Trigonis Tidbits:

Renardo Re-emerges As Dominant Force

(December 18, 2008)

After a lack-luster summer that caused many to question his commitment to the game and his desire to fulfill his enormous potential, 6’9” senior Renardo Sidney (Fairfax/Los Angeles CA) has begun his last high school season with a big bang – leading his Lions to a perfect 5-0 record and the championship of the Pacific Shores Tourney (Redondo Beach CA) - earning MVP honors in the process.  Sidney who is still considering several schools like UCLA, Kansas, Oklahoma, Virginia and Mississippi State after

not inking a NLI during the early signing period, has trimmed several pounds off his summer physique and is playing with a new sense of purpose that was clearly on display in Redondo Beach.  Sidney is averaging 22.2 ppg and 10.8 rpg and had a 24 point/11 board effort in the Pacific Shores final versus Santa Monica (Santa Monica CA).  Renardo’s passing and unselfishness has gotten a lot better too as his game high 7 assists during Fairfax’s 77-60 win over Hamilton (Los Angeles CA) demonstrates.  When Sidney is playing like he is capable, there is no better “one-two” punch on the West Coast than Renardo and fellow Lion and USC signee 6’6” senior Solomon Hill………....Fairfax’s LA-City rival Westchester (Los Angeles CA) has

also started the season in tremendous fashion – winning two straight tourneys (Westchester Tip-Off Classic and Ocean View Tourney of Champions) en route to a perfect 9-0 record.  While Comet players like 6’7” junior Dwayne Polee and 6’2” junior Jordin Mayes already have national reputations, it has been the trio of 5’9” senior Dominique O’Connor, 6’4” junior Kareem Jamar and 6’3” senior DeShun McCoy who have been the big cogs in the wheel for Westchester so far.   O’Connor (named tourney MVP at Ocean View) is a speed demon on offense that is very hard to contain off the dribble and his timely scoring outbursts against Etiwanda (semi-finals) and Leuzinger (finals) proved to be the difference for Westchester at the TOC.  O’Connor is hearing from just Montana

State and San Francisco at this juncture but expect that list to grow if he continues to play as well as he has so far.  Jamar is a strong wing that defends with passion and is adept at slashing to the basket while McCoy is a “handy-man” swingman with a nose for the ball that does all the important small things that helps teams win.  Additionally 6’9” junior center Reggie Murphy is an intriguing long-term prospect that deserves monitoring by low-mid major programs.  Murphy has excellent size, runs the floor well and is deceptively skilled on the block.  Westchester had to outlast a scrappy Leuzinger (Lawndale CA) squad in both events the Comets won.  Leuzinger is coached by one of the top young

coaches in the West – Reggie Morris – and he has had a bevy of big-time sleepers the last several years including Dorrell Wright (Miami Heat), Russell Westbrook (UCLA/Oklahoma City Thunder) and Donnell Beverly (UConn).  Leuzinger players making an impact this year are a trio of unsigned seniors 6’7” Jerry Evans, 6’2” Julian Wheeler and 6’5” William Overton.   Evans is a very long and extremely improved combo-forward in the mold of a Stacey Augmon that plays hard and is athletic at both ends.  Evans is an underrated perimeter shooter that will be a hot late-signee commodity.  Wheeler is a lefty point with a Nick Van Exel-type game while Overton is a versatile forward that can operate both inside the paint as we well as outside on the

