pts.

San Jose City College 74, Mendocino College 53

College of the Siskiyous 96, Monterey Peninsula College 69

Allan Hancock College 93, Hartnell College 43

College of the Sequoias 80, Lassen College 78

Yuba College 84, Shasta College 79

Fresno City College 98, DeAnza College 91

Cosumnes River College 91, Solano College 52

Feather River College, College of Marin postponed due to weather

Contra Costa College 79, Diablo Valley College 74

College of the Redwoods 84, Cabrillo College 69

Merritt College 88, Napa Valley College 77 MerrittHoops: "Tristan (College Park High) Ali led the Panthers with 25pts and 7 threes and Le’Brie (Moreau Catholic High) Goudy-Lee added 19pts."

Cañada College 92, Foothill College 83

San Diego City College 57, Modesto Junior College 52 box

College of San Mateo 78, Los Medanos College 71

Sun, Dec 15, CCCMBCA scores

no games

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Potpourri, Dec 13

News Bits

6-foot-6, 175 frosh Ahsan Huff, aka Mr. Rebound at Vanden High last season, chose to take his skills to Columbia College and play for Coach Rob Hoyt. In 12 games this season, Huff is far ahead of his conference competitors with 15.6 boards a contest. Also, his output on the glass had him tied for the state lead. 72 of his 187 caroms have come on offense. Huff has played in 12 games/starts and is shooting 52% plus 61% (no trey attempts, 59 shots at the foul line) in averaging 10.8 points per night. He has 29 assists to 24 turnovers, 25 steals and 14 blocked shots. Huff just enjoyed 17 points and 13 rebounds, seven offensive versus Cabrillo College.

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6-foot-8, 250 Jordahn (Weston Ranch High/Las Positas College/Cal Poly Humboldt) Johnson has surfaced as part of the announced 2024-25 recruiting class at DII University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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Nathalio Gray Jr. (NJ): "After a great talk with Coach Hunter, I’m blessed to receive my third division 1 offer from Stanford. Thank you to the coaching staff for believing in me."

The 6-foot-1 Gray is a 2027 guard attending The Branson School. His other offers are from California and Pepperdine.

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NBA Central: "The Brooklyn Nets are open to trading Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dennis Schroder, per Shams Charania. The Golden State Warriors are interested in all three players. “The Nets have received trade interest and opened exploratory conversations around forwards Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith and guard Dennis Schroder, sources said…The Warriors are among the teams that have expressed interest in those three players, sources said.”

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UC Merced Bobcats: "Congrats to Jaron Mertle for earning Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Week honors after two more big Bobcat wins, including a 76-60 win over No. 7 The Master’s in which Mertle had 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal!"

Mertle is out of Clear Lake High.

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San Jose State University recruiting news — "Timo George: "Blessed to receive an offer from San Jose State University." 

The 6-foot-7 George is a 2025 wing currently at the IMG Academy in Florida. He currently has other offers from Bradley plus Portland as well as Penn State, Indiana State University, Coastal Carolina University, Sam Houston State, and St. Bonaventure. George is a member of the Dutch national squad.

One late April 2024 description: "A mismatch with his size, strength and diverse skill set, Timo George got whatever he wanted against OSA. George is a tweener, capable of playing both the 3 and the 4. He uses his brute strength and soft touch when in the paint banging for hoops, but can also stretch out to the wing and attack downhill with a quick first step. Timo finishes with dunks and is a workhorse on the offensive glass earning second and third chances."

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More Golden State Warrior updates:

"Warriors Entering Final Stage Of Deciding Whether To Keep Or Trade Jonathan Kuminga"

"Kerr's brutal rotation move may give hint to Warriors trade plans"

"Jimmy Butler may be on the trade block, but there's only one team that actually makes sense for him"

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"Court Report: The details on why AJ Dybantsa chose BYU and how much NIL money the No. 1 recruit is set to make"

The young man could have chosen Hell U for a $5 million NIL paycheck because his eight month or so stretch there would still be quite comfortable. All the other BYU players will be wanting to come over to Dybantsa's place, or that of his family, which won't be apartments.

