Just a reminder to all...big local tourney going on all next week starting Monday - Saturday at both Rowland and Glendora. Go to www.glendorabasketball and you can see the whole bracket. Several strong local teams competing. Should be a great way to see the new stars of this year as well as some of the returners.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=26889
Collin Robinson original commit to USC, transfer to Cornel.

James Powell broke or threatened numerous records as a Frosh last eyar for UCSB.Now, contributing still as full time starter and recently awarded "Gauho of the Week".He was also the first ever recipient of the Fillip Scholarship award...

Congrats to both Sierra Leaguers!Keep truckin'.Same with the rest of the valley boys playing college ball anywhere!
J-Sapp, Davon Roberts both playin over at APU.Roberts playing big after the transfer from Sac. St.

northview winning it all this year. best starting 5 in the valley, bench needs work.

Yea you ever heard of redshirting? A lot of kids straight out of high school going to d-1 do it. Look at your original quote. You said the last strong class was 2004-2005 which makes no sense because the only person from that class playing D1 is at UC Santa Barbara which is no BYU and is definetely not USC. I was showing you with these two players that the 2005-2006 class was stronger than the 2004-2005 class. Which means your quote made no sense. Basketball was down last year and this year, but don't act like it has been a million years since basketball was good in the SGV.

Anonymass or bohifan,

the post said, and I quote,

"...Zylstra, the SGV player of the year, is playing at BYU who is ranked number 21 and Dante Smith is going to USC and they are ranked 24. Chappele Brown could have been a good point guard at some schools but he was a good football player. Two kids playing on ranked teams from two years ago, not to shabby...."

So which of those two statements is true? Neither?
Zylstra is NOT playing and neither is Smith. The fact that they "might" play is something that you can talk about NEXT year...if it pans out. Come back and pop off then.

and BTW - look at BYU Season long stats for last year -
no Zylstra to be found! Here is the link to make it easy on you.
http://www.byucougars.com/uploads/stats/basketball_m/FinalStats06-07.pdf

So did he play...or didn't he? The stats say no.

Any more answers little man?

Reality czeck,
Check BYU's roster last year Zylstra is on it. He's on a mission right now, like almost all BYU players do and will be back on the team when he returns. Dante will be on USC's roster next year he verbaled to go there. Any more questions big guy? Go to these links and you'll see.
Donte Smith
http://uscsportstalk.blogspot.com
/2007/06/donte-smith-commits-to-usc
Brock Zylstra
http://www.byucougars.com/Profile.jsp?ID=2864

Here is the scoop on Dante Smith at USC from USCHoops.com.

Donte attended the USC Elite Camp and played well. He received and offer and accepted. He might be the top juco point guard in the nation. He will redshirt this season and have three years to play at USC.

Features: Smith Commits to USC +

USChoops.TV: USC Elite Camp 07 | JC Showcase 1 07 + | JC Showcase 2 07 +

sorry bohifan,
No Dante Smith on USC's roster.
No Zylstra on BYU's roster. Not even BYU-Hawaii.
Try again

Josh,
Yea basketball was down last year and this year but the 05-06 class was good. Zylstra, the SGV player of the year, is playing at BYU who is ranked number 21 and Dante Smith is going to USC and they are ranked 24. Chappele Brown could have been a good point guard at some schools but he was a good football player. Two kids playing on ranked teams from two years ago, not to shabby.

Baldwin Park's JVs got CHONNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKEDDDD by Gabrielino's JVs last year 79-15

Bad...Baldwin park LOST to El Monte 41-44 on Wednesday

Any word on Baldwin Park? Good, bad, or ugly?
Posted by: BP Hank at November 27, 2007 9:19 PM

Bad...Baldwin park LOST to El Monte 41-44 on Wednesday

Any word on Baldwin Park? Good, bad, or ugly?
Posted by: BP Hank at November 27, 2007 9:19 PM

K

Y

O

U

F

R

E

D

well anyone who was asking about baldwin park at basketball should know this...i think they went 1-9 or 2-8 in league last year...and same if not worse the year befor....BP always is extremly small and bad coaching (dude is a nut case)..not gonna do a damn thing in VVL this year...northview is romp all over everyone even though they arnt that good...the rest of the league is soooo bad...ganashe pomona covina garbage..san dimas (who lost top 6 players last year including all 5 starters) will beat everyone but northview...like i said befor SGV is just simply weak this year

Coach Walker is still the same --yes the ankle sock rule is still there plus, only white socks,and they must were jackets on game day while at school no matter what the temp. outside is.Can someone please stop this gut!! It's to bad for the Seniors who have played the past 3 years in the basketball program, and now because of him, they won't play their final year.I wonder if Mr. Farrar know's just what he says about those football players....

