Jason Cibull Assist Man Extraordinaire

You want Jason Cibull on your basketball team but Ohlone College Coach Jordan Lee has him now and that's a story unto itself. Yes, Cibull is second in the state in total assists at 6.9 per game plus possesses a 4.8:1 assist to turnover ratio which also places him second in the California community college ranks but there is so much more to his hoops attractiveness.

Asked if he sees himself as a leader on his team, he offered, "I am a leader but others on our team are as well." To a query about his best basketball skills, he responded first with "I still have a lot to learn" and "most important is what I can do to help my team win." He also still credits Kelvin "KP" Potts, his AAU coach, 'for helping me a lot and giving me a big opportunity for someone my age" and another past coach, Cameron Quick "for teaching me to play the correct way, meaning making the right decision on every possession." Plus, Mike Hudson, now the varsity head coach at Berkeley High.

So yes, Cibull is humble. Add in genuine, thoughtful, intelligent and low maintenance plus spurred by a hard work ethic. Can he also score? Check that specific talent off by noting the 32 points deposited on to Napa Valley College this November 14.

In eight games thus far this season, Cibull is averaging 13.3 points per game while shooting 50%, 45% and 94% respectively while also averaging 4.5 rebounds.

Ohlone Coach Jordan Lee offered a comprehensive take on his point: "Jason is one of, if not the very best, shot creators in junior college basketball. He makes everyone around him better and puts teammates in great scoring opportunities. I remember Jason bringing a basketball to middle school every day and constantly dribbling everywhere he went – he’s that connected with the ball in his hands. He’s shooting at 50 2FG% / 45 3FG% / 94 FT% splits on high volume which is elite. So not only is he the best assisting point guard in the state but he is a scoring threat as well. To be a huge scoring threat while still being the best assister means you have to be a cerebral player and make great reads and that’s what he does."

So why basketball for Cibull and not a different sport such as baseball or soccer? "I was surrounded by it with my family and it's the most entertaining sport."

Cibull credits his father Steve initially regarding his early basketball endeavors. "My Dad was a pretty good player in high school." Then came an emphasis on instilling overall fundamentals via the teachings of Potts and Quick and Hudson.

About his leadership on and off the court, Cibull also said, "I lead by example but also by getting on the guys about mental mistakes. But he smartly sees hanging out together off the court as an important element to the tightness of a team.

As for the next level, "I'll go anywhere where there is a good opportunity and the best overall situation." He has a 3.7 cumulative grade point average and will earn an A.A. in Business before he is done at Ohlone.

Cibull suffered a shoulder injury last year and missed the entire season leading him to realize "I am blessed just to get a chance to compete." He signed with Holy Names University out of Alameda High but entered the transfer portal after one season due to a coaching change.

As a young boy, Cibull won the Elks Hoop Shoot in 2012, a national contest held in San Mateo featuring 8-9-year-old youngsters shooting free throws. He made 19 of 25 attempts in the district finals and moved on to the next level in Sacramento.

Cibull and Jordan Lee lived in the same neighborhood. "I'd see him at the park and I've known him since I was 10 years old. I'd ask him for on court and off the court advice." Even though Lee landed the job at Ohlone in March 2022 (after assisting at College of Alameda, Cal State East Bay and then UC Riverside), "he didn't pressure me with recruiting, unlike some others. I appreciated that. He would ask how can I help you and was even willing to contact other programs for me. He's really genuine. I made the correct decision in coming to Ohlone."

It will soon be time for Cibull to make another correct decision.

Will Perkins Heading to Colby College

6-foot-5, 185 Will Perkins has made the call to attend Maine's Colby College, a Little Ivy college founded in 1813 with an enrollment of around 2,000. Why that choice for this University High student?

Besides the lure of Colby's prestigious academic reputation, fit with the basketball playing style is the primary reason. "The system is right for me" Perkins said. "They play fast and shoot a lot of threes. I loved my visit as the guys were great."

But how does a Bay Area prospect end up 3,000 miles away from home for college? "I was at a Yale basketball camp (during the summer) and the Colby head coach (Damien Strahorn) texted me. I sent him film of myself and then visited the campus. Perkins also noted that "six or seven years ago, a University High student attended Colby" so a relationship of sorts was already established.

So what is Strahorn and Colby getting with Perkins coming aboard? Perkins modestly offered I'm 6-foot-5 and can defend all five positions here at University. I can also hit shots and play on and off the ball." He is also athletic and displays a well-rounded set of skills. Plus, he runs track for University.

Perkins' athletic genes are quite the mix as his mother played water polo in high school while his father played baseball as did Perkins early in his sporting endeavors.

