Any notable transfers as of yet, I know Austin Fadal has transferred to Monte Vista.

Couple of notes I had from watching these teams recently,

If Sacramento plays with this type of energy they have shown thus far, I think they are the best team in NorCal. Young is a force inside, Terrell gives them size on the perimeter and they have a good group of guards that can handle and pressure.

Tough to fully judge Capital now without Austin Alexander and others in the fold. For now, they have a number of perimeter players with size who can create. Also like Marcus Fowler's ability to rebound and score from 10 feet and in. Mehki Williams has continued to develop after being at Balboa last year. They will be in the mix of Top 10 teams in NorCal this year.

El Cerrito will go as far as Sayeed Pridgett takes them. He can impact the game in multiple ways and has really rounded out his game over the last two years. The Gauchos have some solid guards and Aaron Banks brings a physical presence inside who also scores well from the block. They play hard.

Salesian is pretty young on HS experience, but will struggle to get offense consistently. When the game is flowing, they have the ability to score in bunches in transition with a slew of young guards and Jamario Bibb, a wing playing inside. The play of Brandon McGhee is key for this group. Probably a year or two away from competing with the best in NorCal.

Antioch 2017 RB Najee Harris is still committed to Alabama, but continues to listen to other schools. Some of the programs in the mix are Notre Dame, UCLA and USC.

https://alabama.n.rivals.com/news/alabama-hanging-on-for-harris

Sacred Heart Cathedral OL Keith Ismael has narrowed his list to Hawaii, San Diego State and San Jose State.

He has official visits planned to Hawaii (January 15) and San Diego State (January 22)

https://norcalpreps.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1842439

Here is the rundown of the top award winners in the East Bay as given by the Bay Area News Group:

Player of the Year: Najee Harris Antioch
Offensive Player of the Year: Jullen Ison Moreau Catholic
Defensive Player of the Year: Damon Wiley De La Salle
Coach of the Year: Matt Sweeney Foothill-Pleasanton

Monday thru Wednesday:

Burlingame v. St. Joe's
Mission v. Branson

Campolindo v. Logan
Skyline v. S.I.

Acalanes HS hosts the 2nd Annual Chris Huber Classic 12/29-12/31.
The tournaments honors a man that has coached basketball in the east bay for over 30 years (head coach at Salesian, El Cerrito, and Contra Costa College).
Solid field:
3:30 Clovis North vs Tamalpais
5:00 Monte Vista vs Riordan
6:30 Cosumnes Oaks vs Liberty (Bakersfield)
8:00 Galena (Reno) vs Acalanes
Monte Vista is the defending champion (with a Mitu buzzer beater vs Woodcreek last year)

I'm one of their hardest critic but they will get nothing but respect from me on that win last night. With that being said, I get the "Donkey of The Day" award for going against them. From highlights that I saw on the game it looks like they played flawless. Before the game I had picked Centennial to beat DLS. First time I've went against DLS in my entire life. I had them against the Florida teams and they lost. Same thing with NJ, WA and now Texas.

Moving forward I still don't see DLS beating these boys back south unless they get more athletic in their skill position game. They get those Bay Area superior athletes I have no doubt they could beat these top notch southern programs. Those of you that don't know, the #1 HS in the nation from Georgia "Colquitt County" is a freak'n machine with more athletes than Centennial. Colquitt has three or four Boss Tagaloa and at least three Devin Asiasi on this years roster. I have a younger cousin that's a total freak on the youth level and lives in Colquitt County district.

*HSFBFan444, I'm checking on Colquitt County pre-season schedule on a daily. So as soon as I know it I will inform you.

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Interesting situation. Class of 2016 signee Cydnee Kinslow has graduated from Freedom early and is practicing with Pepperdine.

SHC beat Drake 72-58. Irish are 4-3 and play Fremont-Oakland Wednesday at 10:30am at UC Berkeley. Game will be on The Cube. http://thecube.com/event/sacred-hearth-cathedral-vs-fremont-oakland-legends-583878

The sac bee ran a big spread on the struggling SDSU forward. Def leaves you scratching your head. Not really sure what to think because most of us didn't get a lot of opportunity to see him play because he was injured much of HS.

http://www.sacbee.com/sports/college/article52150855.html

Folsom beat Capital Christian 80-53
Santa Margarita beat Moreau Catholic 70-54

(Capital will play Moreau on Wednesday)

De La Salle beat Bentonville 83-63. Will play Alemany in the fifth place game

Wednesday's Schedule

1st Place: Modesto Christian vs. Long Beach Poly
3rd Place: Salesian vs. Immanuel
5th Place: Weston Ranch vs. Centennial
7th Place: Manteca vs. El Camino Real
9th Place: Freedom vs. Beyer
11th Place: Pleasant Grove vs. McClymonds
13th Place: Sangus vs. Buchanan
15th Place: Gregori vs. Turlock

http://www.modestochristian.org/files/Bracket_24.pdf

Platinum: Long Beach Poly vs. Bishop O'Dowd
Diamond: Carondelet vs. Brea-Olinda (Carondelet beat Vanden for the second time in two weeks)
Gold: Bishop Manogue vs. Antelope
Amber: Turlock vs. Escalon
Amethyst: Encinal vs. Santa Rosa
Coral: Chico vs. Albany
Emerald: Del Oro vs. Castro Valley
Garnet: Berean Christian vs. Mt. Shasta
Jade: Dougherty Valley vs. Justin-Siena
Onyx: St. Helena vs. Point Arena
Pearl: Sierra vs. Los Banos
Quartz: Concord vs. Middletown
Ruby: St. Francis-Sacramento vs. Sheldon-Oregon (St. Francis beat Acalanes in the semis)
Sapphire: Fairmont Prep vs. Campolindo
Topaz: Presentation vs. Kimball
Zircon: Dublin vs. Central East

Modesto Christian dominated LB Poly 88-48 to capture the Holiday Hoops Championship. 6'10 Senior Robinson Idehen had 21pts & 13rbnds on his way to Tournament MVP Honors.