This article has Dybantsa's NIL figure as $7 million.

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Matt McGavic: "Pat Kelsey was asked how emotionally draining it is to face Duke, Kentucky this weekend and also face a physical UTEP team: "I mean, we get a bunch of free sneakers. I wear sweat suits to work. My kids are healthy, my wife's hot."

ULouisville Coach Kelsey puts matters into perspective. But then again he's not at Podunk U with a $5K recruiting budget and alumni who have national championship expectations.

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Arman Jovic: "...Alec (De La Salle) (Blair) is a dual sport athlete projected to be a better baseball player and likely follow that route post college..."

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Stellar Hoops: "Class of 2025 6’5 La Lumiere (IN) Melvin Bell is committed to San José State. Melvin thrives in transition, fierce attacker, can hit jumpers, athletic finisher, plays physical on both ends of the floor, rebounds, doesn’t stop moving off the ball, changes direction easily & smart."

Like with Ben Roseborough out of Sacramento, SJSU doesn't land this young man if he didn't get injured a while back. The power programs moved on to other bluechippers.

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"There Were 1,170-Plus Police Killings in the U.S. Last Year. Colin Kaepernick Is Fact-Checking Them, One Autopsy at a Time"

I'll go to my grave (which likely won't be all that much longer from now) praising Kaepernick for the help he has provided to ordinary people. The man has a good heart. Missed this article from April 2023 in SI.

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Aaron Johnson: "SJSU men’s basketball head coach Tim Miles said Center Chol Marial (ankle) “probably could have played tonight” in the 117-80 win against Lincoln (CA)."

The Spartans need their 7-footer back even if he comes off the bench. Another Spartan 7-footer has missed the entire season with a foot injury thus far.

Other Four Year Scores

On Saturday, Menlo College fell 77-74 to Vanguard University despite Landon (Healdsburg High) Seaman posting a 22 point (shooting 10-15 overall) , 12 rebound (five offensive) double-double for MC.

Wed, Dec 11, NCAA D1 scores

San Diego State 81, Cal Baptist 75 box. For the Aztecs, Miles (Lincoln High) Byrd led the charge with 19 points on 5-9, 4-6 and 5-6 shooting. 

San Francisco 68, Stanislaus State 52 box. The game was tied 33 apiece at halftime. The 6-14 FT accuracy for the Dons is an anomaly to be dismissed but 6-22 from treyland is a tad concerning. USF was taller and more athletic than the D2 opponent and a 14-7 offensive rebound advantage illustrates such.

Milwaukee 88, Green Bay 67 box. 6-foot-5 senior Anthony (Dublin High/USF) Roy was back for GB and scored 20 points, shooting 6-13, 2-5, 6-6 respectively in 33 minutes.

Notre Dame 77, Dartmouth 65 box. 5-foot-11 freshman guard Connor (Clovis North High) Amundsen started and played 32 minutes for the Ivy Leaguers scoring 10 points (4-7, 2-4, 0-1 shooting respectively) alongside two rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.

Thur, Dec 12, NCAA D1 scores

Iowa State 89, Iowa 80 box. Former St. Mary's Gael Joshua Jefferson led the Cyclones in each category with 19 points, 10 boards and seven assists.

Los Medanos College 87, Foothill College 77

Wed, Dec 11, CCCMBCA scores

West Valley College 85, Napa Valley College 53 WVC recap

Contra Costa College 79, Merritt College 67

Diablo Valley College 90, Solano College 83 DVC box

Thur, Dec 12, CCCMBCA scores

Las Positas College 91, Gavilan College 66

Ohlone College 83, College of Alameda 82 For OC, 6-foot-7 freshman Gabriel Lopez finished with 15 rebounds, 13 points and five rejections.

San Jose City College 58, Allan Hancock College 47

Mendocino College 83, Monterey Peninsula College 74

College of the Siskiyous 77, Hartnell College 68

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Potpourri, Dec 11

News Bits

"Mountain West will reportedly add UC Davis as a non-football member"

Will the Aggies and San Jose State University now become newlywed rivals?