I am not sure that we want to equate(if you know what that word means) this blog to the Madden Jinx, Sports Illustrated cover jinx. Freddie and for sure Aram's heads are big enough thinking that this blog is read by anyone important

brave supporter,
and it has been proven during football on this site that there is clearly a blog jinx... he who pops off will get knocked off.

Duarte, San Dimas, Northview, Diamond Ranch, Los Altos, Wilson,...and yes you'd think that you learned from your football team when they started popping off about defeating SD and promptly lost to NV.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while:)

Never said SH, WC, or Nogales were not good at B-Ball just found it funny that they all were ranked and Rowland was left out after winning 5 of the last 6 titles. Every school in the league lost great players but Rowland still has floor leader (2nd team all-league) and two of their bigs and to not rank defending champ is crazy. Well, let's just wait till season starts and go from there. Good Luck to all teams.
Radier Nation Lives on !!!!!!!!!

$2000 DONATION TO PUT THE BISHOP AMAT GIRLS TEAM AGAINST THE DAMIEN BOYS BASKETBALL TEAM. WINNER TAKES ALL! LOSER LEAVES TOWN CAGE MATCH. THATS' ABOUT HOW GOOD DAMIEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM IS. AUSTIN NAPOLITANO SHOULD HAVE ENROLLED AT GLENDORA. BY NOW HE WOULD HAVE BEEN CIF HONORABLE MENTION AS A SOPH, CIF AS A JUNIOR AND A RECRUITABLE PLAYER THIS SUMMER. TIGER, GORDIEN, NAPOLITANO OVER THE LAST 3 YEARS WOULD HAVE BEEN SPECIAL. LE DUC IS GOING TO PUT 35 ON DUNN THIS YEAR. THEY'LL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AGAIN AND BE ONE AND DUNN, AGAIN! DAMIEN AT #3! THAT'S A JOKE. WHERE DID THE PRESEASON FOOTBALL TEAM END UP THIS YEAR. THIRD PLACE IN THE SORRY SIERRA LEAGUE AND AN ASS WHUPPING IN THE PLAYOFFS. THE BASKETBALL TEAM WILL DO NO BETTER. WATCH OUT FOR BONITA'S FRESHMEN CLASS THEY'RE GOING TO BE SPECIAL. #3? FRED YOU'RE BEGINNING TO MIRROR ARAM. AND YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT. YOU MUST BE GOING ON ARAM'S NOTES FOR THAT PREDICTION.

so why do teams win when he leaves? what was the deal at Bishop? wasn't he coach of the year? what about the next coach, why was he better?

Had to check maxpreps.com to confirm, but ray walker certainly is at charter oak, all I can say is best of luck to that program. The only hope you have for success in the future is that the year after he leaves, like at amat and chino hills, you have an excellent chance at winning cif.
My "favorite" rule of his was the banning of ankle socks, if my memory serves me correct they have to be two inches above the ankle right?
Although he coaches tenacious man to man defense (which works for and against him, frankly because the only time he came out of it was when the craven twins put up 100 on him), he has little to no offensive schemes to encourage creativeness from his players or put the team in a position to compete against equally tough defenses.

Brave Supporter,
what was that you said about BP?

