Department of corrections department

I really try not to make errors in my stories. But for whatever reason, it happens when I mention Miller coach Jeff Steinberg.

In my Nick Barnett story which ran in today (Wednesday’s) paper, I mentioned that the evening with Barnett was started in a conversation that Steinberg had with Rancho Verde coach Bill Duffy during the NFC Championship game in January. Problem was, Duffy’s first name is Pete, not Bill. I also mentioned Duffy as Bill in a quotation that I attributed to Steinberg. Everything else in the quote was correct, except for the name Bill.

I apologize for the error. And for anyone who is giving Steinberg some guff for it, the blame goes here.

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Catching up with Upland

In catching up with Josh Nunes this afternoon about his verbal commitment to Tennessee, I also got a bit of a rundown on some other Highlander players that are attracting Division I attention.

The top of those is cornerback Osahon Irabor, a three-star recruit according to both Rivals.com and Scout.com. Irabor has received 15 scholarship offers, most recently from San Diego State and Fresno State. He also has a grab-bag of BCS-school offers, most notably Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington.

“It’s been fun so far, but it’s a little crazy,” Irabor said. “I don’t necessarily like spending 3 hours on the phone every night talking to coaches, but it’s one of those things that you only go through once in life, so I’m keeping it in perspective.”

Irabor expects to go on tours of Arizona and San Diego State and would like to have his list of schools pared down to a top 5 in the next couple of weeks. He also hopes to verbally commit by the time the season starts in late August.

Nunes and Irabor aren’t the only Highlanders getting Division I attention. Northwestern has offered RB/S Davion Fleming, and cornerback Taj Johnson received his first offer from Minnesota this week according to Upland coach Tim Salter.

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Upcoming passing tournaments

Now that we are in the thick of summer, passing tournaments (or 7-on-7 for those of you more familiar with that term) are cropping up all over the area. Two of the bigger ones in this area will be at Bonita High School Friday and Saturday and at Claremont July 11-12.

Know of any other passing tournaments of interest? Shoot me a comment or send an email to tj.berka@inlandnewspapers.com or sports@inlandnewspapers.com.

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Nunes commits to Tennessee

Upland High School quarterback Josh Nunes, regarded as one of the top signalcallers in the country, committed to Tennessee Tuesday evening according to Brett Hubbs at VolQuest.com. Nunes, ranked No. 181 in the latest Rivals top 250, committed to the Volunteers despite never having visited the campus. This is what he told Hubbs in the article, which is available to Rivals.com subscribers.

“I have talked to people and I have done a ton of research,” Nunes offered. “I know it can’t be a bad place and I know I have made the right choice for me. I can’t wait to see it. It’s just an unbelievable feeling that really I can’t describe. But to have a college home is not just a relief, but it’s exciting.”

Nunes picked Tennessee over roughly 30 other schools which were recruiting him. He narrowed that list Memorial Day weekend to a group of eight that included Arizona State, Florida, Stanford, BYU, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Harvard.

Expect more in Thursday’s Daily Bulletin and Sun.

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Brehaut makes Elite 11

Los Osos quarterback Richard Brehaut continues to reap the rewards of his impressive showings at various college camps. The UCLA commit received another high honor Monday, as he was selected to participate in the 10th annual Elite 11 Quarterback Competition to be held July 21-24, according this article from StudentSportsFootball.com.

Brehaut is one of seven signalcallers that have been selected for the competition, joining Mater Dei quarterback and Rivals.com National No. 1 recruit Matt Barkley (USC commit), A.J. McCarron (Moblie, Ala./Alabama commit), Zach Mettenberger (Watkinsville, Ga., Georgia), Aaron Murray (Tampa, Fla/Georgia), Tom Savage (Springfield, Pa./Rutgers) and Eugene Smith (Miramar, Fla./undecided). Five other QBs will be selected for the competition, with Upland senior Josh Nunes being a player under consideration.

The Elite 11 competition has been attended by current NFL quarterbacks Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Kellen Clemens, Brodie Croyle, Derek Anderson, Kyle Orton, Troy Smith, Trent Edwards, John David Booty, and Andre’ Woodson and has had NFL QBs such as Drew Brees, Carson Palmer, Brady Quinn, Ben Roethlisberger, Jay Cutler, Matt Schaub and Aaron Rodgers serve as counselors. The last five quarterbacks to win the Heisman – Palmer, Jason White, Leinart, Smith and Tim Tebow – have either participated or counseled at the event.

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My late dissection of the Lakers

With my esteemed colleague Clay Fowler writing last night about the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett and his, lets say, “original”, form of celebration, I’ve taken it upon myself to dissect the Lakers going into next year.

But before we do that, I will say a few things. First of all, the Lakers were completely out-toughed and out-played in this series. Game 6 aside, the Celtics didn’t put a complete game together in the series, but their tenacity and toughness was something the Lakers couldn’t handle. Quite frankly, the Lakers need some grit and some guys willing to get a little dirty. Besides maybe Kobe and Fisher, the Lakers shirked from the challenge in this series and saw the action taken to them constantly. And to be honest, it wouldn’t have been much different had Detroit played the Lakers.

Continue reading “My late dissection of the Lakers” »

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Pollard on the fence?

Despite still having a year left in his high school football career, Cajon defensive back Marlon Pollard has been a UCLA verbal commit for almost a year. However, there are rumblings that Pollard, a 6-1, 160-pound four-star prospect according to Rivals.com and Scout.com, might be looking around.

One of those speculators is Pete Sampson of IrishIllustrated.com. In a master list of defensive prospects written yesterday, Sampson has this to say about Pollard: “Despite being a commitment to UCLA, Pollard wants to look at Notre Dame. He said he’ll visit the Irish this fall. As a rule, commits that take visits elsewhere almost always switch schools in the end.

It’s best to take a lot of the individual school websites with a grain of salt, as they write to the fans of that school, but its definitely a story we’ll be tracking through the summer and into the fall.

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Chatwood to sign tonight

Redlands East Valley pitcher Tyler Chatwood, the Angels’ first selection in last week’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, signed a contract with the Angels Friday evening. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The Chatwood family drove down to Angels Stadium Friday afternoon and signed the contract prior to the Angels’ game with the Atlanta Braves – a game where the Chatwoods were set up with front-row seats in the Diamond Club behind home plate.
“I’m really excited right now,” Chatwood said. “It’s all starting to sink in. I have some butterflies right now, but they are good butterflies.”
As of Friday afternoon, Chatwood was unsure of when he would head out to play Rookie League ball, guessing that it would be sometime next week. The Angels have Rookie League affiliates in Tempe, Ariz. and Orem, Utah.

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Davidson getting frequent flier miles

I just got off the phone with Yucaipa junior third baseman/pitcher Matt Davidson, catching him at the airport waiting for a flight to Minnesota, where he’ll participate in a Showcase over the next few days. Davidson, who played for the national Under-17 team last summer in Venezuela, will then head to North Carolina to try out for the Under-18 team.

All in all, Davidson will be gone until June 23. Definitely could be the start of a crazy summer for one of the nation’s top rising senior players.

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Chatwood to sign Friday

Redlands East Valley pitcher Tyler Chatwood, a second-round draft pick by the Angels in last Thursday’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, will sign a contract with the Angels on Friday.

Chatwood wouldn’t disclose the terms of the contract, but is extremely excited about the opportunity to play professional baseball.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Chatwood said. “I’ve always wanted to play professional baseball and its a great feeling to get it started.”

Chatwood is unsure of when he would leave Redlands to join the Angels’ rookie league team, but suggested it could be as early as Saturday.

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