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Monday, Dec 9, NCAA scores

Indiana 82, Minnesota 67. box. For the Golden Gophers, senior Mike (Archbishop Mitty/Pepperdine) Mitchell Jr. contributed 10 points on 3-7, 2-3 and 2-2 shooting respectively alongside two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 34 minutes. This was his second game back after suffering an ankle injury.

San Jose State University 117, Lincoln University 80. box. The Spartans were missing guard Will McClendon (ill) and led by 10 at the half before getting it into gear. A 17-0 skein of points provided blastoff. The good here is 28 assists (an unexpected high of eight from Latrell Davis) on 47 buckets, an expected (well, maybe a bit higher than) 63% overall shooting but just 8-30 with long distance accuracy. Dominican University just beat LU 110-64 so giving up 80 points to a team focused on three-point shooting is a concern.

Tuesday, Dec 10, NCAA scores

Montana 89, Montana Tech 60. box. Money (Oakland High) Williams broke out of a mini-slump and scored 20 points on 8-12, 3-5 and 1-2 shooting respectively.

Cornell 88, California 80. box. The Bears drop a home game but to a solid opponent. Cornell jumped out ot a 47-29 halftime lead but California could only gain 10 of those points back by the end of the next 20 minutes.

Washington 87, Eastern Washington 69. box. Tyler (Granada High/Portland) Harris tallied 15 points on 6-11, 1-1 and 2-4 shooting respectively. He hasn't enjoyed a breakout game for a while now.

Long Beach State 76, San Diego 70. box. With a hometown of Sacramento and two seasons at Cal Berkeley, Devin Askew totaled 23 points for Da Beach.

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Tuesday, Dec 10, CCCMBCA scores

Butte College 89, American River College 71

Other Scores

On Sunday, Iowa State blasted Jackson State 100-58 and as in his usual 21 minutes or so Dischon (St. Patrick-St. Vincent/Washington State/Charlotte) Jackson finished with 17 points (4-4 floor shooting, 9-11 on free throws), five boards and a pair of steals.

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Jake Lieberman: "6'5 guard Damarion (Monterey Trail High) Vann-Kelly out of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College tells me that he will be visiting San Francisco December 20-21."

This landing spot certainly looks feasible. Obviously don't know the NIL situation (if any) but family and friends could attend every home game.

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"Texas Transfer Courtney Ramey Hears From 15+ Schools After Entering Portal

By The Portal Report on December 8, 2024 (no link available for this article)

Former Texas guard Courtney Ramey tells Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports that he has heard from over 15 schools since entering the transfer portal on Monday. Ramey (6-foot-3, 185 pounds) will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Ramey has heard from Cal, DePaul, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Marquette, Maryland, Missouri, Murray State, Oklahoma State, TCU, UConn, UNLV, Villanova, West Virginia, Wisconsin and others.

One notable interested school is Marquette, where Ramey's old coach Shaka Smart is currently at now. Ramey played under Smart for three seasons at Texas.

Ramey averaged 9.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals last season for Texas head coach Chris Beard. Ramey appeared in 128 career games for the Longhorns. The St. Louis native shot 40 percent from the field and 35 percent from three."

The odds are not good that he'll be playing in Berkeley.

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"Clemson, 10+ More D1s Contact Norfolk St. Transfer Jalen Hawkins

By The Portal Report on December 8, 2024

Former Norfolk St. guard Jalen Hawkins recently entered the transfer portal after two years with the program and one with Robert Morris.

Hawkins told TPR that since joining, he has heard from Clemson, New Mexico State, South Florida, Missouri St., UNH, Prairie View A&M, UNCW, San Francisco, Georgia St., SIU, UNI, Buffalo, and more D1s since entering the portal...

...This season, the 6-foot-2 guard averaged 12.9 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 36% from three-point range."

Much better odds here for the Dons.

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Flo College Basketball: "Jojo (Piedmont High) Murphy is LEADING the CCAA in points per game🔥 The junior guard from Oakland is averaging 20.7 ppg, has a total of 26 rebounds and a total of 18 assists so far this season!"