That's O as is round ball time (we're not just a football school ya know ;) And O as in Offense! 80 plus scored tonight. I know...it was just Pomona, but those kids played their hearts out and they are going to compete just fine in their league I'm guessing. I think they'd give Wilson a good game. Was pleased with the first showing of the "this year's model" of Tartan Basketball. They look very up tempo, good shooters (Dom's the bomb, but others can stroke it too) and they work hard and pass well. They've got several nice looking parts with some quick smalls that shoot in Brothers and Russell, some long big men that are new faces and a couple of strong, bangin' swing men that can score it too in Beckwith and another new face (Martinez?). Beckwith looks like he's getting used to the round ball after just coming out of a good season of football and that tough last game I read about. The bench seems deeper this year; can't wait to see you guys in action at the home tourney next week as you begin to face some stiffer competition. Could this be a revival year in Tartan land? Time will tell...good start.

to The Truth at November 27, 2007 12:53 PM

West Covina and South Hills arn't just football powerhouses they just have great athletes. Just because you do one sport well doesn't mean you can't do many well. Especially WC and SH were the best players on their football teams are all around good athletes. I wouldn't be suprised to see Brandon Parahm and Josh Thomas to be on the all-valley teams for both basketball and football.

I think the only schools that are good in mostly all sports in the SGV are West Covina, South Hills, and Glendora..

"Raider Nation"
You must not know anything about SGV basketball because Nogales, West Covina, and South Hills are all good in basketball...

Yeah...that's right. Damien won last night thanks to my genius coaching. Who cares if it was Wilson and their roster is sprinkled with under 6 ft tall kids named Chang, Cheng and Chin. So what if we got outscored 22-4 in the 3rd qtr. Big deal that only 5 of my kids scored and they are all seniors. We won. Look out Fairfax! I want you!

charter oak varsity lost to damiens jv?
ahahahahhahahahahahahah

I hear the Braves of baldwin park are going to be the surprise of the valley. they return their top 8 players with two 6'5" kids coming up from the lower levels. Watch out valley here comes the Braves

Anonymous (whichever one you are) from CO,

Those coach stories about Walker don't surprise any of the parents at amat. What did surprise us is that your principal, who was our VP, even hired him - knowing that these problems occurred in a private school...much less a public school that might not be as used to his much stricter (senseless?) guidelines. He was pretty into showing people who was boss. That probably led to him being run out of the last couple of places he's been at.

Many had the same issues with him when he was our coach, and it really affected the team, which kind of underachieved during his reign. As soon as a good, quality coach came in that built some raphor with the players and parents... we won a CIF title in the first year. Chino Hills got good right after he left there...coincidence?

"Transplant..." - can you substantiate this and give your insight? Sounds like you knew that era.

Hey Mr. "I Hate Anony....Liars"
I believe I know who you are talking about and I don't know where the family lives. You may well be right about that one. He did come into the district in either 8th or 9th grade and did play in either youth league or on the city "all-star"/travel team that plays at the end of youth league leading up to summer tryouts. From what I remember he was not at all a polished player when he started out, but hard work and a couple of years in the program and he has greatly improved. Not some transfer stud but a self-made/program made player at GHS and very much part of the team and community. That's my point...if you think I made some big misleading statement, I appologize.

Charter Oak has a new coach this year, he is very racist, comments like all black players must have their own hair color, when one had some red in his hair, he was told to get off the team because he (the coach) knew it wasn't possible for blacks to have red hair. Thank god they are still in football and none of the players are able to even go out for basketball, since the coaches comment was there is no way football players can be good basketball players. I know of at least 4 Varsity players that won't be out on the basketball court because of the coach.Best of luck to all the other SGV teams, Charter Oak Basketball will not even be in the running this year. Oh and the coach doesn't care, he knows the admin, so there is no way he can be fired..His own words..

Griff is a class act. No one deserves to be in the zone like the Grifster! Never seen anything like it. Can he still be dropping bombs at Chapman? I certainly hope so. Super nice kid and a great, great Dad. He's the guy with the "Way to go Griffff!" blasts from the stands. Nice to see a father and son relationship that isn't about "being the man" as much as "helping your team win!". As far a Riley is concerned we all wish the best for him. Again great parents. I hope he's bringing it every night. Someday Riley will realize it's not about the people in the stands it's about the Game on the court. When he realizes that he's going to be outrageous. Still think he'll average 18 points and 14 rebounds @ Chapman when he gets his it all together. They have both come a long way from their freshmen years and my hats off to both of them for being self made ballers...and you know what I mean.

