Article 386: Roquemore can do more

September 10, 2014

Bishop O'Dowd ran away with the West Alameda County Foothill League last season as they went undefeated. But the Berkeley Yellowjackets gave the Dragons their closest league battle with a six point defeat in mid January in Berkeley. A big reason for this spirited battle was the guard play of Casey Roquemore.

The Yellowjackets had been coming off of two mediocre seasons of 15 and 16 wins but was led by the junior Roquemore in rebounding to a 22-5 record. The 5-foot-11 and 155 pounds point guard averaged 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists as a first time varsity starter.

During the past summer, he was a starter in the backcourt for the Oakland Soldiers 17 Blue squad as he has been with the Soldiers since the previous summer. Roquemore is a younger high school student, as he will graduate at 17 years old. He has a balanced game and compares his game to Patrick Beverly because of his tenacious defense and his maximum effort on the court.

Soldiers 17 Coach Ray Thomas says, "I challenged Casey when he started playing with our 17 blue team. I told him that he was a small guard and colleges would use that against him. I told him that he had to be almost perfect with his skill set, decision making, defense and effort. We clashed early but he got the message and by the end of the summer he was our starting point guard. Casey made it hard at times to take him off the court. Casey will most likely be a major target for D2. He should have a great season for Berkeley High School."

Despite being undersized at the point guard position, Roquemore has a quick dribble and is aggressive in his moves to the basket. His experience with the Soldiers during the summer was good experience to direct a team and helped with his decision making process.

Coach Thomas continues, "Casey can play both sides of the ball. On offense, he can get to any spot on the floor. His quickness and ball handling creates a lot of problems for defenders. His mid range jumper also keeps a defender honest. On defense, he is a ball hawking defender. He keeps opposing guards in front of him and crashes the boards well for a kid his size. He was our best player against So Cal Allstars in the opening game at the Big Foot tournament. He lead us to the upset win with 18 pts in front 30 coaches."

At this point, Cal Poly Pomona has been the only college that has inquired. Roquemore wants to attend a Division I program with a solid education with a basketball team that plays a fast break style. He has a 3.64 GPA and wants to major in international finance.

The Yellowjackets' return to prominence and relevance would be validated with another 20 plus win season and a deeper run in the postseason. In addition to Roquemore, Berkeley returns Asa Allen and Adrian Rico. Expect Roquemore to look for more with the Yellowjackets this upcoming season in Berkeley, Calif.

Article 385: Milstead making an impact

September 5, 2014

In 1968, the NCAA allowed freshman eligibility in all sports, except football and basketball. This rule was later extended to those sports effective with the 1972 academic year. At any level for a team sport, making an impact as a freshman or rookie is difficult.

Last season, Moreau Catholic's Damari Milstead started from day one as a freshman as his Mariners went 27-7 while he averaged 15.5 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.3 steals. The point guard upped his scoring in the postseason as he averaged 18.8 points in the seven games. As a result, the Mariners were able to win their first North Coast Section and Northern California championships, and advance to the school's first ever state championship game.

Moreau Catholic Coach Frank Knight says about Milstead's abilities, "Damari's strengths are his ability to get to the basket at will. He is awkward for a defender to guard. He drives left better than he does right, but can finish with both hands at the rim. He is crafty with his moves so for many defenders at the high school level, it is just too hard to figure one way to deal with him. He makes great decisions with the ball so many times he can beat his defender off the dribble and then force the other team to help which creates many open looks for our perimeter players. He is a coach's son so he has a high basketball IQ, he seems to know where to be on the court, in the right place at the right time and he knows how to use his body to get contact from defenders."

Milstead started playing club basketball in the 3rd grade with the Oakland Rebels. For the past two summers, the right-handed prospect has been playing up with the Oakland Soldiers 15U team as an incoming freshman and he was playing for the Oakland Soldiers 16U team after his freshman year. He will be on the top Oakland Soldiers 17U club next spring as a young sophomore (September 1999 birth month/year).

Milstead has good genes and family support for his basketball goals as his father, Jules, is an assistant coach for Moreau Catholic and is also a Director for the Oakland Soldiers. The elder Milstead prepped as a forward at St Joseph Alameda and Fremont Oakland. He had multiple scholarship offers and was set to join the Washington Huskies but did not qualify academically as he would go on to Diablo Valley Junior College before finishing his collegiate career at Western State in Colorado.

Coach Knight assesses why his point guard is a high level college recruit, "Damari is a warrior on the floor. He wants to show that he is the best player on the floor. We usually get his best performances when he is up against other high rated guards. He takes it as a personal challenge and wants to see where he measures up. He is soft spoken but leads by example, when a guy plays that hard it's tough not to play just as hard and that starts to spread throughout the team. I think he is a high major player and will potentially have an opportunity to make money playing a game he loves. If his improvement curve continues working on his shot and point guard skills along with weight training, it will be the sky's limit for this young man."

Being productive during his freshman year and playing for a high profile summer team has garnered college offers from Cal, Hawaii, Loyola Marymount, Montana, and New Mexico State while Stanford, Texas A&M, and USC have solid interest. He wants the college style of play to be up tempo but structured with a coach that emphasizes defense. He does not have a geographic preference. Milstead finished his first year of high school with a 3.3 GPA.

