Shirley back from Miami

Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley returned from an official visit from Miami (Fla) Sunday indicating that he was still undecided on a college choice according to an article published by Miami’s Rivals.com site. The article, written here says that Shirley will be choosing between USC, Miami (Fla), Arizona and Washington on National Signing Day Wednesday.

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Ogburn commits to Idaho State

Arroyo Valley wide receiver Damon Ogburn committed to Idaho State today after officially visiting the campus this weekend according to AVHS coach Marcus Soward. Soward indicated earlier in the week that Ogburn was blown away by the Idaho State coaching staff when they visited the campus. The All-Sun wideout was also offered by San Jose State.

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Fifita commits to Fresno State

Got a text message from Arroyo Valley head coach Marcus Soward this morning confirming the commitment of linebacker Ofa Fifita to Fresno State. Fifita, a three-star prospect according to both Rivals.com and Scout.com, chose the Bulldogs over Nevada, Colorado State, Hawaii and UNLV.

“This feels awesome right now,” Soward said. “Ofa actually committed last night. Pat Hill came by the school a couple of days ago and was really impressive. He was a great guy who capitivated everyone – he was joking around with the secretaries and really made a good presentation.

“Fresno State is a very good program that goes to bowls and plays the upper-echelon teams and more importantly, they graduate players. That’s what I really enjoyed about what he said.”

Fifita visited Fresno State last weekend and was scheduled to go to Hawaii this weekend before pulling the trigger. His commitment marks the third straight year that the Hawks have had a player commit to a Division I FBS school, joining defensive end Keenan Brown (San Jose State) and quarterback Robert Fuller (Utah State) from two years ago and freshman All-American offensive lineman Michael Philipp (Oregon State) from last year.

“When I came here two years ago, my goal was to give kids the opportunity to go to college and hopefully, get them to graduate from college,” Soward said. “If they do well and make it to the pros that’s great, but getting them a college degree is what I want. There’s plenty of talent around here and recruiters are picking up on it. If we hit the books a little harder around here this will continue.”

Another Hawk, wide receiver Damon Ogburn, has also received Division I interest and could sign Wednesday. He is down to Idaho State, an FCS school that he is taking an official visit to this weekend, and San Jose State, where he has already visited. Soward expects to know Ogburn’s decision Sunday when he comes back from Idaho State.

Fifita’s commitment is also the third from a county player to Fresno State, joining Rancho Cucamonga quarterback Greg Watson and Los Osos wide receiver Sean Alston.

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Preliminary signing day list

This is what we got on the Sun side heading into National Signing Day Wednesday. Let me know if there is anyone that has to be added.

Jamil Austin, RB, Colony — Portland State (FCS)
Everett Beed, DL/TE, Serrano — San Diego State
Jered Bell, DB, Colony — Colorado
Gary Berwick, OL, Rancho Cucamonga – San Diego (FCS)
Steven Bethley, DB, Don Lugo – Montana State (FCS)
Dionza Bradford, RB, Serrano — UNLV
Anthony Brown, RB/DB, Kaiser — USC
Ronald Douglas, RB, Chaffey – Sacramento State (FCS)
Ofa Fifita, LB, Arroyo Valley – Fresno State
Manase Foketi, OL, Mt. SAC (Sultana) – Kansas State
Ricky Howard, TE, Chaffey College (Hesperia) — Iowa State
Andrew Hudson, DL, Redlands East Valley — Washington
Jim Jones, WR, Aquinas — UTEP
Alejandro Maldonado, K, Colton — Oregon
Derrick Malone, DB, Colton — Oregon
Nick Martin, OL, Los Osos – UTEP
Damon Ogburn, WR, Arroyo Valley — San Jose State
David Peterson, OL, Redlands East Valley — San Jose State
Bryce Quigley, TE, Granite Hills — San Diego State
Bobby Ratliff, WR, Etiwanda — Washington State
Angel Santiago, QB, Etiwanda — Army
Kenneth Scott, WR, Colony — Utah
Tyler Shreve, QB, Redlands East Valley — Utah
Corey Sims, DB, Upland — Sacramento State (FCS)
Randall Telfer, TE, Rancho Cucamonga — USC
Jordan Thomas, DL, Redlands — San Diego State
Sebastian Tretola, OL, Cajon — Nevada
George Uko, DL, Don Lugo — USC
Jay Waddell, WR, Hesperia — San Diego State
Tony Washington, DL, Los Osos — Oregon
Greg Watson, QB, Rancho Cucamonga — Fresno State

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Bradford switches back to UNLV

Serrano running back Dionza Bradford apparently is back with UNLV, recommitting to the Rebels last week after an official visit to the school that he originally verballed to over the summer.