In other action:

Salesian over Immanuel in OT 70-65 (Ke'Mare Wright 18pts)

Freedom over Beyer 61-53 (Tre'Von Collins 9pts)

Centennial over Weston Ranch 77-69 (Malcom Johnson 21pts)

Manteca over El Camino Real (Woodland Hills) 66-63 (Dwight Young 18pts)

Varsity Results:

Championship Game
Newark Memorial 54
Aliso Niguel 46

Third Place
Pittsburg 57
Arroyo 22

Consolation
Monte Vista 54
Dana Hills 52

Seventh Place
McClymonds 50
Balboa 25

Junior Varsity Results:

Championship Game
James Logan 48
San Ramon 22

Third Place
Monte Vista 53
Newark Memorial 8

Consolation
Menlo-Atherton 50
Monte Vista Christian 40

Seventh Place
Terra Nova 39
Skyline 24

Special thanks to players, coaches, volunteers, and everyone who attended. Happy New Year!

Elite Bracket
Eastside 53 vs Arroyo Grande 42 (Consolation Semi)
Mitty 72 vs Berkeley 38 (3rd Place)
Seton Catholic (AZ) 65 Eastside Prep 45 (Consolation)
Cicero-North Syracuse (NY) 62 Valencia 53 (Championship)
MVP: McKayla Roberts (Cicero-North Syracuse)
All-Tournament
Amani Free (Cicero-North Syracuse)
Kayla Konrad (Valencia)
Haley Jones (Mitty)
Sarah Barcello (Seton Catholic)

Competitive #1 Bracket
Westmoor 58 Kipp King Collegiate 43 (7th Place)
Leigh 35 University-SF 29 (Consolation)
Enochs 57 Woodside Priory 56 (3rd Place)
Menlo School 63 University-Irvine 38 (Championship)
MVP: Hannah Paye (Menlo School)
All-Tournament
De'Jeane Stine (Menlo School)
Allison Piper (University-Irvine)
Katie Dillon (Enochs)
Ila Lane (Woodside Priory)

Competitive #2 Bracket
Woodcreek 53 Marin Academy 45 (7th Place)
Sacred Heart Prep 68 El Camino-SSF 37 (Consolation)
Hanford 67 vs Lincoln-SF 51 (3rd Place)
Menlo Atherton 56 Granada Hills 36 (Championship)
MVP: Carly McLanahan (Menlo-Atherton)
All-Tournament
Greer Hoyem (Menlo-Atherton)
Ivy Nguyen (Granada Hills)
Janelle Sumilong (Hanford)
Yuriko Castillian (Lincoln-SF)

Thank You to all who worked, volunteered, participated and watched! And a special thank you to our benefiting charity, the Susan Cohan Colon Cancer Foundation. They will be back in April to do an event at Southland Mall in Hayward as their first such event on the west coast!

As it stands currently:

1. St. Francis 4-1
2. Bell's 5-0
3. HMB 8-0
4. Gunn 7-0
5. Palma 6-2
6. M-A 5-1
7. Monte Vista Christian 5-0
8. Serra 4-2
9. Burlingame 6-1
10. Prospect 8-2
11. Santa Crus 6-2
12. Leland 5-2
13. Paly 5-2
14. Mitty 2-3
15. Oak Grove 4-2

58-57 Final score. Riordan makes the final score a nail biter by missing it's free throws in last minutes of game. Crusaders led by Stansberry and soph James Chun who led the 4th quarter charge with several 3's, elbow jumpers nifty assists and ball handling. Jason Smith dominated defensively in the paint and held his own against the MV bigs with several blocked shots and rebounds. Crusader D held MV at bay in the 4th creating several turnovers with their aggressive smothering defense. Team starting to get in sync in preparation for the WCAL grind.

Lynwood up 20-15 after 1.

The final tonight will be a great game. North Syracuse has a pt guard that I'd put up against any other in the area. She destroyed Mitty last night just totally controlled the game.
Valencia was a surprise I must admit but play hard can shot the rock and just stay focused the whole game. Have a couple quality loss if their is such a thing to Chaminade by 11 and one to Sierra Canyon by 3.
Think that top bracket is right there with wcj.

by Joe Scheidler - CEO and Co-Founder | Pathlete

https://www.pathlete.com/blog/athletic-recruiting-parents-are-the-coaches

The athletic recruiting process, more often than not, is a daunting process for parents and their children who desire the opportunity of competing in collegiate athletics. Early preparation and maintenance are key components to ensuring a successful experience rather than enduring a hasty and frenzied endeavor.

Academics should be at the top of any prospect’s set forth agenda. Identifying areas of academic weakness is a crucial step that must be taken before athletes enter into high school. As just recently announced by the NCAA, starting in 2016 prospective DI athletes are required to graduate high school upholding a minimum 2.3 GPA as opposed to the previous 2.0 GPA requirement. This of course, is in addition to the required completion 16 core curriculum courses that are to be completed by graduation, 10 of which must be completed before the senior year has even begun. Such criteria may seem over-bearing, but is in fact more than manageable if parents and children can foster a definitive action plan to divide and delegate these requirements early on.

Achieving this will allow parents and their athletes to allocate more of their time into improving academic performance without having to halt their progression later due to cluttered logistical balancing. The key point for parents to take away from this message is take the time to break down the final goal into stepping stone goals as early as possible – well before your child enters high school.