Who does Perkins thank for assistance during his basketball journey? "My Mom and Dad for making this all possible. I really appreciate (University Coach) Randy Bessolo for putting the ball in my hands and letting me be creative. Plus, Aidan Coffino and Alex Smith who have helped immensely. Since the third grade, I've been with the Bay City Warriors." The latter is remarkable considering these current times of players moving from team to team so frequently.

As for his best basketball moments, Perkins recalled "in the second game of the year last year I hit a game-winning layup to defeat Sacred Heart Prep 52-50" and "two nights ago getting a win at Archbishop Riordan." University achieved a 10 point differential, 73-63, on the road against a Riordan squad loaded with talent.

"School comes first. I take my academics seriously" as Perkins explained his academic bent. He sports a 3.6 grade point average and earned his way into an academic distinguished college. He isn't sure what his major will be as yet but wants to explore computer science, engineering and economics as possibilities.

Perkins' hoops versatility will likely allow him to be utilized at multiple positions by Colby, as is his want. But first comes his final season at University.

Potpourri, Dec 11

News Bits

Montana Griz Basketball: "Made a lot of people proud this week. The Big Sky Conference Co-Player of the Week is Money Williams after averaging 18/8 against Nevada and San Jose St."

.........................

"Chabot Men's Basketball: Strength In Numbers"

.........................

"SJSU men’s basketball must prove hot start wasn’t deceiving"

.........................

Cal-Hi Sports: "Congrats Ardarius Grayson (Oakland Tech). NorCal Boys BB Player of Week. 31 pts vs Bishop O'Dowd. Early season scoring average is 26.4."

Cal-Hi Sports Northern California Boys Player of the Week
Ardarius Grayson (Oakland Tech, Oakland) Jr.

Oakland Tech is known as a hotbed for girls basketball after winning multiple CIF state championships, and while the boys team hasn’t captured any state titles, the Bulldogs are currently the best program in the Oakland Athletic League/CIF Oakland Section after going 19-1 the last two seasons, and Grayson was a solid contributor and the second-leading scorer last season when they went 10-0 in league.

Now, Ardarius is the Bulldogs’ go-to player and the 6-foot junior guard is proving his worth so far this season and his accolades have earned him the Northern California Boys Basketball Player of the Week selection.

Last week, in a 78-69 victory over a perennially tough cross-town Bishop O’Dowd, Grayson had 31 points, six rebounds, six assists, five blocked shots and a steal, and he got to the free-throw line 15 times and connected on 12 of them.

Two weeks ago, Grayson had 26 points and eight rebounds in a season-opening win over a solid Sacramento Grant, in the one loss for Tech against Moreau Catholic of Hayward he scored 24 points with five rebounds, four assists and five steals, and on Monday of this week Ardarius dropped in 24 points with six rebounds, five assists, five steals and three blocks in a 79-72 win over Pittsburg.

So far this season, Grayson is averaging 26.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.3 steals and 2.8 blocks for the 3-1 Bulldogs.

.........................

"The winningest active men’s college basketball coach walks away"

College coaching now involves so much more than coaching.

.........................

"Luke Driscoll begins senior basketball season at Baldwin Wallace"

.........................

Appalachian State's Xavion (Sheldon High) Brown recently scored 12 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out three assists is a 111-35 win over Central Penn.

.........................

"NCAA’s proposal on athlete compensation would come at expense of smaller schools"

The power conference teams will be in one division and the rest will be shunted off to a lesser division. Every team in northern California minus Stanford and Cal will lose out.

.........................

Never seen this before -- "Purdue Fort Wayne’s Rasheed Bello lost his shoe, picked it up, and then blocked a shot with it."

.........................

Game Scores

CCCMBCA scores, Fri, Dec 8

• Long Beach City College 80, Feather River River 65 full box score
• Foothill College 70, West Hill Coalinga 53
• Lassen College 67, Shasta College 61
• Fresno City College 73, Sacramento City College 67
• Monterey Peninsula College 68, Santa Barbara City College 60 full box score For MPC, Kenneth Brown totaled 15 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
• John Devine: "Kenneth Brown has a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds in MPC's 68-60 win over Santa Barbara. Christian Green adds 23 points and five rebounds, while Parker Hunt tallies 15 points and three blocks."
• Siskiyous College 65, Cañada College 59
• College of San Mateo 79, Cerro Coso College 70
• Folsom Lake College 109, Solano College 79
• Ohlone College 83, San Joaquin Delta College 77 Point Jason (Alameda High/Holy Names University) Cibull post an 18 point, 10 assist double-double.
• Merced College 73, Modesto Junior College 66 
• West Valley College 77, Chabot College 66 Chabot box score
• West Hills Lemoore College 85, Gavilan College 79 2OT West Hills box WHLC's Marques (Central High - Fresno) Greene played big with 27 points, 11 boards and eight steals.
• College of the Sequoias 75, Antelope Valley College 72 full box score Sequoias guard Jose Cuello scored 24 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and passed for six assists.
• Cosumnes River College 76, Reedley College 74 Reedley box score
• Mendocino College 88, Simpson College 76

Cal Pac Conference, Fri, Dec 8

• UC Merced 86, Pacific Union 63 full box score
• Simpson University 84, Cal Maritime 77 full box score

.........................