Recent freshmen in the Bay Area who had both a statistical and team impact include Archbishop Mitty's Aaron Gordon and Bishop O'Dowd's Ivan Rabb. Along with their 2016 forward prospect, Oscar Frayer, the Mariners will continue to have an intriguing inside outside combination. The 6-foot-1 and 160 pound point guard has worked hard to be good but he has stressed to his coaches that he wants to work on being great.

Coach Knight has been coaching East Bay high school basketball for close to two decades and will be going into his fifth year at Moreau Catholic. He believes Milstead is a unique talent. "I haven't really came across too many Bay Area guards that are like Damari. I'm not saying that there aren't any but it's tough to find one guy to compare him to. I would say in my opinion he is a combination of Penny Hardaway, Jalen Rose, and Russell Westbrook. He has a knack for getting to the basket at will like Penny used to do, not with a whole bunch of flash just very efficient with three dribbles and he is at the rim. He has the competitive nature and confidence that Jalen used to have in high school and at Michigan. He pushes the players around him to play harder, he wants to go up against the other teams top guard or guards around the area and he is crafty with his moves. Lastly like Russell, he takes on challenges to improve his game. Russell had to improve his jump shot and PG skills to really be elite. He worked on those things and you can see it in his game now. Damari wanted to work on his jump shot and become a better ball handler and he worked on that all summer and during the season. He will be a special player coming out of the bay in three years."

Last season, Moreau had no seniors and only one junior on their roster to make their postseason run. The Mariners will start the season off with Drake in the Tip Off Classic, battle Modesto Christian in their own Winter Classic in Hayward, trek to the Duel in the Desert in Arizona, end the year in Palm Springs for the Max Prep Holiday Classic Invitational, and will be at the MLK Classic at UC Berkeley. Watch for Milstead to build on a strong freshman year and to continue to make an impact in the upcoming season with the Mariners in Hayward, Calif.

Article 384: Wu's eventful summer

August 31, 2014

The past twelve months have been a whirlwind experience for Modesto Christian's Jeff Wu. The 2015 prospect began his junior year with the Crusaders before being eligible midseason after sitting out due to transfer rules. After a run by the Crusaders to the California Interscholastic Federation Open Division, Wu joined the Oakland Soldiers Blue 17U club for his first taste of club basketball in the United States.

High school basketball players use the club season to help increase their exposure for the college recruiting process. The practice and travel schedule are rigorous as the action begins in the spring and goes through summer. For an international transfer student such as Modesto Christian's Jeff Wu who came to America for his sophomore year of high school, the transition can be even more difficult.

Soldiers Coach Ray Thomas says, "Jeff plays the game with passion and determination. He is a really skilled guard. His ability to attack the rim is relentless. Adding his very good shooting touch from all over the court, makes him a very dangerous offensive player. On the court, Jeff plays very fast. He sometimes plays too fast where he can get into bad spots. Energy level is at a high level right from the opening tip."

The 6-foot-2 and 170 pound point guard left Taiwan two years ago to attend Union High in Vancouver, Washington. Last summer, Wu made the move south to Modesto Christian but went home to Taiwan as he did not play in the club season. Wu was a relative unknown before the club season started but the experience with the Oakland Soldiers has netted him offers from Eastern Washington and Sacramento State while Colgate and Whitman have expressed interest.

Coach Thomas continues about Wu's college potential, "No question Jeff can play at the NCAA Division I level. This is his first time on the club circuit. He definitely will garner interest. With Modesto Christian being a high profile school, Jeff will get thoroughly evaluated."

Wu has adapted well to America as he is originally from the East Asian island country and had competed at Chin-Hwa junior high school in the Xinyi district in Taipei City (Taipei City is one of five special municipalities in the country). His academics are solid as his high school GPA is close to an A minus average. For a student who started midway in high school in America, Wu has good command of the English language in addition to the two standard languages taught in the Taiwan education system, Chinese Mandarin and Taiwanese.

Wu is not the first high profile international prospect from the Soldiers program. Coach Thomas says, "Jeff is our third foreign player. We had a guard from Finland named Rudy Memba and a 7-foot-6 kid from Iran named Jabba. Jeff is our first player from East Asia."

Modesto Christian will be one of the favorites in Northern California to return to the Open Division. A full season with the Crusaders should provide Wu with more recruiting exposure as he leads Modesto Christian to another deep postseason run in Modesto, Calif.

Article 383: The other Ionescu

August 12, 2014

Stretching defenses and creating space in a half court set is a common goal for most teams on offense. A common way to achieve this is by having accurate perimeter shooters who force defenses to stretch out to the perimeter. For the Miramonte Matadors, they have that threat in shooting guard, Eddy Ionescu.

The 2016 prospect has been on the varsity team since his sophomore year and will likely be a starter in his junior year. Last season, he was in the playing rotation as he helped his Matadors to an 18-13 record before losing in the Northern California quarterfinals.

