The Past 9 months...

As the last few days of my first year of college wind down, I thought I'd recap some San Diego High School recruiting news before returning home:

-First, the 2012 class of basketball players moving on to play at the college level looks to be complete.

2012 Basketball Class:

• Joe Rahon (Guard)- Torrey Pines: Boston College
• Garrett Galvin (Guard)- Torrey Pines: California (Walk On)
• Matt Shrigley (Forward)- La Costa Canyon: San Diego State
• David Travers (Point Guard)- La Costa Canyon: Georgia State
• Javion Watson (Guard)- San Ysidro: Long Beach State
• Sam Beeler (Center)-Poway: UC-Santa Barbara
• Dalante Dunklin (Point Guard)- Francis Parker: UC-Santa Barbara
• Dayton Boddie (Forward)- El Camino: UC-Riverside
• Sam Okhotin (Forward)- Westview: Point Loma Nazarene
• Anthony Alston (Point Guard)- Rancho Buena Vista: Arizona Western CC

The 2013 class is yet to have a commit but certainly doesn't lack star power:

2013 Class:

• Tyree Robinson and Tyrell Robinson (Guards)-Lincoln HS: Both are represented in the Rivals 250 for football and Rivals 150 for basketball. The twins have made it clear they will go to school as a package deal. They have offers from USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Missouri, SDSU, UNLV in addition to hearing from Washington, Ohio State, Arizona, Oregon and Texas.
• Kameron Rooks (Center)- Mission Hills HS: Kamerson, the son of former NBA Center and Arizona Wildcat Sean Rooks has offers from Oregon State and UC-Irvine. He should add more offers this summer while playing for San Diego based- Gamepoint AAU.

2012 Football Class:

 Here are a few notable commits this season from San Diego.

• Taylor McNamara (TE) - Westview HS: Oklahoma. McNamara, one of the most sought after Tight Ends in the country had committed to Arizona after his junior season, but opened things up after a couple official visits. He chose the Sooners over Colorado, Notre Dame, California and Washington.
• Erik Magnuson (OT)- La Costa Canyon HS: Michigan. Erik, the 3rd highest ranked football recruit in San Diego history behind only Reggie Bush and Dillon Baxter according to Rivals.com, committed to the Wolverines just after his junior season and chose them over Oregon, Miami, California and Oklahoma.
• Shane Dillon (QB)- Christian HS: Colorado. Shane committed to the Buffs last May and will head to play for Colorado in the Fall. He chose them over Ohio State, Vanderbilt and Cincinnati.
• Cory Littleton (DE)- Mount Miguel HS: Washington. Littleton had a breakout senior season and then the offers started pouring in. He chose the Huskies over UCLA, Washington State and Minnesota. 
• Grant Bays (C)- Oceanside HS: Oregon State. Grant was rated the #10 center in the nation according to Rivals.com and chose the Beavers over Arizona, Arizona State and Washington.
• Eduardo Middleton (OT)- Oceanside HS: Washington State. Middleton chose the Cougars during his senior year over San Diego State, Oregon State and SMU.

Recent San Diego Recruiting News

In SD County HS Basketball recruiting, there has been lots of news with more on the horizon.

2012 Basketball:

• La Costa Canyon's Matt Shrigley has been committed to SDSU for a while now after passing up on offers from the Pac-12 and ACC. Expect him to sign with the Aztecs when the signing period opens on November 11th. LCC Point Guard David Travers pledged to Georgia St. about two months ago.
• Torrey Pines Joe Rahon and Garrett Galvin are still sorting through the college process. Joe has several offers, but it looks like Boston College, Oregon, Stanford, St. Marys, California, USC and San Diego St. appear to be among his finalists. Expect a decision later this month and for him to sign in November. Garrett has drawn interest from Denver, Columbia, American, Portland and UCSD.
• At Francis Parker school, Point Guard Dalante Dunklin chose UCSB this weekend over Portland St. and San Diego. He played on Dream Vision with Rahon this summer, as well as Shabazz Muhammad, Winston Shepard and Robert Upshaw.
• Javion Watson, a combo guard from San Ysidro HS committed to Long Beach St. in April. He had a very good junior season for the high scoring cougars.
• At El Camino HS, Dayton Boddie committed to UC-Riverside in mid July after showcasing his skills with Gamepoint this summer. He chose them over Long Beach St.

2013 Basketball:

• 6'9" Kameron Rooks of Mission Hills HS, the son of former Arizona Wildcat and NBA Veteran Sean Rooks, has offers from UC-Irvine and Oregon St. as well as interest from a few other High Majors.
• 6'10" Cheikh Ndiaye of Army Navy Academy is super long and brings a huge defensive presence to the game. He needs to add lots of weight and muscle, but many schools are in on this guy.

