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Trigonis Tidbits:
DeRozan and Woolridge Proving To Be 2008 Gems
(December 13, 2006)
While California natives and Class of 2008 prospects like 6’1” Brandon Jennings (Oak Hill Academy/Mouth of Wilson VA), 6’3” Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall/North Hollywood CA), 6’8” Troy Gillenwater (Stoneridge Prep/Simi Valley CA) and 6’0” Larry Drew (Taft/Woodland Hills CA) have gotten more national notoriety and recent verbals to top-ranked UCLA by talented classmates like 6’4” Malcolm Lee (North/Riverside CA) and 6’1” Jerime Anderson (Canyon/Anaheim CA) have generated a lot of ink, two other juniors have served notice in this early 2006-07 season that they will also have plenty of colleges trailing them next spring and summer.
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6’5” DeMar DeRozan (Compton/Compton CA) is having an outstanding junior campaign, sparking Compton to it’s best start in several years (including wins over Los Alamitos, Harvard-Westlake and Clovis West) and displaying a level of athleticism perhaps unmatched by anybody (regardless of class) on the West Coast. Additionally, besides demonstrating an ability to carry a team (like his 26 point performance against Los Alamitos showed), DeRozan has also improved his ballhandling, increased the intensity and effort of his defense and exhibited very nice poise and maturity in his game. DeMar’s 2008 colleague 6’7” Renaldo Woolridge (Harvard-Westlake/North Hollywood CA) is also having a break-out junior season averaging 20.6 ppg and leading the Wolverines to a 4-1 mark including the title of the
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Moorpark tourney last week (being named tourney MVP in the process). With more game experience (Renaldo played on the frosh squad as a 6’1” freshman and was a seldom-used 6’4” varsity reserve last season as a soph), Woolridge will continue to emerge as a top West Coast and national prospect with perhaps as much upside as anybody in the class due to his size (a bona-fide 6’7” going on 6’8” with the makings of his father Orlando’s impressive physique), skill level (legitimate 3-point range on jump shot with very improved ballhandlng) and athleticism (which is still far from peaking due to his long body not yet having the time to settle in from his rapid growth). Compton’s game with Harvard-Westlake on Monday night at the Ocean View Tournament of Champions produced 62 points between the two of them (38 by DeRozan and 24 by Woolridge) as well as a
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large contingent of college scouts including head coaches Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Ben Braun (Cal) and Herb Sendek (Arizona State) as well as assistants from USC, Arkansas, UNLV, Pepperdine, San Diego, UC-Irvine, Northern Arizona, Navy and Cal State Fullerton…………DeRozan’s teammate 6’10” junior Edgar Garibay (Compton/Compton CA) unofficially visited Louisville last weekend and came away impressed with Rick Pitino and the Cardinal program. Besides Louisville, Arizona State, Cal, UNLV, Washington State and USC are other schools showing interest in this skilled center…………. Duke sophomore Jamal Boykin has received his official release from the Blue Devils after seeking to transfer following his unfortunate bout with mononucleosis that forced him to return to his family’s home in Los Angeles to recover from the illness as well as having to deal with several family-related deaths since he arrived in Durham in 2005. The 6’7” 230 lbs. power forward played in only 3 games, two exhibitions and a team scrimmage this season. In the Duke intra-squad Blue/White Game he had 8 points and a team/game high 11 rebounds in 20 minutes of action while logging 16 minutes in Duke’s season opening win over Columbia producing 4 points (on 2-2 shooting), 5 boards, 3 blocks and 1 steal. Although he is receiving wide-spread interest from schools ranging from Oklahoma State to Fresno State, look for Boykin to resurface in the Pac-10 conference with Cal, Arizona State, Stanford and Oregon being possible destinations. Boykin will visit Ben Braun and Cal this weekend………………….One of the senior surprises of the young HS season is 6’0” DJ Gay (Poly/Sun Valley CA). Gay made a big splash by scoring 28 points in a huge 63-60 win over Dominguez (Compton CA) at last week’s Westchester Tip-Off Classic. While several mid-majors are tracking this West Coast sleeper, they better move off the fence in a hurry and offer this guy or risk losing Gay to a high-major program in dire need of a scoring point guard, especially if he continues to put up big numbers………Another underrated California scoring lead guard is 6’2” senior Cheyne Martin (Laguna Beach/Laguna Beach CA) who erupted for 33 points in Laguna’s 60-44 win over Sunny Hills (Fullerton CA) this week. Martin is a savvy lefty with 3 point range as well as having a very accurate mid-range game………...Martin’s long time friend 6’2” senior Jordan Block (Claremont/Claremont CA) is also a big time scorer as his 31 points versus Damien clearly demonstrates. Block has among the softest outside touches on the West Coast………….There may not be a better junior three-some at the small school level in California as Joel John’s (Los Angeles CA) 6’4” Quamayne Crymes, 5’9” Marcus Johnson and 6’1” Roderick Holmes. Crymes had 24 points and 20 rebounds, Johnson scored 23 points and Holmes added 22 points in a 76-58 win over Mesrobian.
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