“Syracuse, Kentucky, Arizona, UCLA, USC, Florida, San Diego State University, Washington, Stanford, Louisville, NC State, Florida State, UNLV, and Colorado.”

In due time the list will be trimmed but right now these are the schools that have a chance.

“These are the schools I feel are doing the best recruiting me right now.”

Some say Kentucky and Arizona are the two schools that stand out than the others but only time will tell. Expect Johnson to have a big year at powerhouse Mater Dei High School.

Jordan Bell defending Anrio Adams at the MLK Hoopfest in Seattle WA (image courtesy of Jamie Corpus)

An example of Bell’s talent was shown off against Long Beach Poly’s rival, Jordan High, on January 23rd when he had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 16 blocks.

Left Coast Recruiting had a chance to catch up with Bell and ask him a few questions.

What position are you wanting to play in college?

Small and power forward.

What are your strengths? 

Blocking shots, rebounding, and being a threat in the post on defense.

What are you working on improving? 

Offense, dribbling, and passing.

What schools do you hold offers from?  (more…)

Mainly colleges from the west coast were in attendance for the majority of the event.  The UC Irvine assistant coach was the only coach who stayed from game one till the final game.  The northwest has been producing talent for some years now and it showed from the amount of colleges coaches came out to check out the event

College Coaches in Attendance

• Utah
• Gonzaga
• UC Irvine
• Nevada
• Washington
• Oregon State
• Southern Idaho
• UCLA
• Boise State
• San Francisco
• USC
• Idaho
• UC Santa Clara
• and many more…

There were 12 teams that played in the Hoopfest. Ten of the teams were from the state of Washington and 2 other teams made the trip from California and Oregon.  Every game consisted of a player or two that will go on and play college basketball at the D1 level.  Left Coast Recruiting was there all day.  Here are players that stood out and games of the day.

Players that stood out

• Darien Nelson Henry (2012) - Nelson Henry gave Penn a solid verbal.  The big man for Lake Washington had many coaches in attendance to watch him face off against Lincoln High School.  There was no stopping Nelson Henry as he had a tournament high 35 points and 15 rebounds.
• Zach Lavine (2013) - Lavine is a (more…)

Adrian Davis (Mick White Photography)

He is a fast guard that has one of the quickest first steps in his grade and maybe even in the state. He can slash through the lane and pick up contact. He is strong and agressive and will use his natural basketball instincts and skills to get to the rim.

He is listed at 6’1, 170 but is probably closer to about 6’2 now as he continues to grow. He already is a gym rat and has a strong upper body in which will only get stronger as he continues to develop.

Davis was a high impact player for Mt. Rainier as a freshman, he averaged 17.7 points, 1 assist, 3.3 steals, 3 rebounds, a game. He had a scorers mentality.

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to watch him in the AAU circuit and he played a different role with the idea of getting others on his team the ball. Granted, he did plenty of scoring but with other weapons around him, his assists went way up.

This season the Mt. Rainier Rams have found a couple of weapons, a couple players from last year have taken drastic steps forward; 2013 Caden Rowland and 2012 Malik Rodgers. Davis’ numbers are (more…)

Deeshawn Tucker

I first saw him over the summer in the AAU circuit when he was playing for Rainier Vista in Seattle, WA. My first impression was that he was older than his age because of his already fine tuned abilities that don’t usually come as a freshman in high school. The main thing that stood out was just his raw ability to get to the hoop.

His point guard abilities are also very impressive, he manages the floor and has great court awareness. He sometimes is referred to as “flashy” and “electric”. This may be true but I think he controls it well, he doesn’t make many stupid passes or give away the ball. His “electricity” comes from just his quick first step and his ball handling skills to explode to the basket.

He can also lockdown a defender on the defensive end which is not often part of a “flashy” players game. He takes as much pride in shutting someone down as he does he scoring points on the offensive end.

In the summer when I first watched him play, he was about 5’11- 155 and recently I went and watched him again and he is easily 6’1/6’2 and 160-165. He has bulked up and has muscle definition a kid his age doesn’t usually have. This is probably because he loves to work. He constantly wants to get better and be better than everyone around him.

He is hearing from (more…)

He has tremendous ability to get to the hoop and can shoot from outside. He is already hearing from Arizona, Washington, Oregon State, Seattle U, USC, and Washington State. Check out his homemade highlights below.

Continue to follow Left Coast Recruiting for more information on Isabell.

Amedeo Della Valle

2012 Amedeo Della Valle may be the hottest name in recruiting right now. He put up 29 points the other night and since then his phone has been ringing off the hook.

The talented 6’6 point guard from Findlay Prep has really been picking up a lot of interest since the season has started. Coaches are seeing just how good this kid from Italy actually is, which is really good.

He already had a nice sizable list of offers; Cal, Arizona, Georgetown, Utah, Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, Creighton, UMASS, and Portland. However, lately 4 more schools have been in contact- USC, Boston College, UCLA, and UCONN.

Both UCLA and UCONN offered him. He talked with both Jim Calhoun and Phil Matthews (UCLA) by phone yesterday.

“[Jim Calhoun] talked a little bit about UCONN and just explained to me the program a little bit and then offered me,” Valle said about his conversation with the head coach at UCONN.

His conversation went similar when he talked with UCLA, Valle said, ” (more…)

Brandon Randolph

His ability to get the basket is what makes him special. He is agressive and can take it all the way into the paint or pull up and shoot a mid-range jumper. He is best when he has the ball in his hands, creating opportunities for his team to put up points. However, he also is a consistent shooter from behind the arc and is an underrated distributer.

This 6’2, 180 pound point guard has been compared to one NBA player in particular, “I play strong like Darren Williams,” Randolph said.

This season he is hoping to improve on the defensive side of the ball to become an even greater all around basketball player. He is constantly identifying his weaknesses and improving on those areas.

Schools are noticing and already has a laundry list of colleges expressing interest; Arizona, Texas A&M, VCU, UCLA, USC, Arizona State, Hawaii, LSU, Cal, Iowa, Stanford, and he has recently picked up an offer from San Diego State.

As for identifying his favorite out of those Randolph said, (more…)

Isaac Hamilton

2013 guard, Isaac Hamilton will visit San Diego State University this weekend.  Hamilton is a very talented guard that has a bunch of schools interested in him.

“I  have interest from  UConn, Louisville, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Gonzaga, USC, UTEP, Washington, Washington State, SDSU, UNLV, and Colorado.”

Basketball runs deep in the Hamilton family.  Older brother Jordan currently is in the NBA and younger brother Daniel is in the class of 2014.  Hamilton isn’t in any rush to make a decision.

Stay tuned while Left Coast Recruiting will keep track of Hamilton’s recruiting.

Zach Lavine

2013 guard, Zach Lavine didn’t get the chance he wanted this past AAU season.  Lavine hurt his hip in July, which sidelined him the whole spring and summer.  With high school basketball just around the corner, Left Coast Recruiting caught up with Lavine to see what is new with the sharp shooter out of Bothell, Washington. (more…)