But thought be told Griffin way the team last year. Anyone who doubts that doesn't have an honest bone in his body. (Check the All Star Game)

well if you are going to dish it out on the boys program at amat, you have to get your story straight. Manzo was not the AD when they let Lokar walk, DiFiori was, and DiFiori is also to blame for their recent hire. The program has really gone down and they have to schedule the Rosemead's and compete in Calvary Chapelesque tournaments just to muster enough wins to get bounced in the first round of playoffs (and no a wild card win does not equal a playoff victory). Bottom line is that the boys program at Amat is not getting the talent, there is no draw to go there, and the current coach has already set up his successor for probable failure.

Joe Amat,

Nice post 11/27 @12:44. You are correct in your assessment of how private schools utilize there money and you are right on how Msgr. Carroll has turned donors away because of his controlling ways. Amat has had offers to assist in rebuilding the football stadium. But no, Msgr. Carroll wants to decide where the money goes. Lets be realistic here, football can fund all the other sports at Amat.

Why are we not making headway in Boys Basketball, look at the facility. Best facility in the San Gabriel Valley and we can not , that should have been a calling card to draw the top basketball players in the valley. Amat should be in the top 10 each year, instead Msgr. Carroll and the AD (Manzo) go out and hire coaches with no draw power. Basketball could be a money maker like the girls are. They draw tremendous crowds. If Richard Wiard was not an Alumni do you think he would be there???

Leys make it a winning year and schedule more games that will give you valley power such as Rosemead, Bassett and Bosco Tech. Come on Manzo help in building a program. This should be a stroung team this year but the schedule is not helping them get the attention they deserve.

Nogales# 5?,West Covina#6?,South Hills#9?. And Rowland not even rated?? come on!! 5 out of the last 6 league titles have gone to Rowland. Beat Nogales twice and split with both WC and SH. Best point guard in the league and two of the better big men. You guys need to get off the jocks of these other teams and try to at least look impartial. Go Radiers !!!

give Riley and Ramme a break.
Neither one of them commented on this blog.. In fact neither one of them knew they were even mentioned in this blog until after all of this was said so to "get over it"..they're not sticking their nose in any "high school scene".
They're doing well where they're at right now so lay off.

d ranch will be now dominating the league for football and basketbal. Sorry for the rest. hey los altos just needs get used to losing winning was there past now the future holds losing for them.

Dranch #1 fan

Griffin Ramme and Justin RIley get a life and get off this blog you guys graduated and still want to stick your noses in the high school seen take your egos and keep them at chapman we dont need them here absolutely pathetic

Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on the sgv basketball players now a days, come on jon joe was player of the year and now plays JC and the rest of the all valley players are weak. the valley hasnt been good since the 2004-2005 season when it produced D1,D2,D3 and jc players. Now they just either play in adult rec leagues or maybe JC.

Any word on Baldwin Park? Good, bad, or ugly?

WOO HOO. CO top 10 in basketball!
Party at our house...clothing optional!

I might debate the Diamond Ranch - nicest gym in the SGV comment : )

Our only problem is that no one comes to the guys games anymore to see ours

SOUTH HILLS WILL BE THE BIGGEST SUPRISE IN THE AREA THIS SEASON, ALONG WITH THE TARTANS OF GLEDORA..BOTH LOSING THERE HEART N SOUL FROM GRADUATION (GHS,KYLE GORDIEN,SHHS JERRY SANTOS)..BOTH WILL MAKE SOME NOISE N WILL WIN THERE RESPECTED LEAGUES!! GOOD LUCK HUSKIES N TARTANS!

Diamond Ranch does have the nicest gym in the SGV. You have to ignore the grafitti all over the walls on the way up the hill to get there.

Charter Oak's varsity lost to Damien's JV team in Summer League. This is not a joke!