Ionescu had a solid summer as he played up with the Oakland Soldiers Blue 17U club as a sophomore. He previously played with MVP Flight Elite from 5th through 8th grade but did not play in club basketball in high school till this past summer.

Soldiers Coach Ray Thomas says, "Eddy has tremendous upside. With improvement in the strength department, it will allow him to attack the rim better. His athleticism will only get better. In several of our games this summer, he made over four 3-pointers and colleges have taken notice. Pepperdine, Whitman, and Sacramento State have noticed. At this point, he is a low DI player but from the improvement he has shown from the spring to the summer, Eddy's ceiling is high. I absolutely expect Eddy to make a lot of noise at Miramonte this coming HS season."

At 6-foot-4 and 170 pounds, Ionescu has good size for the shooting guard position. He uses a jab step to create enough separation to give him an open look. As he is expected to take on a more prominent role on the team, Ionescu works hard during the summer to add strength to be able to handle more physical punishment in the paint and to take the ball to the basket with more effectiveness.

Coach Thomas continues, "Eddy's main strength is his ability to shoot the basketball. He moved up to the 17u circuit from 16u level and made an immediate impact on our team. With his 6-foot-4 frame and his athleticism also proved to help us in the rebounding department. On the court, Eddy has a good basketball IQ. Team first guy. He has a good motor on offense and defense. He seems like he makes all the right decisions. Off the court, he is very popular with his teammates. Eddy is a funny kid that gets along with everyone."

Ionescu's twin sister, Sabrina, is a national level prospect at the shooting guard. His sister holds almost two dozen offers from BCS level schools. When asked about their college decision making process and if it would be a packaged deal, Ionescu says, "Most likely we would both like it if we could play basketball at the same school. Ultimately, it just depends where she wants to go. We would both like to stay together and play basketball at the same school."

Miramonte will have a potent team next season as seniors Jake Linares, Jackson Wagner, and Moneer Mujadiddi will guide the team. With junior Ionescu helping stretch the defense, watch for the Matadors to make a bull run in Orinda, Calif.

Article 382: Hewitt excels in basketball

August 3, 2014

In Silicon Valley, the startup culture lauds workers who can multi-task across different functions that are both business and technical in nature. Analogous in the sports world, the athlete who can play and excel in multiple sports is highly prized at the college level. In the heart of Silicon Valley, St. Francis Lancer Peter Hewitt is such an athlete as he has competed on the varsity basketball, track, and volleyball teams.

NorCalPreps.com first saw Hewitt at the Hot Prospects camp in 2012 as a mop top haired and active prospect that had plus height and athleticism for his age group. At a current 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds, the 2016 prospect is trying to help lead the Lancers back to significance as they have won 14 and 17 games respectively during his first two seasons. Hewitt moved up to varsity basketball during the playoffs in his freshman year and then was a starter in his sophomore season.

In addition to playing basketball, Hewitt competed on the volleyball team his first two years while he competed on the track team during his sophomore year. The volleyball team was a dominant 28-7 as they went undefeated in West Catholic Athletic League play and was the 11th ranked high school volleyball program last season. Hewitt competed in the high jump by achieving a personal best of 6-foot-4 inches on the track team. Hewitt is still uncertain if he will participate in either track or volleyball for his junior year.

During the summers, Hewitt has been playing club basketball. Last summer, he played for Chris Mcswain's Top Flight Elite program. During this current year, he played with the Oakland Soldiers first in the spring before switching to Lakeshow Elite 16 this June. Lakeshow Coach Scott Clark says, "Peter has a good feel for the game, his go to move in the post is a jump hook which is very efficient, he's got good hands and can run the floor well. Also is a good passer out of the post. He doesn't fight being coached."

The experience from this summer has been fruitful. Hewitt says, "I was very happy with my play in Anaheim and at the Fab 48. I thought I played well and was happy with the college coaches in attendance. I want to continue to focus on my rebounding, playing above the rim, and getting to the rim." Hewitt has also been training with former NBA post player, Gary Plummer in the South Bay.

Coach Clark, who played at Foothill High class of 2008 and then played at Humboldt State class of 2012 as a shooting guard, says, "For the next level, I see a Division I kid. He has skills you can't teach as far as his feel for the game and coordination for his size at a young age."

Size and athleticism are rare traits that are highly desired by the college teams. As a result, Hewitt has generated inquiries from Montana (Coach Cobb), Oregon (Dana Altman and Tony Stubblefield), Pepperdine (Coach Amaral), Portland (Coach Pfaff), San Jose State (Coach Tyler), and Temple (Coach Dunphy and Coach Killings). Hewitt has no offers yet but has made three unofficial visits to Oregon and plans to have unofficial visits to Pepperdine and Portland in the fall. He currently sports a 3.50 GPA and is undecided on his field of study. From a college perspective, academics are the first criteria while a competitive basketball program would be the second criteria in his decision making.

The WCAL has been dominated by Archbishop Mitty for the past few years. With a multi-skilled and multi-tasking athlete in Hewitt, look for the Lancers to make a run at league play in Mountain View, Calif.