2014 Basketball:

• 5'10" Devin Watson is a name to watch. Very advanced skill wise for an incoming sophomore. Has tons of interest from BCS level schools, but it's way too early in his recruiting process to report anything else.

The Dominance of So-Cal QB's in College.

I'd been planning on writing an article for the last week on how successful High School quarterbacks from Southern California go on to be once they reach the Division 1 College level. As I was gathering facts and info, I came across an article that Rivals.com posted on where each D-1 Starting QB is from. They beat me to it. Here's the link: http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1270793

Note that this list only has the starters. There are countless other QB's from So-Cal that are on rosters, just not currently starting.

Recent NFL Talk

Recently, a lot has been made about the New York Giants faking injuries during the game to slow down the pace after being instructed to do so from their Defensive Coordinator. This, in my opinion is a huge problem. By seeing these players do this, I lose a lot of respect for them. Whatever the reason is that they're slowing the game, whether it is to gain their breath or to slow their opponents rhythm, there is no place for it in the game. I completely agree with the commissioners office on this issue. If its something that continues, I think suspensions for the players and coaches should be in order. Fines just do any justice anymore. As we saw last week, when Dunta Robinson of the Falcons launched himself at Jeremy Maclin, who was a defenseless receiver, he only got a 40,000$ fine. He's a repeat offender, who did it to the same team last year. Oh yeah, the 40k is only worth 8% of his game check for that week. NFL, that one is on you!

The other big issue this week has been the comments of DeAngelo Hall on the Redskins, saying that he will be looking to hit Tony Romo in the ribs this week and says it's an NFL players duty to go at injured opponents. Unlike most, I have absolutely no problem with these comments. Your job in football is to find your opponents weakness and exploit it. Pretty Simple. If you are not healthy enough to take those hits, then you better sit out that week. Now, if Hall hits Romo this week with an "illegal hit" and is fined you better believe that the fine will be much more that it would have been if he didn't make those comments. Are there any good commissioners in Sports...

Several College Football players from San Diego County High Schools are in action today as college football kicks off. Here they are.

Oklahoma:

Kenny Stills- (Soph) WR. La Costa Canyon HS

Tony Jefferson- (Soph) LB/DB. Eastlake HS

Brennan Clay- (Soph) RB. Scripps Ranch HS

Oregon:

Everett Benyard- (RS. Soph) OL. Cathedral Catholic HS

Penn St:

John Cabot- (Fresh) QB. Torrey Pines HS

Cincinnati:

Daniel Murray- (Fresh) OL. Torrey Pines HS

UCLA:

Nelson Rosario- (Senior) WR. El Camino HS

Aaron Wallace Jr- (Fresh) LB. Rancho Bernardo HS

Michigan:

Matt Wile- (Fresh) K. Francis Parker HS

Stanford:

Tyler Gaffney- (Junior) RB. Cathedral Catholic HS

Levine Toilolo- (Junior) TE. Helix HS

Ricky Seale- (RS. Fr) RB. Escondido HS

Evan Crower- (Fresh) QB. St. Augustine HS

USC:

Dillon Baxter- (Soph) RB. Mission Bay HS

Christian Heyward- (Fresh) Point Loma HS

California:

Stefan McClure- (Fresh) CB. Vista HS

Mustafa Jalil- (Fresh) DE. Cathedral Catholic HS

Alex Crothswaite- (Soph) OL. Cathedral Catholic HS

Brian Farley- (Fresh) OL. Patrick Henry HS

Colorado St:

Pete Thomas- (Sophomore) QB. Valhalla HS

Colorado:

Ryan Deehan- (Senior) TE. Poway HS

Alex Kelley- (Fresh) C. Vista HS.

Nevada:

Zack Brickell- (Fresh) G. Fallbrook HS

Parker Vail- (RS. Fr) WR. Torrey Pines HS

Chance Early- (Fresh) WR. Cathedral Catholic HS

Arizona St:

Jamaar Jarrett- (Senior) DE. Mission Hills HS

George Bell- (Senior) WR. San Diego HS

Joita Te'i- (Soph) DE. El Camino HS

Arizona:

Dame Ndiaye- (Fresh) DE. Hoover HS

Brigham Young:

Stehly Reden- (Fresh) OL. Valley Center HS

Idaho:

Ryan Ena- (Fresh) DE. El Camino HS

Boise St.