Justin Riley was the main reason Damien did so well. Ramme was pretty good most games too. Those two will be missed as well as Andrew Hacker. Damien has no one to replace them and their talent. I won't call players out by name, but the kid they hope to replace Riley is too likely to pout if he struggles. There is no one to replace the power and rebounding of Hacker. The kid they expect to do that can't even remember the basic offense. No one on the Damien roster can shoot like Ramme. There were some good shooters in the program, but Dunn ran them off. I expect this Damien team to play pretty good defense. They will get points off of their press. They will also miss easy lay ups. They will turn the ball over. They will definitely lose to some teams they should beat. They will lose 4th quarter leads. They will not finish in the top 3 in the Sierra. Chino Hills will win it. Ayala will take 2nd and D Bar and Glendora will fight for 3rd. Thank God for Chino Coach Dunn.

Hey Anonymous Liar at 4:48 PM! You better check your roster again. I know one of your guards lives in the Charter Oak District and went to Royal Oak Jr. High. He NEVER played a single minute of Glendora Youth Basketball. It's not like he's a scrub either. He will either start or play alot of minutes as a sub. So get your facts straight and stop lying!

To Anonymous:
Former/current teammate? Are you eluding to Justin Riley? I just wanted to come on here and inform you as a Chapman student of how the latest "clash of egos" is going. The two get along very well and are both getting an average of 20 minutes a game. Griffin has started all four games and Justin comes off the bench quickly as sixth man. But i could have sworn that this blog was about the San Gabriel Valley of 2007-2008 not those that have graduated and moved on to college ball. So leave us with our clash of egos out in Orange we seem to be doing just fine with it and hope and pray that Damien can live up to what it was last year despite the loss at the end. Thank you and have a good time in High School ill update you occasionally on "the clash of egos" and how well we are doing at Chapman. Thanks. =)

If someone could find info regarding the DR coach being fired from Artesia I would love to see it. I looked online but could only find the following info.

Grover resigns at Artesia
Former coach will keep teaching.
By Ben Villa, Staff writer
Article Launched: 06/13/2007 01:15:08 AM PDT

After leading the Artesia High boys basketball team to its second straight CIF State Division III championship in just his first year as head coach, Loren Grover has called it quits.
On Friday, Grover resigned as the Pioneers boys basketball coach and cited personal reasons for the resignation. He remains at the school as a teacher. Grover also serves as the social sciences department chair.

Several calls were placed to Grover, but he did not return the calls.

The move came as a shock to many people at the school, including Artesia principal Sergio Garcia.

"I was not expecting something like this to happen," Garcia said. "He told me he wanted to spend more time with his family and teaching. If he wants to be a teacher first and a coach second, then he has my full support.

"I had no issues what so ever with his coaching, though. I know there were rumors out there on Web sites and things of that nature that he got fired or was forced to resign, but none of them are true."

Grover was an assistant coach with the Pioneers under Scott Pera for six years, before he took over this past season as head coach.

i agree with big rob homie. there isn't much good b ball in sgv this year. but then again there never is anything good in sgv period.

reality bites i know.

sierraleague-
are you THE Griffin Ramme?
Because you seem to be talking him up A LOT.
congrats on your starting position thats great but its your ego and that of another former/current teammate that has been said to be the reason for the loss against Harbor.

now that damien is rid of the "clash of egos" they'll be big this year.
They'll win the sierra and go past first round of CIF.

GO SPARTANS.

BTW, don't bang too hard on Bonita. They looked good in the summer...won a lot of their games. They may not be the most talented, but they play hard and they play smart.

All you bangin on the SGV and the Sierra being "down" this year are full of it. There is still plenty of talent in the area...some of it back from last year and more that will rise from the unknown, just like EVERY year. And the Sierra is every bit as good as last year.

As for lumping Glendora and Le Duc into the "cheaters" and transfer mumbo-jumbo, I'm SICK of that talk. Give me a freakin break. Everyone last year lived in the city or grew up going to Glendora schools and the same is true this year. Last year Gordien did move from Claremont to Glendora during his H.S. years but that's it. This year EVERY kid lives here and EVERY kid went to Jr. High here and played in Glendora youth league. The ONLY exception to that is that Tiger did not move here until before his Freshman year, but he has lived in and very much been a part of our community. There is another kid who's dad lives here who changed schools last year as Jr (was on JV and didn't play much). He is a reserve who may see some minutes...or may not. There are a couple that "got away" that would have possibly made this team unbeatable. Kelley at DRanch was here Freshman year but chose to leave to Ayala the next (and now @ the Ranch...hmmm). J. Salley, the big Soph. at Bishop Amat lives in Glendora, went to and played Jr. High ball in Glendora and played some youth league I believe there as well. Now THAT would be some talent. Not sure about the chemistry, this year's pretty good I hear. Anyone who wants to challange those facts, go right ahead. This is Glendora's team. Tiger-Cortes will lead. Beckwith, Brothers, Harsha and several others will be major role players and I predict this team will surprise some (those who know Le Duc's history probably won't be surprised)