Murphy is 6-foot-2 junior attending Chico State.

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Jake Lieberman: "2025 6'5 PG Vaughn Weems out of North Idaho College tells me that he's hearing from the following:

• Marshall
• Boise State
• Wyoming
• UT Martin
• FIU
• Samford
• Hawaii
• Bethune Cookman
• Sam Houston State
• Idaho
• UTRGV
• Jacksonville State
• Pacific
• Montana"

Weems is averaging over 30 points and eight rebounds per game while shooting 58%, 44% and 80% respectively. Considering that plus his size and weight of at least 190 pounds, and athleticism, his recruitment should be a no brainer for every Nor Cal D1 program. He does have 2.7 assists to 4.2 turnover numbers but he also provides 3.2 steals a contest.

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"It was an eventful week for Heat two-way rookie Keshad Johnson, who made his NBA debut last Monday and was named the G League Player of the Week last Tuesday, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. While Johnson has only made two brief appearances for Miami at the NBA level, the team loves the way the forward has impacted winning with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, according to Erik Spoelstra. “He’s done some dynamic things in terms of his scoring, getting to the rim, his three-point spacing has improved,” the Heat coach said. “Defensively, he’s played a lot of dynamic small ball five. He’s been able to switch and guard different kinds of guys. All of that has been good for his development.”

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Green Bay's Anthony Roy has dug a hole for himself and his name is on the shovel. Hit the link just back a bit.

Some background: "HC Doug Gottlieb said if Anthony Roy didn't start playing "his way", he'd play less and less. Today, the leading scorer in the nation didn't play *at all* in their 83-61 loss to Cleveland State. Here's what Gottlieb had to say today..."

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"As Michael Grange writes, despite losing to Dallas, Toronto had some impressive performances from its young players, with head coach Darko Rajakovic singling out rookie forward Jonathan Mogbo for the “awesome” job he did defending Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. “Jonathan’s super versatile. He can guard one through five,” said Olynk. “ … So that’s really exciting, and he can rebound, he can run, he can put the ball on the floor and handle it a little bit. He made some shots today. As he continues to develop that three-point shot, it’s going to be, obviously, big for him and for us, but he has that athletic ability around the rim. He caught a lob today that looked like he got boosted in the air. It was unbelievable. But you know, his skill set will definitely, I think, complement mine, and mine will complement his. So looking forward to that.” The 31st pick of June’s draft, Mogbo finished with eight points, seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks in 21 minutes."

Love it when someone comes into college or the NBA and shows right away by exceeding all expectations. Jaylen Wells is another in this category.

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"The Jonathan Kuminga era has begun for the Warriors, Marcus Thompson of The Athletic writes. Kuminga has been inserted into Golden State’s lineup at Draymond Green‘s expense in order to infuse that unit with another offensive jolt. “He’s a big weapon for us. … So we’ve got to lean into that. And it may not go well every night, but that’s what we’re trying to build,” Stephen Curry said. Kuminga will be a restricted free agent after the season."

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Ethan Kassell: "Dec. 7 - Salesian 80, Modesto Christian 70. Carlton Perrilliat Jr. scored 30 and combined with Elias Obenyah to wear the Crusaders down physically. Long Beach State commit Gavin Sykes put up 26 in a valiant effort in the loss. Modesto Christian basketball looked far better than the team I saw last week."

Perrilliat Jr. also excels on the gridiron as a 6-foot-4 wide receiver and defensive back. Don't know which sport he is leaning to collegiately. I don't see how he can do both a la Alec Blair who will move from basketball to the more sedate baseball in college.

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Potpourri, Dec 9

News Bits

Sat, Dec 7, NCAA D1 scores

St. John's 88, Kansas State 71. box. Coleman (Antelope High/Prolific Prep/Illinois) Hawkins provided 11 points, nine boards, four steals and three assists during 32 minutes in the loss. His shooting was off at 4-12, 0-3, 3-4.

UC Davis 71, UC Santa Barbara 60. box. Ty Johnson was in the lead for the Aggies with 23 points as three other starters produced 11 points apiece. Johnson added eight boards, four assists and three steals.