Jamar Taylor- (Junior) CB. Helix HS

Kansas St.

Ian Seau- (Fresh) DE. La Costa Canyon HS

Washington:

James Johnson- (Junior) WR. Valley Center HS

Utah:

Jordan Wynn- (Junior) QB. Oceanside HS

Nebraska:

JT Kerr (RS. Soph)- TE. Scripps Ranch HS

San Diego St:

Ryan Lindley- (RS. Sr) QB. El Capitan HS

Joel Alesi- (RS. Fr) P. Christian HS

Kwasi Badu- (Fresh) DB. La Jolla HS

Demetrius Barksdale- (Senior) LB. University City HS

Robert Craighead- (Fresh) TE. El Capitan HS

Tommie Draheim- (Senior) OL. El Capitan HS

Jacob Driver- (Soph) LB. La Costa Canyon HS

Andrew Feaster- (Soph) LB. Eastlake HS

Jake Fely- (RS. Fr) LB. Oceanside HS

Kenny Galea'i- (Fresh) DL. Oceanside HS

Chris Gordert- (Junior) LB. Mira Mesa HS

Brice Heers- (Soph) FB. Santa Fe Christian HS

Jonathan Henkel- (Fresh) OL. Chula Vista HS

King Holder- (RS. Fr) DB. Oceanside HS

Reggie Jones- (Fresh) OL. Mt. Miguel HS

Mahbu Keels- (RS. Fr) DB. Mission Bay HS

David Lamar- (RS. Fr) WR.Madison HS

Osmond Nicholas- (Soph) WR. Oceanside HS

Larry Parker- (Senior) DB. St. Augustine HS

DJ Shields- (Junior) TE. Bonita Vista HS

Rene Siluano- (Soph) DB. Oceanside HS

Brian Stahovich- (Senior) P. Cathedral Catholic HS

Nick Stenman- (Fresh) LB. Scripps Ranch HS

Ryan Taylor- (Fresh) DL. Hilltop HS

Josh Wade- (Junior) DB. Point Loma HS

JJ Whitaker- (RS. Fr) DB. Oceanside HS

John Wilson- (Fresh) DB. Torrey Pines HS

Air Force:

Tyrone Sauls- (Fresh) RB. Christian HS

Fresno St:

Robbie Rouse- (Junior) RB. Madison HS

Karl Mickelson- (Fresh) LB. Morse HS

Southern Methodist:

Taylor Reich- (Fresh) OL. Westview HS

UNLV:

Kenny Keys- (Fresh) S. Helix HS

Jordan Sparkman- (RS. Fr) TE. Point Loma HS

Arkansas St:

Bobby Zalud- (Soph) K. La Costa Canyon HS

San Jose St:

Sean Linton- (Fresh) WR. Helix HS

David Quessenberry- (Junior) OL. La Costa Canyon HS

Ronnie Yell- (Junior) DB. Lincoln HS

Ja'Rodd Watson- (Senior) DT. La Jolla HS

Taylor Evans- (Junior) S. Mission Bay HS

Jake Peterson- (Fresh) OL. West Hills HS

Army:

Ryan Morgan- (Soph) RB. Ramona HS

Yale:

Wes Gavin- (Soph) OL. Francis Parker HS

Deon Randall- (Soph) RB. Francis Parker HS

San Diego County Basketball Players to Watch. 2011-12.

Preseason Top 10:

1. La Costa Canyon

2. Lincoln

3. Torrey Pines

4. El Camino

5. Poway

6. Francis Parker

7. San Ysidro

8. Rancho Bernardo

9. Mission Hills

10. Hoover

Players to Watch:

Joe Rahon- 6'1" Senior/Guard/Torrey Pines HS. This combo guard is the younger brother of San Diego State sharpshooter James Rahon. Joe had a big summer playing with the likes of Shabazz Muhammad and Winston Shepard on Dream Vision 17U while playing the point guard position. He boasts offers from SDSU, Boston College, Georgetown, USD, Fresno St., Portland, St. Marys, Loyola Marymount and New Orleans.

Matt Shrigley- 6'5" Senior/Forward/La Costa Canyon HS. This super athletic small forward pledged to San Diego St. in mid-June after turing down offers from Boston College, Oregon, Oregon St., Colorado, Arizona St. and Washington St. among others. He should fit in well with the aztecs, but needs to work on his strength so he can finish around the rim.

Dalante Dunklin- 5'11" Senior/Guard/Francis Parker HS. This undersized combo guard plays with intensity and has offers from USD, Cal-Poly, Denver and Portland St. and interest from SDSU, Colorado and UCSB. Has great upper-body strength but must grow is he wants to continue at both positions.