bonita at #2..are u joking me...there 2 below average guards are barley over 5 feet tall and the lost zylstra (not that he was anything special but he had size)..damein and glendora would pound them easily...DR should be at #1 respectively..but the rankings should go
#1 DR
#2 Damein
#3 glendora
and bonita should be nowhere near the top ten...the rest of the teams willl just flip flop around all season cause they are garbage...the sgv had a strong senior class of 2007 but it just looks like there isnt gonna be much good basketball in the sgv this year

Boys and Girls soccer previews come out next week

Hey Fred,

Love the blogs and the prep section of the paper. How about showing some love for all the great soccer talent in the SGV? Keep up the good work.

Anonymous (whichever one you are)

No doubt something like that takes time. A new private school in Yorba Linda has been jumping thru City hoops for about 4 years and is no closer than when the City Council approved it 4 years ago.

I kind of think it would have been smart for LVLu to keep something like that on the down-low to get things approved and then announcing the "mixed-use" agreement later, so the school could help get thing s past the city and Murray could help with the $$$$.

My point was that if Cameron is talking up LVLu - he has an agenda to do so. They may be good since they also brought in an AAU coach whose Club players "miraculously" decided to make the drive from Compton to La Verne to "get a better education".

If it's legit - more power to them, but also more proof that *Coaches attract players*!!!

Since you sound "in the know", there are rumors of a property purchase further up Fruit Street for another school development. Do you know anything about that?

just like football
sierra not to strong this year

Joe Amat at November 27, 2007 11:40 AM

This is a long way from happening.

The city is in favor of the project because they would like a uses agreement for the basketball leagues, but the BIG problem is the residents.

People who live the community are flat against it! The city had also said "Conditional Uses Permit" will be a separate deal from the school. Cameron will have to apply like another business in La Verne..

Biggest hurdle the residents that are putting up a hugh fight!

Damien at 3?
Griffin Ramme carried that team last year.
And now hes gone & from what i've been told starting at chapman university in orange.
Damien may be ok but not 3.
Napalitano is good but may not be able to fill the void left by Ramme.

And Glendora at 4?
Not sure about the one either.
If DTC has another season like he did last year don't expect much from Glendora.

I expect to see both Damien & Glendora in CIF though,
The Sierra League isn't too strong this year.

Damien at 3?
Griffin Ramme carried that team last year.
And now hes gone & from what i've been told starting at chapman university in orange.
Damien may be ok but not 3.
Expect Napalitano to be the next Ramme.

And Glendora at 4?
Not sure about the one either.
If DTC has another season like he did last year don't expect much from Glendora.

I expect to see both Damien & Glendora in CIF though,
The Sierra League isn't too strong this year.

Northview did well this year in football, but yes i do agree that they have great baseball. and lets not forget they also have a great wrestling program. GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE BASEKETBALL BOYS OUT THERE

Brad went on to UCLA. He is a good friend of my family.
It was a pretty good power back then. But recently we all know about the recent problems.

sgvpride,

My point exactly! Not much of an athletic tradition, so there is not as big a fight against the Archdiocese to keep it open. Verbum Dei and Cathedral had a much richer tradition and eventually overcame the threats of closure, while schools like Pater Noster, Pius X, and now DM seem to lose that battle.

Daniel Murphy and Brad Wright were in the Covina Christmas Tourney (I think the oldest continuous tourney around) and he must have had a couple of games with at least a dozen blocked shots each. The list of MVP's in that Tourney is impressive to say the least. Any Colts out there with access to that?

Classy move by Diamond Ranch. The coach is already starting to win friends by beating a young San Dimas team by 60+. Way to prove that you are "the new bully on the block".
The coach needs to move on to some piddly assistant job at the next level where it is more important to recruit kids and win games than to be sportsmanlike and develop young men.