NCAA scores, Sat, Dec 9

• Butler 97, California 90 2OT full box score For Cal, Fardaws Aimaq tallied 24 points plus 16 boards.
• Montana 88, Montana Tech 67 full box score Freshman guard Money (Oakland High) Williams provided 25 points, six assists and four rebounds for the Griz. 
• Fresno State 89, Pacific 56 full box score
• Milwaukee 81, UC Davis 79 full box score Elijah Pepper and Ty Johnson each scored 28 points for the Aggies.
•  Fullerton 62, Sacramento State 60 full box score
• New Mexico 93, Santa Clara 76 full box score
• San Jose State University 87, New Orleans 82 full box score Sophomore Myron Amey Jr. exploded with 29 points for the Spartans and also grabbed seven boards.
• St. Mary's 64, Colorado State 61 full box score The Gaels win with Aidan (Campolindo High) Mahaney scoring but 10 points on 2-11, 1-7, 5-6 shooting but made two free throws near the end. Winning when the star has an off game is a sign of a solid team.
• Idaho 63, Utah Tech 62 full box score Quinn (Bellarmine/West Valley College/Cal State San Marcos) Denker led the victors with 18 points.

CCCMBCA scores, Sat, Dec 9

• Sacramento City 107, Modesto Junior College 92
• Feather River College 82, Los Angeles Valley College 76 full box score
• West Hills Coalinga 82, Shasta College 74 WHC box score Ahmadou Aw scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Coalinga.
• Cosumnes River College 71, College of San Mateo 57
• Foothill College 83, Lassen College 74 Foothill box score For Foothill, Elijah (Piedmont Hills High) Washington tallied 30 points and teammate Kendall Winston finished with 27 points.
• Skyline College 69, College of the Siskiyous 61 Skyline box score Darrin (Lincoln High) Lum led Skyline with 18 points.
• College of the Sequoias 68, Butte College 66 full box score Guard Jose Cuello tallied 32 points, eight boards and five assists. 
• Monterey Peninsula College 71, Bakersfield College 68 full box score
• Cabrillo College 107, Napa Valley College 78 Cabrillo box
• College of the Redwoods 84, Contra Costa College 75
• Diablo College 75, Las Positas College 65 full box score
• Yuba College 63, Sierra College 40
• Merced College 95, Fresno City College 82

CCAA scores, Sat, Dec 9

• Cal State San Marcos 61, Chico 53 full box score
• Sonoma State 68,  Cal Poly Humboldt 50 full box score
• Cal State Los Angeles 95, Stanislaus State 83 full box score Shane (Salesian Prep) Bell led CSLA with 29 points, shooting 8-10 from long distance.
• Cal State San Bernardino 86, San Francisco State 67 full box score For the Gators, Jailen (Mountain View High/Gavilan College)Daniel-Dalton posted a 15 point, 10 rebound double-double.
• Cal State Dominguez Hills 72, Cal State Monterey Bay 65 full box score
• Cal Poly Pomona 73, Cal State East Bay 66 full box score

Pacwest Conference, Sat, Dec 9

• Dominican University 64,  Azusa Pacific 57 full box score
• Point Loma 65, Concordia 60 full box score
• Biola 84, Westmont 70 full box score

Cal Pac Conference, Sat, Dec 9

• Antelope Valley 70, Westcliff 68 box score Michael (West High/Las Positas College/Chico State) Hayes tallied 23 points.
• Benedictine Mesa 71, La Sierra 67 full box score

.........................

NCAA scores, Sun, Dec 10

• Hawaii 78, Hawaii Pacific 53 full box score For HP, Diggy (Chabot College) Winbush scored 18 points and was credited with five assists.
• Washington State 83, Grambling 65 full box score For WSU, Jaylen (Folsom High/Sonoma State) Wells totaled 17 points including five three pointers, all in 22 minutes.

Pacwest Conference scores, Sun, Dec 10

• Academy of Art 87, Chaminade 84 full box score Jamir (Berkeley High/City College San Francisco) Thomas scored 18 points for Chaminade.

.........................

