July 15, 2009

Foothill College Summer Showcase review

Kevin McCarthy
 

It was a weekend of summertime community college basketball with the Foothill College Showcase in Los Altos Hills on Saturday and Sunday. Courtesy of Coach Shanan Rosenberg, 12 teams took to the courts to test drive returnees and newcomers in interchangeable lineup combinations, with no concern about league standings or placing only each squad’s top rotation out on the floor.

photo of Shansn Rosenberg
Shanan Rosenberg
Foothill College basketball coach

The participants: Alameda, American River, Cañada, DeAnza, Diablo Valley, Monterey, Sacramento City, Santa Rosa, Shasta, Solano, West Valley, Yuba and host Foothill. Each team participated in two games a day in a round robin manner with no final victor. Contests were played simultaneously on adjoining courts.

While stressing that objects seen through this particular prism may be better, equal or worse than they appeared, here is who and what caught our eye:

Alameda: Freshman Greg Jeffrey (’07 Fremont) and sophomore Ryan Williams (Stagg) appeared to be the two best Cougars on display. Jeffery plays inside, is listed at 6-foot-8 and he’s bulky if not a big jumper. He creates space inside using his size. Williams is very quick with ballhandling and penetrating ability.

American River: No particular player caught our attention.

Cañada: No amount of rubbing one’s eyes could dispel the notion that the Colts are a reincarnation of Palo Alto High boys basketball circa the mid-90s or so onward. That because Peter Diepenbrock moved from heading the Vikings to Redwood City and Cañada last season. That season was another rough one for the Colts but a turnaround seems imminent. Cañada still isn’t big but the talent is there to ‘system’ opponents into submission. Freshman sharpshooter Peter Pappageorge has moved over from Burlingame High and displays the same amazingly quick release and long range on his shot. He scored in a variety of ways in the game we witnessed against Contra Costa College (CCC) -- here’s our notes on his points:

Pappageorge is listed at 6-foot-1 and is in need of greater strength but he continually showed his cerebral knowledge of the game. For D-1 purposes, he’ll need to become more of a creator and distributor but he certainly has producing points down pat.

6-foot-3 frosh Steven Sanders has moved up from Lynbrook High in San Jose after averaging 16 points and nine boards as a senior. The quick jumper scored on a variety of ways against CCC: putbacks, a lob pass leading to a dunk and taking the ball to the hoop. He too understands the game and is one of those players who always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

The biggest surprise for us was 6-foot-4 freshman Manny Martin, a 2007 graduate out of Fairfax High. He was the best athlete we witnessed all day and he scored both inside and outside against Contra Costa. He definitely has D-1 promise at the wing if he can also add to his strength.

Cañada may struggle some against taller teams with talented frontcourters but the Colts are going to surprise wioth their talented trio of frosh.

Contra Costa College: No particular player caught our attention.

DeAnza: The most interesting name on the DeAnza squad was Eric Heslin. He left Cupertino High prior to his senior year for Summit College Prep in southern California but returned after there were lingering questions about Summit’s academic standing. Heslin is listed as a 6-foot-7 and 210 pound freshman.

Diablo Valley: The Vikings don’t have any stars -- DVC Coach Steve Coccimiglio has ‘serviceable’ players such as frontcourters Aaron Williams (Gateway) and Tyler Phillips (Concord) plus a handful of interchangeable tough and solid-shooting guards and wings who make the Vikes’ sum better than its parts.

Foothill: Marseilles Stewart is probably the most recognizable ‘local’ but Shannan Rosenberg has a bevy of capable players at his disposal. Markese Fields (Mid-Peninsula High) is in Los Altos Hills after redshirting two years ago at Seward County Community College in Kansas and then playing very little last season down south at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster. 6-foot-9 Gus Brennan, out of Gunn High, has moved a bit down the peninsula and, once he adds weight and strength, will be a player to watch.

Monterey Peninsula: 6-foot-8 frontcourter Luis Santiago, a transfer from Chico State and a former San Luis Obispo prepster, has the size to do damage inside even if his lift is limited. He’s another player who creates room inside with his bulk and strength. He was an all-state player at Mission College Prep.

Sacramento City: 6-foot-7 Kiel Myers, an 2005 graduate of Valley High who is returning to the game, was the best talent for the Panthers.

Santa Rosa: Drake High’s 6-foot-4 Dillon Sabia and 6-foot-1 Tony Baldocchi of Cardinal Newman are new Bear Cubs, as is Ukiah’s Jesse Williams. 2007 backcourter Donald Weddington (Cardinal Newman) also is on the Santa Rosa roster. Sabia looked the most impressive with a nice catch-and-shoot stroke from outside.

Shasta: No particular player caught our attention.

Solano: No particular caught our attention.

West Valley: The big three from Piedmont Hills -- 5-foot-10 Devon Mynhier, 6-foot-3 Daniel Ginn and 6-foot-4Sean Visser -- lead the Vikings who will again be small and, more often than not, perimeter-based offensively in the coming season.

Yuba: Cervante Burrell has moved on to Seattle University after his freshman season but Tyler Monroe (Inderkum), Bobby Evans (Sacramento), Keenan Prince (Marysville) and Jovan Daniels (Natomas) will provide plenty of highlights at 11. The 6-foot-7 Monroe was the best player of the event, an agile and physical talent who was near unstoppable inside. He’s a bit undersized to play the four in D-1 but showed moments of capability at the wing. Nobody will outwork him. Evans will have to be a four at the next level and, while athletic and hard-working, needs to add 20 pounds of muscle and more polished ball skills to take that step up. Neither Prince or Daniels stood out when we watched. Prince faces the conundrum of being a 6-foot shooting guard -- fairly rare in D-1 -- while Daniels would help himself by adding better ball skills to go with his marvelous athleticism.

Here’s an amusing anecdote and a prime example of how false rumors gets started: we saw what turned out to be Coach Craig McMillan and assistant Troy Stevenson sitting together watching Yuba play. The latter was wearing a Utah State shirt. We immediately jumped to the (wrong) conclusion that the coaching staff from Logan, Utah was present and interested in a player. Could it be Tyler Monroe? Luckily, egg missed landing on our faces as we luckily later on saw the same pair coaching the Santa Rosa team.