Tribune Top Ten
1. Diamond Ranch (16-10)They cheat in football, now basketball.

2. Bonita (17-11)No post play and their guards are streaky at best.

3. Damien (23-6)Coach (Dumb) Dunn, the worst coach in the SGV, will squander all the Damien talent once again.

4. Glendora (16-14)Tiger-Cortes is a man. The rest are little boys. Their bigs are weak, no talent hacks and the smalls are too small.

5. Nogales (19-9)Don't know anything about them.

6. West Covina (16-12) Please, this is a football school.

7. Diamond Bar (16-13)Usually talented and had good lower level teams.

8. Northview (18-11) Please, this is a baseball school.

9. South Hills (19-9)See West Covina above.

10. Charter Oak (13-16)Player mutiny over the summer due to new coach. Mesropian is a great player...the valley's best, but he is emotional and can be taken out of his game.

None of these teams has a prayer of winning CIF. Only DR will win their league. SGV basketball has seen better days.

Joe amat

How much do you know about Daniel Murphy and there athletic program?

Do u remember Brad Wright back in the 80's? Because that's the only time I can remember them having anything.

No,no...what Joe is saying is that private schools can't turn to taxpayers for capital improvements. (oh no, now I'm talking in 3rd person!) Parents of private school students choose to fund YOUR schools improvements thru their taxes AND pay tuition that *partially* funds the operation of their chosen private school. So private schools, typically, have always gone to private donors or philanthropic individuals for "unrestricted funds" to pay for their campus improvements.

The newer movement is to have individuals target their funds for particular groups, activities, or projects . Our guy does not believe in that...he wants all the money so HE can decide what it is spent on. In doing so he has turned off plenty of donors - which affects the MSGr bottom line). An even more interesting phenomenon is the mix of business and academics to enable schools to get operating expenses in exchange for facility use, or in the case of Verbum Dei High School, Cororate Work Study.

I'm not necessarily "endorsing" Murrays attempts to, essentially, build his own facility and let the school "borrow" it - but the mixed use concept certainly helps get over some hurdles for both he and the school.

The other thing that "Joe is saying" (there, I did it again!) is that administrators need to realize that a winning athletic program *that is developed the RIGHT way, and conducts itself with class and respect* brings GOOD PUBLICITY and a bad program brings NEGATIVE PUBLICITY. Following that - PUBLICITY determines how the community FEELS about your school, and how the community feels about your school impacts enrollment and the flow of money. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. So to start with, yes, a successful athletic program is integral to the survival of private schools. Ask Daniel Murphy!

Workman is a ok team who should take league. West covina should be top 3. During the summer they went 21-3. And we all know summer league isn't anything like passing league. You can actually see a lot more. Look out for them. Notable wins in summer: Glendora, some team from san diego who went to the finals: compete in the northwood tourney beat some pretty solid teams. More up n down tempo. Let those athletes loose!

Loren Grover, there's a guy with a plan for building a real community based, long term, basketball program with a solid grounding in ethics and commitment to the program. Or maybe not.

Coach Grover's Artesia team last year had five underclassmen (who played): Sidney, McCloud, Story and Ene. This year they have moved on to Fairfax HS, Compton HS, Oak Hill Academy (in W. Virginia), and Gahr HS (respectively). This guy will guarantee some headlines for the DR Panthers in the coming months.

Oh Yeah; Coach? The lady who runs the Mongolian BBQ on Centralia says she's still looking for the Czech. Or something like that. She says you'll know what she is talking about.

Best regards from the Moore League.

South Hills and Charter Oak in the top ten are you kidding me? South Hills will finish towards the bottom of their league. They graduated everyone! Charter Oak lost all but Mesropian. They lost just about every game in the summer. Where is Rowland? Where is San Dimas? Where is Amat? Just kidding we all know where Amat deserves to be.