St. Mary's 72, Utah 63. box. It was Gael time in Salt Lake City as Paulius Murauskas exploded for 29 points. Coach Randy Bennett's crew burst out to a 39-22 lead after 20 minutes.

Santa Clara 81, Fresno State 66. box. Four Broncos scored in double figures as Santa Clara won both 20 minute sessions.

Illinois State 72, Pacific 61 box. The Tigers fell in Normal, IL despite four starters finishing in double figures. However, the bench supplied just five points.

Long Beach State 76, Hawai'i 68. box. Marcus (Archbishop Mitty/Houston Christian) Greene was out in front for the Rainbow Warriors with 17 points. In 15 minutes of court time, Aaron (Salesian Prep) Hunkin-Claytor scored four points but his four assists led Hawai'i.

Stanford 89, California 81. box. Maxime Reynaud paced the Cardinal with 20 points plus five shotblocks and Oziyah (Modesto Christian) Sellers scored 16 at 5-11-3-6 and 3-4 shooting. Former Stanford player Andrej (Jesuit High) Stojakovic led the Bears with 25 points but took 25 shots and made 11. Stanford led 47-31 at the half.

Omaha 70, Sacramento State 60. box. The Hornets shot 36% overall, 31% on treys but did get 26 foul shots, making 20. Omaha was perfect at the foul line but just 8-8. Go figure the outcome.

St. Thomas Minnesota 88, Montana 81. box. Money (Oakland High) Williams finished with 14 points, six boards and four assists in the losing cause.

Sun, Dec 8, NCAA D1 score

Texas A&M 72 Texas Tech 67. box. Chance (Bethel High/Prolific Prep/Grand Canyon) McMillian led TT with 23 points, shooting 5-10 from long distance..

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Fri, Dec 6, CCCMBCA scores

City College San Francisco 78, College of the Sequoias 56 Thought this would be much closer. John Bynum Jr.: "Rickey Mitchell Jr. had 17 points and Vitor Oliveria added 16 points as San Francisco crushed Sequoias 78-56 on Friday evening. Jaiden (Hanford High) Haire had 16 points in the loss for the Giants."

Las Positas College 91, College of the Siskiyous 77

Columbia College 94, Folsom Lake College 79

Chabot College 56, Long Beach City College 47 Freshmen Zion (Salesian Prep) Yeargin led the victors with 18 points (13-17 on FTs) and Amani (Salesian Prep) Johnson enjoyed 15.

Ohlone College 72, Gavilan College 51

Irvine Valley College 80, Hartnell College 66. IVC box.

Yuba College 71, Butte College 52

Foothill College 77, Monterey Peninsula College 65

Cabrillo College 84, College of Alameda 72

Feather River College 76, San Joaquin Delta College 74

Cosumnes River College 61, Shasta College 55

Merced College 84, Sacramento City College 83

Fresno City College 71, Sierra College 58

Mendocino College 83, College of the Redwoods 75

Merritt College 63, Lemoore College 57

Reedley College  , Lassen College

Modesto Junior College 111, El Camino College 59 MJC wins the night with the largest point differential.

Sat, Dec 7, CCCMBCA scores

Las Positas College 71, Lassen College 38

Columbia College 83, Yuba College 66

West Valley College 73, Contra Costa College 64

Modesto Junior College 78, Merced College 69

West Los Angeles College 86, Chabot College 73. full box Zion (Salesian Prep) Yeargin led CC with 24 points.

Skyline College 60, Diablo Valley College 51

Monterey Peninsula College 73, Hartnell College 69

Shasta College 59, Reedley College. RC box

Butte College 78, Folsom Lake College 62

San Jose City College 89, College of San Mateo 84 OT

Irvine Valley College 86, Foothill College 81

Sacramento City College 106, El Camino College 71 CCCMBCA: "Sacramento City’s Sid (Monterey trail High) Duplessis scored 19 points in the win over El Camino and earned All Tournament. Teammates Brandon (Cosumnes Oaks High) Hayward added 19 points; Exander (Christian Brothers) Irving-Romero had 14 points, and Aaron (Elk Grove High) Gillyard chipped in 10 points with 10 assists."