Sam Beeler- 6'10" Senior/Center/Poway HS. Sam runs very well in transition and his jump shot extends out to 20 feet. He has offers from SDSU, UC Davis, UCSB, USD, USF and Colorado. Very agile, but needs to bulk up and become more physical. He'll probably need a year to redshirt.

Adam Lacey- 6'8" Senior/Center/San Diego HS. Adam is long and skinny and has good jumping ability. He would probably be an outstanding volleyball player. He has offers from UC Irvine and CSU-Northridge and plans to wait until the season to make his decision. Very limited offensively, but can change the game with his length. He needs to develop more of an offensive game and to become more comfortable with the ball in his hands.

Cameron Rooks- 6'9" Junior/Center/Mission Hills HS. Cameron is the son of former Arizona Wildcat and NBA player Sean Rooks. Cameron has offers from Oregon St. and UC Irvine as well as interest from USC, UCLA and Notre Dame. He is a big kid, huge frame and long arms. He is a smart player that catches the ball well in the post. He doesn't run the floor well and fatigues. With better conditioning he should become a solid D1 player.

Dayton Boddie- 6'2" Senior/Guard/El Camino HS. Dayton is a very athletic and physical player. He can go and grab the lob and throw it down. Dayton chose UC Riverside in July over Long Beach St. He gets good lift on his shot but overall it needs improvement, he could also use improvement on his handling, especially in traffic.

Javion Watson- 6'1" Senior/Guard/San Ysdiro HS. Javion is a "score first" point guard but did average 5 assists per game for his HS team last season. He needs to improve on leadership skills and managing the game. Too often he settles for outside shots. Javion chose Long Beach St. in may for the opportunity to play as a freshman. He also had interest from SDSU, USD, Cal, UC Irvine and Marquette.

Garrett Galvin- 6'3" Senior/Guard/Torrey Pines HS. Garrett is an outstanding shooter that needs to improve his lead guard skills and his defensive awareness (but who doesn't?) Yale and a few other Ivy leagues are involved in his recruitment as well as UCSD.

Jerry Cobb- 6'2" Senior/Guard/Lincoln HS. Jerry is a combo guard that came off the bench for Hornets last season, runners up in the D2 state title. Great athlete with outstanding speed. He is between guard positions at this time and will need to focus on a certain position before schools get too involved.

Tyree and Tyrel Robinson- 6'4" Junior's/Guards/Lincoln HS. Tyree and Tyrel are twins and both combo guards, they play AAU for the Oakland Soldiers with Dominic Artis, Brandon Ashley and Aaron Gordon. Tyree is ranked 17th nationally by Rivals and Tyrel is ranked 70th. Many schools nationally are involved in their recruitment; Texas, UCLA, Arizona, Marquette, Florida St., Kansas, SDSU, Stanford, Washington, Oregon and Kentucky. They have made it clear, wherever they go, they will be a package deal. They both play too fast at times and become turnover prone, but they're both outstanding at attacking off the dribble and Tyree gets great lift on his shot. Tyrel is a divison 1 football prospect, but is a better defensive stopper than his brother Tyree and has a good mid-range game.

All Star Break Padres Report

The Padres were defeated today for the 5th consecutive game. After finding themselves 8 games out of first and a game and a half out of third after the July 5th game, they now find themselves in dead last 11.5 games back after being shutout the first two games of the Dodgers series and scoring 1 run today. They struck out 28 times in the series and only managed one hit yesterday against Dodgers hurler Rubby De La Rosa. For the Padres, pitching has not been the problem. They've allowed 8 runs in the last 36 innings. Yesterday Aaron Harang, Josh Spence, Chad Qualls, Mike Adams and Luke Gregerson combined on 8 2/3 no hit innings. With two outs and two strikes, Juan Uribe ripped a belt high slider of Chris Denorfia's head and off the ad for the new Harry Potter Movie. Dioner Navarro followed up with a single into the left-center gap. Just like that, it went from one out away from 9 innings of no-hit ball to a heartbreaking loss. Today, they got ahead early on a Rob Johnson solo homerun and weren't heard from again. They went 0-25 with RISP in the series. After the first two games of the Giants series things were looking up. Not so much anymore. The bottom line is it's time to sell. I don't think anyone should not be available. Jed should build for the future with whatever it takes. Bell, Qualls, Ludwick are the ones that I think will be dealt, though Bartlett is a dark horse also. Now at the all-star break, there is no need to hold out for hope. Start preparing for the future.