Kaden Holdbrook Starts Strong

6-foot-1 guard Kaden Holdbrook enjoyed a solid senior basketball season in 2022-23 at the Asheville School located in Asheville, North Carolina and generated more than interest from Macalester (Minn) College Coach Abe Woldeslassie. An offer was extended and accepted and Holdbrook has adapted quickly to college hoops. He is currently sitting second in scoring for Macalester at 14.4 points per game while shooting a remarkable 46%, 44% and 84% respectively, alongside 3.3 rebounds a game and 24 assists versus just 11 turnovers. Very few college freshman, while learning new systems on both offense and defense, contribute at Holdbrook's rate so quickly.

"Kaden has been a terrific addition to our team," said his coach Abe Woldeslassie. "He has an extremely high basketball IQ and is committed to getting better each day. We are grateful that Kaden is at Macalester." 

A former Gunn High student-athlete who transferred to The Asheville School, Holdbrook is known for a quick and accurate release plus an above average level of basketball acumen. Or as he puts it, "playing fast, with transition threes, fast reads and reacting well on close outs."

Why did he stick with basketball? "I played every sport including lacrosse but basketball was the most fun and fast-paced." His father played hoops in high school and still plays pickup basketball. "A pass first mentality was instilled in me because of my father." Asked what is the biggest adjustment he has had to make in the move up to college play, Holdbrook said, "defense."

The highest grade point average Holdbrook posted is an extremely respectable and obviously good enough to enter Macalester 3.8.

Regarding leadership on his team, "I lead with what I can like playing hard and putting the work in to get better. We have three captains on our team." There are also six upperclassmen on the team so a freshman has to pick and choose his moments.

Why did he make the jump across the country and away from family and friends? "Because of the effect Covid was having on athletics back in California. I wanted to play." A friend recommended The Asheville School, saying great things about it and I decided to go there without even visiting."

Asked who has been the most influential and helpful during his basketball journey, Holdbrook named "his parents first for all they have helped and done," then "my coaches and teammates at Macalester" and saved for last "my (Asheville) basketball coach Nick Whitmore." His praise for Whitmore was succinct but powerful -- "he changed my game." Whitmore recently moved on to a D1 position as an assistant coach at Wyoming after almost four years coaching in Ashville.

Holdbrook chose Macalester College, founded in 1874 and a top 25 liberal arts college in the United States with 2,200 students from all 50 U.S. states and over 90 countries. He is certainly making the most of his opportunities in St. Paul.

Ahsan Huff Owns the Rebound

There are many athletes in different sports with remarkable motors. 6-foot-6, 188 junior Ahsan Huff of Vanden High has an unstoppable one, likely akin to a Ferrari type or maybe a Lamborghini model. Because his is relentless, leading to his coach at Vanden High, Micheal Holloway to say he is "best rebounder in all of northern Cali and it ain’t close."

So why is he labeled the foremost rebounding young man in Nor Cal?

Holloway offered, "Ahsan has proven over the years that even a box out won’t stop him from getting a rebound. We’ve had teams try using two people to box him out and it still wasn’t enough. His motor, his wing span, and his ability to rebound out of his area is what makes him one of the best rebounders in not only Northern California, but in the state. He’s a great young player, but a better person."

"I'm known for my rebounding and having a motor and it boosts my team a lot," Huff explained. It absolutely deflates an opposing team to play good defense for a period of time and yet have the ball remain with the team taking the first shot because of an offensive rebound. How does he do it? "I predict where the ball is going and move accordingly. I didn't play much and was on the bench a lot as a freshman. But I became more aggressive in my sophomore year and began rebounding a whole lot." Now, he's an absolute vacuum. His nickname should be Hoover.

His game consists of getting close to the basket. "My whole game is driving to the basket, getting closer in. I shoot a lot of free throws."

He missed his junior season with a torn ACL and such is driving him even more to make up for lost time.

His best basketball moment came in his sophomore year "when we started out 0-7 or 0-8 before some team bonding activity resulted in a turnaround. Getting closer to each other resulted in a greater understanding and "I'm really proud of what we accomplished winning section." The Vanden crew went on a 10 game winning streak late in the season before falling 42-41 to Elk Grove in the final game.

What's interesting is his family has a multitude of basketball and football players. Ahsan played football for two years but had a brother involved with AAU basketball. That did the trick.

He now sports a 3.3 grade point average but it wasn't always so. "I started off bad, getting two Ds my first semester." He is looking to major in either business or mechanical engineering.

Huff's preference is to stay local or regional in order to be able to play in front of family and friends. As he put it, "not too many people I know can fly to games to see me play." But an attraction remains to heading out of town to play college basketball.

He credits his mother -- "definitely my Mom for reassuring me that everything is going to be all right." He also gives credit to his older brother "being there for me and for making films of me to use for recruiting." Huff's desire is to "go to a college that wants me a lot." He has talked with Cal State East Bay.