College of Alameda 76, Lemoore College 67. CoA box CoA played just seven guys but it was enough.

Santa Barbara City College 68, Sierra College 65

Cosumnes River College 91, College of the Siskiyous 40

Fresno City College 71, Cypress College 62

DeAnza College 70, Gavilan College 65

Cabrillo College 80, Merritt College 65

Southwestern Oregon 75, College of the Redwoods 65

Sun, Dec 8, CCCMBCA scores

Columbia College 85, Cabrillo College 81 Both the head coaches opposing each other here -- Rob Hoyt and James Page -- started out assisting at Cabrillo College. Both now run successful programs. Credit them and former Cabrillo head coach Tony Marcopulos, too.

Folsom Lake College 99, Lemoore College 85

Butte College 66, College of Alameda 61. CoA box

Southwestern Oregon College 75, Mendocino College 64

Yuba College 78, Merritt College 66

College of the Redwoods 98, Simpson University JV 59

Citrus College 134, Santiago Canyon College 126 30T. Tyler (San Ramon Valley High) Isaak finished with 23 points and seven boards in the win.

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Other scores, Thursday, December 5

UC Merced took down The Master's University 9-2 basketball program 76-60 with five players scoring in double figures. Jayson Wiltz led with 14 points, Cameron (Bishop O'Dowd) Brown added 13 and Jaron (Clear Lake High) Mertle provided team highs of 13 boards and five assists. The Bobcats tightened up on defense and put together a 38-25 second 20 minutes.

Cal Poly Pomona defeated Cal State San Marcos 72-65 behind 22 points from Demarreya (Enterprise High/Yuba College) Lewis-Cooper. He shot 7-12, 4-5 and 2-4.

Other scores, Friday, December 6

6-foot-5 junior Caden (Miramonte High) Breznikar posted a 21 point, 13 rebound double-double and 6-foot-9 Joseph (Pleasant Grove High) Espy just missed one with 21 points and nine boards (in just 15 minutes) during the UC Santa Cruz 83-80 overtime defeat of host Denison University.

Other scores, Saturday, December 6

Powered by 6-foot-3 Cameron (Bishop O'Dowd) Brown's 39 points (and nine boards) plus 21 points and 10 rebounds from Charles Elijah, UC Merced slammed Lincoln University 117-72.

5-foot-11 guard Ryan (Serra High/Skyline College) Wilson went for team bests of 20 points and four assists but UC Santa Cruz fell 91-72 on the road to Washington University.

In double overtime, Demarreya (Enterprise High/Yuba College) Lewis-Cooper scored 24 points as Cal Poly Pomona bested Sonoma State 88-80.

At home, Chico State topped San Francisco State 79-62 with JoJo Murphy leading the way with 21 points.

Jeremiah (Salesian Prep) Jones topped Stanislaus State with both 20 points and eight boards but his squad fell 67-56 down south to Cal State Los Angeles.

Up in Arcata, Beril Kabamba 's 23 points and eight rebounds -- team highs -- carried Cal State East Bay to an 81-76 victory versus Humboldt State. The Pioneers shot 52% overall and 42% on 19 trey attempts.

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Zach White: "Blessed to receive an offer from California Berkeley!"

White is a 6-foot-6 2026 wing and recent took an unofficial visit. Stanford also has interest.

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Modesto Junior College Men's Basketball: "MJC guard Malachi Miller has received an offer from Academy of Art (PacWest)."

Miller is a 6-foot-4 sophomore out of Central Catholic High. AoA is a very solid program.

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6-foot-8, 230 senior Nathan Ilunga is the leading scorer for Dominican University this season at 13.1 points per contest. He is shooting 54%, 44% and 88% respectively while grabbing 8.2 rebounds nightly and alongside 11 blocked shots in nine games/starts plus 32 minutes a night. Ilunga is a transfer from CCSF and a native of the Congo.