perimeter.  Besides O’Connor, Jamar, Evans and Wheeler, other players selected to the 2008 Ocean View Tourney of Champions all-tourney team include 6’5” senior Michael Snaer (Rancho Verde/Moreno Valley CA/Florida State signee), 6’2” junior Vaughn Autry (Serra/Gardena CA), 6’4” junior Shelton Boykin (Poly/ Long Beach CA), 6’3” senior Stephon Carter (Garces/Bakersfield CA), 5’10” junior Denzel Douglas (Westchester/Los Angeles CA), 5’9” junior Thomas Hammock (Centennial/ Compton CA), 6’8” senior Joseph Henson (Pasadena/Pasadena CA/San Jose State signee), 6’4” junior Avery Johnson (Ocean View/Huntington Beach CA), 6’4” senior Mason Jones (Ocean View/ Huntington Beach CA), 6’4” senior Christian Katuala (Etiwanda/Etiwanda CA), 6’9” senior DeAndre Medlock (Clovis West/Fresno CA/UC-Davis signee), 6’3” sophomore Reese Morgan (Peninsula/Rolling Hills CA), 6’8” senior Alex Osborne (Pacific Hills/Los Angeles CA), 6’2” senior Tim Pendergraph (Etiwanda/Etiwanda CA) and 5’8” senior BJ Tyler (Jordan/ Long Beach CA).  Morgan led the TOC in scoring with 26.8 ppg, Snaer (a potential 2009 McDonald’s All-American) averaged 23.6 ppg during this event and Osborne exhibited why he is among the best available senior “bigs” on the West Coast.  There were also a few very talented players in the Ocean View TOC that were not named all-tourney including 6’6” junior Anthony Brown (Ocean View/Huntington Beach CA), 6’1” junior Kyle Fuller (Rancho Verde/Moreno Valley CA), 6’4” senior Jordan Finn (Etiwanda/Etiwanda CA), 6’8” Perris Blackwell (Etiwanda/Etiwanda CA), 6’6” sophomore Damien Cain (Harvard-Westlake/North Hollywood CA), 6’6” sophomore Ryan Anderson (Poly/Long Beach CA) and 6’3” junior Christian Frankling (Gardena/Gardena CA).  Although Brown did not post big numbers on his home court, he did display his many versatile skills that are valued by high-major programs like Stanford, UCLA, USC, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State and Washington State (all were in attendance here to catch a glimpse of Brown including head coaches Johnny Dawkins, Tim Floyd and Mike Montgomery).  Fuller is one of the top West Coast sleeper guards in the 2010 class and his 35 point outburst (30 in the 1^st half alone) against Serra (Gardena CA) opened many eyes in attendance.  The Air Force-bound Finn is a steady performer that is a heady lead guard while his Eagle teammate Blackwell (a San Francisco signee) is one of the most improved post players on the West Coast.  During the previous week, Blackwell scored 18 points in Etiwanda’s championship game 79-48 blow-out victory of Sylmar (Sylmar CA) at the Rose City Classic in Pasadena – holding UCLA-bound Tyler Honeycutt to just 11 points.  Cain is an undersized but physical power-forward that brings his lunch-pail with him every game, Anderson is an emerging post that reminds the Long Beach Press-Telegram’s Frank Burlison of a young Todd Murphy (former NBA player now an assistant at his alma mater UC-Irvine) while Frankling is a very underrated Southern California junior wing.  The Ocean View TOC was popular among college coaches this year.  Besides the schools mentioned above, other programs in attendance included Oregon State, Texas A&M, SMU, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Long Beach State, UC-Irvine, Northern Arizona, San Diego and UC-Davis……………..Other impressive early season performers I have seen so far include 6’6” senior Quincy Lawson (Vista/Vista CA), 6’0” soph Cezar Guerrero (Workman/City of Industry CA), 6’7” junior Jordan Salley (La Verne Lutheran/La Verne CA), 6’5” senior Devon Golston (Gahr/Cerritos CA), 6’8” sophomore Ronnie Stevens (Serra/Gardena CA), 6’7” junior Richard Solomon (Bishop Montgomery/Torrance CA), 6’1” junior LaBradford Franklin (San Diego/San Diego CA), 6’0” sophomore Bruce English (La Verne Lutheran/La Verne CA), 6’2” sophomore Davon Potts (Gahr/Cerritos CA), 6’7” senior Solomon Hainna (Crossroads/Santa Monica CA), 6’4” senior Jordan Sachs (La Habra/La Habra CA) and 6’3” junior CJ Carter (Serra/Gardena CA).  Lawson is a Top 200 potential-caliber prospect that is a stealth prospect deep under the recruiting radar.    Quincy (whose older brother 6’9” Kenny Lawson plays at Creighton) scored 35 points against Blair (Pasadena CA) at the Windward Winter Classic.  Guerrero is a sizzling young playmaker with a soft and accurate perimeter stroke that began his season with a trio of high-octane games:  38 points versus South Hills (West Covina CA), 25 first-half points against Sunny Hills (Fullerton CA) (did not play 2^nd half due to an ankle injury sustained just prior to half-time) and 25 points in 3 quarters before his coach Martin Flores cleared the bench at the start of the 4th in an 80-52 win over Pomona (Pomona CA) (had 20 points in 1^st half alone to go along with 4 assists).  Salley is a physical and bouncy post that had 24 points/10 boards in La Verne Lutheran’s 68-67 OT win over Kaiser (Fontana CA).  Golston is an athletic and underrated forward that had a career high 36 points in a 90-74 win over Brea-Olinda (Brea CA).  Stevens has a great upside and has made excellent strides in his development. Solomon is a 2010 SoCal sleeper oozing with potential.  Long and agile, this sleek forward is one to track in this class.  Franklin is a terrific three-point shooter that wasted no time getting comfortable from long distance as he scored 30 points (mostly on “threes”) in San Diego’s alumni game to tip-off the new season.  English is a crafty scorer that is very creative off the bounce.  Potts (an excellent student) plays tenacious defense and has deep range on his 3-point stroke. Hainna is a very improved forward and underrated athlete.  Sachs poured in 47 points in La Habra’s season opening 71-65 OT victory over Foothill (Santa Ana CA).  Carter is a smooth guard that communicates well with teammates and has impressive leadership qualities……………….Golston’s and Potts’ teammate at Gahr 6’7” sophomore Jarian Henry is a raw but intriguing swingman prospect that has impressive ballhandling skills for his size as well as good genes (father is former Oklahoma Sooner star Skeeter Henry)…………Georgetown signee 6’7” senior Hollis Thompson had transferred to De La Salle (Concord CA) for his senior season after spending his first three high school seasons at Loyola (Los Angeles CA).  The 2008 Long Beach Press-Telegram “Best in the West” First Team selection and McDonald’s All-American candidate appears on the move again – he apparently relocated to the Atlanta GA area at the beginning of December where he will select a new high school shortly.

*** Photos courtesy of Nick Koza (SportsAmp.com) and Jamie Calsyn (ICON Sports Media)

***** This article also appears online at: www.fullctpress.net