Bradford, a first-team all-CIF and second-team all-Sun selection, verbally committed to UNLV coach Mike Sanford in July along with Serrano teammate Everett Beed but decommitted in November after Sanford was fired. Both Bradford and Beed committed to San Diego State in December after an official visit to the campus but changed back to UNLV and new coach Bobby Hauck last weekend according to Rivals.com

Beed is still solid with San Diego State after an official visit to Arizona State according to Rivals. com.

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Sweeney to host baseball day-camp at Ontario HS

Pete Marshall originally published this in the Daily Bulletin’s blog, but here it is in case anyone on this side is interested.

The Chino High School Preseason Varsity Baseball tournament, one of the premier baseball tournaments in the county, is looking for a team to fill a recently vacated spot in its tournament, which will have games on March 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 16th.

Teams interested in filling the spot can contact Chino baseball coach Bob Sheehan at 909-627-7351 ext. 3706. Yucaipa is the defending champion of the tournament, defeating Chino 3-2 in eight innings in the title game last year.

Included among the instructors is Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jeremy Reed, a Bonita High School graduate. For information on the event, call the OHS student store at (909) 988-7411 or email Sweeney Sr. at mikesweeney42@hotmail.com.

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Chino tourney looking for a team

The Chino High School Preseason Varsity Baseball tournament, one of the premier baseball tournaments in the county, is looking for a team to fill a recently vacated spot in its tournament, which will have games on March 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 16th.

Teams interested in filling the spot can contact Chino baseball coach Bob Sheehan at 909-627-7351 ext. 3706. Yucaipa is the defending champion of the tournament, defeating Chino 3-2 in eight innings in the title game last year.

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Cardoza leads county wrestlers

Pacific wrestler Samantha Cardoza won the 108-pound title at the CIF-State girls Southern Regional wrestling championships this past weekend at Covina Northview High School, heading a list of county athletes participating in the event.

Cardoza defeated Oceanside’s Kalin Knight-Alvarez in the final, with Redlands East Valley’s Alexis Rodriguez finishing third. Upland’s Gabriella Gongora finished second in the 154-pound division to La Serna’s Jackie Williams while Sultana’s Sarah Bollinger took third at 132 pounds.

Redlands East Valley, buoyed by three placers in Rodriguez, Lauren Chavez (5th, 103) and Jase Osterblad (8th, 114), had the highest county team finish, taking 13th with 55 points.

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Rialto findings likely to be released soon

A source within the Rialto Unified School District indicate that the findings regarding the inquiry into the Rialto High School girls basketball program will be released shortly after Superintendent Dr. Harold Cebrun returns from a conference in Monterey later this week.

The inquiry into the program and head coach Michael Anderson started after the family of former player Diamond Smith met with school and district officials about problems between Smith, a standout player for the Knights for three years, and Anderson — who led Rialto to a share of the Citrus Belt League championship last season and the CBL lead going into Wednesday night’s game at Redlands East Valley. Smith has transferred to Carter since the meeting according to her mother, Betsy Wilson.

Wilson accused Anderson of recruiting from outside of RHS’ enrollment zone, a charge that prompted the inquiry. However, Anderson has gotten support from parents of players still within the Rialto program.

“Michael Anderson is a great person and has done a lot for my daughter and the Rialto community,” said Kimberly Dobard, mother of junior forward Brittani Walker. “He is a great teacher and the team has done great since he’s been the coach. He’s given my daughter opportunities that she might not have had.”

The CIF-SS office, through e-mail correspondence with Director of Communciations Thom Simmons, has indicated that it will wait for RUSD’s findings before deciding whether or not to launch an inquiry of its own.

“Neither Rialto High School, Rialto Unified School District nor the family involved has asked us to intercede in any way at this time,” Simmons said via e-mail. “As is standard operating procedure whenever an accusation is brought against a school or a member of that school’s athletic department we allow the school the opportunity to do their due diligence first and only intercede if their is a feeling that more needs to done whether that be in terms of investigations and/or sanctions applied. It is my understanding that the school district is conducting their own investigation and we will respect their process.”

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