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"(6-foot Breydan) Worth was a sophomore last season at Napa Christian. He finished 84-for-126 on three-pointers for the single season three-point shooting percentage record of 67.0 percent."

What an amazing percentage even considering the level of the opposition.

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"Woj’s Next Chapter: Why the Preeminent NBA News Breaker Walked Away The biggest media story in 2024 was Adrian Wojnarowski leaving his lucrative job at ESPN to go back to St. Bonaventure as the men’s basketball general manager."

He walked away from earning millions annually at ESPN for a position paying $75k.

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Nicholas Podesta: "Standout performances for Clovis West against some of the State’s best competition: Spencer Kubit w/ 16 pts vs Inglewood in Season Opener, Jace Kellogg w/ 32 pts vs De La Salle on the road & Fresno State signee DJ Stickman w/ 14 pt 10 reb 11 ast triple double vs Clayton Valley."

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Loukas Jones: "Excited to break the school's 3 point record! More threes to come."

He's a 6-foot-3 2025 prospect and has checked out Fresno Pacific.

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At just under 20 minutes a game, Ben (College Park High/Diablo Valley College) Tellez is averaging 7.4 points a contest, in five outings/no starts for Cal Lutheran while shooting 39%, 32% and 7-7 at the foul line.

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Potpourri, Dec 6

News Bits

Juco Recruiting: "Damarion (Monterey Trail High) Vann-Kelly from NEO A&M will be taking a visit to Stetson from December 20th-22nd. Kelly is averaging 23 PPG while shooting 62% from the field and 63% from three this season."

Three days in Florida during December, yessiree! Vann-Kelly is hitting Pacific just before Stetson. I believe it was San Francisco and SJSU expressing interest a while back -- let's see if those programs get visits.

Then it was: "First of all I wanna thank God and give all the glory to god for this opportunity! I wanna thank Coach Jon and Stan for this opportunity! Blessed to receive another Division 1 offer from The University of Southern Indiana."

Central Michigan offered earlier. 

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NBA: "The @Kia NBA Rookies of the Month for October & November! #KiaPOTM

West: Jaylen Folsom High) Wells

East: Jared (born in Sacto) McCain"

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David Jeans: "So awesome that Alec Blair is going to UofOklahoma for both baseball and basketball. Multi-Sports work. Super proud of his hard work."

It will be a remarkable feat if Blair can be a factor for his college teams in both sports. In which sport does he have the most professional potential? And why Oklahoma?

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Click this link at Isaiah Ackerman's Twitter site to watch clips from his game this week.

Out of Aptos High in the 831, the 6-foot-4 Ackerman has always been proficient at getting to the basket. Now he is showing a solid mid-range jumper as well as from outside. He plays with Team Arsenal in the spring and summer.

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In seven games/starts and 23 minutes a contest, 6-foot-2 guard Jordan (Freedom High/Prolific Prep/Oregon State) Pope is averaging 7.9 points per game on 39%, 27% and 89% shooting respectively alongside an 18/3 assist to turnover numbers. He also has nine steals for the 6-1 Texas Longhorns.

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6-foot-1 guard Kameron (Monterey Trail High) Manning-Fuimaono is attending Mt. San Jacinto Community College (Riverside County) this year and in eight games/one start and 14.4 minutes a contest, he is averaging 7.3 points on 36%, 35% and 67% shooting respectively. He is averaging 2.0 assists but 2.4 turnovers an outing plus 1.5 rebounds nightly.

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Try this link to watch a video of some awesome moments of Aiden Mahaney.

Aiden (Campolindo High/St. Mary's) Mahaney damn near lays out Coach Dan Hurley in celebrating a bucket during UConn's victory over Baylor on Wednesday.

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6-foot-5 Anthony (Dublin High/San Francisco) Roy leads the nation in D1 level scoring with 28.0 points per game. In nine games, Roy has 80 shots made, 45 of them three-pointers plus 47 free throws. He is shooting 52%, 45% and 84% respectively in nine games/nine starts and 34.4 minutes an outing. Add in 5.9 boards a night.

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"LSU basketball commit Mazi Mosley transfers across country for second time since July"

The 6-foot-5 four star talent is now at Prolific Prep.