So what Joe is saying is that cheating to bring kids into a private school is the only way to succeed. Oh that is such suprising news to the public schools. The private schools think that they have to cheat to win? What a shocker

La Verne Lutheran??? Great Fred good job let's continue to prop up the schools that CHEAT!! Diamond Ranch, Glendora, Damian, Diamond Bar, Nogales. All teams that don't have starting line ups made up of kids that live in their attendance area. Here Fred I will give you another tip: Workman is pretty good this year too. Oh yeah, new coach who coaches a travel ball team and kicked off 3 returning starters who have started for 3 years. Let's prop them up too, since what we are doing is proping up CHEATERS!!!!

Oh by the way, Pomona will not be the worst team in the VVL this year. Coach who has a travel ball team in the summer and now has multiple "transfers". It is a shame that the schools that play with their own athletes get punished every year for FOLLOWING THE RULES!!!!

Freddy,

Cameron has a little, shall we say "vested interest" in LVLu success.

This is from Murrays website http://prodigyathletic.com/prodigy.htm

"....Capital Projects
Prodigy Athletic, in conjunction with Lutheran High School, has committed to raise $5 Million in capital for the Prodigy Athletic Development/Lutheran High School Academic and Athletic Center that will be constructed on the campus of Lutheran High School in La Verne, CA. The time-frame for this project is two years. This project is an important step in our mission to help more children become true student atheletes and responsible citizens.

The goal of the center is twofold:
1. Allow underprivileged youth access to the academic and athletic facilities of Lutheran High School through after school programs and scholarships.

2. Give current Lutheran students an opportunity to learn civic responsibility, and give back to the community by particicipating in mentoring, tutoring, and other community service programs.

The mixed use, presumably, will be that Murray will be able to operate his Training programs and camps out of LVLu and the school gets a new facility and teh young administration at the school realizes that athletic success will continue to boost their enrollment Novel concept! Sounds like he has a great mission and use of money that will serve the school and Cameron's financial interest. This is the future of the survival in private schools.... Too bad the bald guy in black at our place hasn't recognized that fully.

Blueprint for a basketball farm for sure. All eyes will be on them too.

Mark this down, the team everyone needs to watch out for is La Verne Lutheran. Cameron Murray calls them the next Price. Can't wait to see how this develops.

ScottyFitz1 :

WHO ARE YOU ? I think Reginald Miller . I spoke with SF& he said HE NEVER BLOGS . I am WOOFING !

FIGHT ON

TM

DR also got another transfer in Fontana HS starting point guard. Any more that we don't know about? The school has run amuck and obviously has no control by the AD. They need to do some serious damage control, and this coach will bring more trouble than he is worth. The Panther reputation is spiraling downward in respectability - it's not all about wins & losses.

Steve Ramirez:

Good article. But lets just bring up the real reason DR is #1. Kids tranfer. The coach also got canned last year for illegal recruiting. Hey, I'm not saying he's not a good coach, but hats off to all the coaches out there with integrity and play by the rules. This guy makes Gano look like a saint.

Only Coach LeDuoche from Glendora would schedule the worst VVL team ever to open the season POMONA. Come on LeDouche are your balls shrinking Old Timer or what?

Fred,

Nice article and I think your rankings look about right for a pre-season poll. I'm hoping the GHS guys will surprise a little bit and give DRanch a run for top dog in the Valley. Look for a quicker, faster Tartan team that will run and shoot more than recent years (well, OK the shooting part's not different). They should be fun to watch and it all starts tomorrow night at "the gym". Come one and all and see 3 good games for 5 bucks! Also, I hear the Glend/Rowland tourney next week will pair their final teams 1-16 against Arroyo tourney's final teams 1-16 in matchup games played on the Saturday 12/8. Should be some great valley matchups there. Let the games begin and come on boys, bring home a league title like football did.

just what the Ranch needs. Another renegade coach who is already proven to have broken rules when he got fired at Artesia. What are they thinking over there?

Here we go again!

DBROWN FROM C TOWN :

If the SGV is SOOO Weak , why do you even CARE ? You ALWAYS come on here & RIP our programs .Like the old saying goes , " IF YOU HAVE NOTHING NICE TO SAY ......SHUT UP. "

GLENDORA GLENDORA GLENDORA .

Enough said .

FIGHT ON

TM

all these teams are weak. sgv basketball is a joke just like their fb counterparts.