December 9, 2008
Roberto Nelson: Not your ordinary basketball player
By Etop Udo-Ema
Roberto Nelson has signed his letter of intent to play college basketball at Oregon State University for new head coach Craig Robinson. Nelson is also a solid football player and starts for Santa Barbara high as a wide receiver and even plays on the golf team. Is there anything that this guy can't do? His mother Roberta Nelson says, "We raised Roberto to be a well rounded person. Roberto can do anything he puts his mind to and he has always been a real good athlete."
Roberto was always one of the top basketball players in Southern California from a young age where he was on a team that many thought was one of the best young groups ever assembled. It started back when he was 13 playing with Demetrius Walker (Arizona State commit), GJ Vilarino (Kentucky commit), Justin Hawkins (UNLV commit), Terran Carter (Cal State Northridge commit), Gary Franklin (USC commit) and Craig Payne (Colorado State football commit). This team won the national 13 and under championship.
 |
 |
| Photo by Dave Keefer |
|
| Roberto Nelson |
In high school he earned State Freshman of the Year honors and after an injury plagued sophomore year he returned to the limelight to lead his Compton Magic travel team to a #3 national end of summer ranking. The team reached the elite 8 at the famed Kingwood Classic, the championship at Las Vegas Classic, runner up at Cactus Classic, and runner up at ADIDAS Super 64 – all prestigious national tournaments.
In the Las Vegas Classic he ended up with 38 points and 32 points respectively, as he was the unofficial tournament MVP. At the Cactus Classic he was the leading scorer in the whole event averaging over 26 points per game and was top 10 in almost every statistical category in the tournament. He made the buzzer shot to tie the game in the championship at the ADIDAS Super 64. He is a big time clutch player who can fill up the stat sheet in every category. At 6-4, he can play either guard position but he is most feared as a scorer. Roberto has a super strong frame to go along with big time athleticism which allows him to play a physical game as well. Most publications have him ranked in the top 30 nationally such as Hoopscoop, Nothing But Net Magazine, Hoopmasters and more.
Because of his highly regarded skills he has been ranked as high as #14 nationally and schools like UCLA, Washington, Florida, Ohio State, Tennessee, USC, Wake Forest, Maryland, Utah, Oregon State and many others were all in the hunt to land his services. It came down to UCLA, USC, Tennessee and Oregon State. Because Nelson ended up inking with Oregon State many people in the basketball recruiting circles wondered why would a top national recruit sign with a team that didn't win a game in PAC 10 play last year.
Roberto states, "One of the main reasons is that I will be able to impact the program immediately and compete for playing time as a freshman. I didn't want to follow someone else's footsteps. I wanted to create my own legacy. Secondly, I felt very comfortable with
David Grace (a former Compton Magic coach) and Coach Robinson who I already consider family. Lastly, it is an opportunity to do something different and special with my teammate
Joe Burton who also is going to Oregon State."
It just so happens that Craig Robinson's brother-in-law is President-elect
Barrack Obama which makes his choice seem that much sweeter. When asked if that was a factor in his decision Nelson replied, "It definitely crossed my mind a couple of times that I might have the opportunity to meet one of the most important figures in the whole world but my commitment was solely based on my comfort zone with the coaches there. On my unofficial visit to Corvallis Coach Robinson didn't even talk about basketball. He wanted to know about me as a person and I really appreciated that. Just in case basketball isn't my road I know that he cares about me. I do want to meet President Obama though."
This summer Roberto worked out with former Compton Magic alumni and Portland Trailblazers rookie
Jerryd Bayless. Bayless was the 11th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. "It was great working out with Jerryd so I have a gauge on what a big time player really is. The major difference was his strength, focus and accuracy. I really appreciate having a mentor like that," states Nelson. After high school basketball season is over Nelson will go test out his golf skills on the Santa Barbara golf team. Then in May start his new journey to become one of the top freshman in the PAC 10 next year at Oregon State.