February 27, 2008

Remembering NCP’s Top 2007 Seniors

Kevin McCarthy
 

We all follow it -- that being who’s heading to what college and why. Yet we too often then immediately reset our sights on the next batch of prep seniors and neglect racking what effect any recently departed Northern California graduates are enjoying on their respective college teams.

NorCalPreps Top 2007 Seniors
  1. Eli Holman 6-9 Richmond High
  2. Matt Simpkins 6-9 Berkeley High
  3. Kyle Thomas 6-8 Folsom High
  4. Fred Ellis 6-7 Sacramento High
  5. rlando Johnson 6-3 Palma High
  6. Wendell McKines 6-5 Richmond High
  7. Sammy Yeager 6-3 Modesto High
  8. Kareem Nitoto 6-3 San Leandro High
  9. Jeremy Franklin 6-4 Fremont High
  10. Cory Higgins 6-4 Monte Vista High
  11. Robert Jones 6-4 Riordan High
  12. Phillip Thomas 6-8 San Leandro High
  13. Brandon Walker 6-3 Bishop O’Dowd High
  14. Allen Gross 6-3 Edison High
  15. Morgan Sabia 6-7 Drake High
Now the season is not yet complete but enough of the schedule has been played so as to ascertain a player’s 2007-2008 role and status:

Eli Holman is enduring a turbulent season at Indiana similar to his off-and-on senior year at Richmond High. First, an early wrist injury ended his season with the Hoosiers and now he recently witnessed the dismissal of his head coach. For the season, Holman played 45 minutes in six games. In early February, it was reported that Kelvin Sampson would request a hardship waiver seeking to get Holman’s freshman year of eligibility restored. Bank on whoever is the next Indiana to follow up on that idea.

Matt Simpkins has seemingly settled on a college -- after making various choices -- when he pledged to Rick Pitino and Louisville in January. He’s at The Patterson School in Lenoir, North Carolina this year.

Lefty Kyle Thomas departed for the Midwest, specifically Loyola of Chicago. He has seen action in five games to date averaging 3.4 minutes a game. Thomas has a number of veteran frontcourters currently ahead of him in the playing rotation.

Sacramento’s Fred Ellis is redshirting this season at Baylor. He joined an upperclass-laden squad and is transitioning to play more on the perimeter than he did in high school.

photo of Wendell McKines
Wendell McKines benefitted from early playing time and solid numbers for New Mexico State

Orlando Johnson is enjoying personal success, having started 27 of his team’s 28 games to date. He’s averaging 11.7 ppg. and 4.8 rpg. in 25 minutes of play per contest. The Lions are in the midst of a 5-23 season but with a predominately underclassmen roster makeup.

Wendell McKines enjoyed extra playing time early in the season for New Mexico State, taking full advantage of the opportunity when a number of his teammates were sidelined for various reasons. His production allowed him to establish himself as a part of the Aggie rotation. With 12 starts in 28 games, McKines is scoring 6.9 ppg. but amazingly pulling in 6.2 rpg. -- 174 total with 82 of those on the offensive end. He’s shooting .592% and is second on the team with 14 blocked shots.

Modesto’s Sammy Yeager threw in with San Diego but isn’t listed on the current Torero roster. He signed prior to the coaching change there -- Bill Grier for Brad Holland -- and hasn’t turned up on any other roster we could locate.

Kareem Nitoto originally signed with St. Mary’s but eventually landed at Hawaii in the Western Athletic Conference. He’s seen action in 24 games, with one start, and is playing just under 11 minutes a contest. Nitoto is at 3.0 ppg. with 24 assists to date, backing up senior Matt Gibson.

Jeremy Franklin remains a mystery. His name didn’t turn up on any rosters we located but not every Bay Area or California junior college has an on-line roster.

Cory Higgins pulled out of the Bay Area in mid-year, transferring from Monte Vista High to The Plantation School in Bradenton, FL. Higgins ended up signing with Colorado and new Coach Jeff Bzdelik and has started all 26 games of the Buffalo season so far. He’s averaging 8.5 ppg. and 4.0 rpg., along with a total of 59 assists. Higgins is shooting .464% from the floor.

Rob Jones, he of the ready-made Division I body, pledged to San Diego and he and the Toreros look like a match made in heaven. He’s third in scoring on the team with a 10.9 ppg. average, also third in field goal attempts and second in rebounding at 6.0 rpg. Jones is shooting .518% from the floor and is second on the team with 28 steals.

Phillip Thomas has played 26 minutes in five games for Idaho and may be a candidate for a redshirt season.

Brandon Walker has seen action in 26 games for Loyola Marymount, averaging just over 12 minutes a contest. He is currently averaging 3.1 ppg.

Allen Gross signed with Eastern Washington and has started 26 of 29 games in his initial collegiate season so far. Gross is averaging 7.2 ppg. and interestingly shooting a higher percentage from long range, .375%, than overall, .368%. He’s notched 46 assists so far this season and 2.2 rebounds each time out.

Morgan Sabia has seen action in 29 games, with eight starts at Hartford. Even as a frosh, he is averaging in double figures scoring with 10.6 ppg. while nabbing 4.0 rpg. Of note is his sharp shooting: Sabia is shooting at a .491% clip including .460% on 126 three-point attempts.

So there you have last year’s senior cream of the crop.