SoCalHoops Recruiting News

SoCalHoops Class Of 2001: 
Top Posts & Power Forwards--(Apr. 25, 2000)

The list for the top junior class centers and power forwards is pretty easy to compile, largely because these players really stand out. . . .Sorry about that, we couldn't resist.  Seriously, this may not be the deepest position in the class, but it's certainly the one with the most promise, both in terms of the potential numbers of college players, but also because of the presence of at least one player, Tyson Chandler, who most people expect to turn pro next summer after the completion of his senior season.   And while many people say that he should spend some time playing college ball, knowing what we know about the situation (which isn't much), all we can say is that Tyson had better hope the Clippers don't take him. . .  

We've selected the top players that we've seen throughout the year, both before and during the high school season just completed, at pre-season tournaments, in-season tournaments, and in spring tournaments, shootouts, and spring leagues.  In short,  everywhere and anywhere else we've seen players play.   As we did in the fall, we've divided this list into three groupings:   The top Centers in the class (there aren't that many "true" centers, so this was easy), and the "Top 15" and "Next Top 20" Power Forwards.  

Of course you'll notice that the each of the power forward groups has two extra players, and there's an explanation for that:  With the "Next Top 20" we just had two more guys, and it sounded kind of silly to say the "Next Top 22". . .  And with respect to the "Top 15", well, we've all heard the stories about Amaury Fernandez and Jack Martinez, but we've listed them anyway, even if they are probably not going to be here in SoCal next year and probably aren't even at Artesia as we write this.   Yes, we've heard all about the allegations that they aren't really juniors.  Yes, we've heard the rumors that Jack Martinez is really 45, that he's a retired military officer (a Colonel in the Dominican submarine corps) who played with the Dominican professional team for 10 years, who's got three grandchildren, and a doctorate in philosopy. . . we've heard them all. . . .   But at least for now we've decided to list them anyway;  these guys did play here in SoCal in the junior class, and they were (predictably), outstanding.    Obviously they were just a bit too outstanding, so we've noted their potential ineligibility by placing little asterisks next to their names.  Now you know what those asterisks stand for.

And likewise, the list of centers has also grown just a bit smaller than it was in the fall.  Jeff Day, who was listed in the fall, moved back to the Seattle area, so we've left him off.  Remarkably, no new centers have popped up this season to replace him, an indication that while this class is very talent-laden, big men, especially talented big men, don't come along every day.  In any event, we've listed most every talented big man we could find.  If there are more out there, we have yet to find them.

These lists are not, strictly speaking, "rankings"; they are instead, our way of simply identifying players we believe are outstanding.  Some are more outstanding than others, and like everything else in life, sometimes it's a matter of opinion.  

At the risk of being repetitive,  it's worth saying again that we don't claim to have seen every player in SoCal in the junior class, but we've seen most of them.  We've gone to more games since last September than we care to think about, virtually one or two games a day during the high school season.  But that doesn't mean that we've seen everyone there is to see.   We can't be everywhere, and obviously we will miss some guys. Still a caveat is in order:   If you don't see a player on one list, look on another, because we may have listed someone at a position other than where you might expect to find him.

Lastly, if we've left a player off the list, it may or may not be an oversight, but if you think someone deserves to be on our lists let us know.  

SoCalHoops Class of 2001
Top Junior Centers

SoCalHoops Class of 2001
Top 15 Junior Power Forwards (Plus 2)

SoCalHoops Class of 2001
Next Top 20 Junior Power Forwards

©Copyright 1997-2000 All rights reserved
Questions? Comments? Need Information?
E-mail: jegesq@socalhoops.com