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Wednesday, Dec 4, NCAA D1 Scores

Texas Tech 76, DePaul 62 box. Chance (Jesse Bethel High/Golden State Prep/Grand Canyon) McMillian led TT with 22 points with Darrion (Capital Christian/Nevada) Williams finishing with 20 points. The Red Raiders pulled away in the second half.

San Diego State 84, Fresno State 62 box. The Bulldogs shot 27% overall, 19% from long distance and were out-boarded 53-39 but did earn 30 foul shots to 17 for the Aztecs. Guard BJ (Modesto Christian High) Davis scored 13 points, grabbed seven boards and dished out three assist while teammate Miles (Lincoln High) Byrd produced nine points and 10 rebounds.

UConn 76, Baylor 72 box. The Huskies righted themselves after the straight losses with Aidan (Campolindo High/St. Mary's) Mahaney scoring nine points on 3-4 shooting from long distance in 18 minutes.

New Mexico 83, San Jose State University 77 box. Josh Uduje led the Spartans with 22 points, Will McClendon enjoyed 20 but Donovan Yap went scoreless in 33 minutes. In 23 minutes, SJSU's Robert Vailhola scored 10 points, attempting just a trio of shots, pulled down 11 boards and blocked four shots.

Memphis 81, Louisiana Tech 71 box. In 33 minutes off the bench, 6-foot-3 Al (Franklin High/San Diego City College) Green finished with a team high 18 points, shooting 5-7 from three-point range.

Isaiah (Tracy High/USF) Hawthorne led with 20 points, plus six rebounds, but Northern Colorado stumbled 87-75 against St Thomas-Minnesota. box.

Thursday, Dec 5, NCAA D1 Scores

San Francisco 78, St. Louis 61 box. A 45-32 second half allowed the Dons to pull away for the victory. Malik Thomas led with 22 markers and his six rebounds placed him second on the team. 

UC Davis 77, Cal Poly 66 box. Five Aggies finished in double figures led by guard Connor (Dougherty Valley High) Sevilla's 17. He shot 5-10. 3-6 and 4-4 respectively and added three boards plus a trio of assists.

Northwestern State 72, Incarnate Word 70 box. Dylan (Healdsburg High) Hayman tallied 19 points in the losing cause, shooting 8-11 overall and 3-5 from long distance. 

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Wednesday, Dec 4, CCCMBCA scores

East Los Angeles 91, San Jacinto College 77 box. Donjae (Weston Ranch High) Lindsey scored 17 points for the victors. Fellow guard Kameron (Monterey Trail High) Manning-Fuimaono tallied 15 points off the bench for SJC.

College of San Mateo 75, College of Alameda 74

Los Medanos College 71, Diablo Valley College 49

Thursday, Dec 5, CCCMBCA scores

City College San Francisco 94, Feather River College 56

West Valley College 78, Santa Rosa Junior College 77 SRJC box Played at Kezar Pavilion, Andrew (Rancho Cotate High) Pengel went off for 28 points and teammate Jaden (Justin Sienna High) Washington scored 22 points. The Bear Cubs shot 52% overall.

Las Positas College 87, Shasta College 68 Matt Schwab: "Seven wins in a row! Las Positas 83, Marin 68  Las Positas 7-0 Elijah Mobley 20 pts, Kentrell Kelly 12 pt, Jaden Woodard 12 pts..."

Fresno City College 78, Hartnell College 56

Chabot College 88, Los Angeles Valley College 64 box. Matthais (James Logan High) Moore led CC with 19 points in just 14 minutes of court time. He shot 5-8 overall and a deadly 9-10 at the foul line.

Sierra College 56, Irvine Valley College 54

College of the Sequoias 92, San Joaquin Delta College 63

Santa Barbara City College 85, Monterey Peninsula College 57

Cosumnes River College 72, Lassen College 54

Solano College 73, American River College 62 box. Justiz (Vanden High) Wilson totaled 33 points for the victors. 

Cypress College 87, Foothill College 72

College of the Siskiyous 84, Reedley College 80

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