ASU gets McDonalds ALL-AMERICAN

[AZBALLER]

Harden finally officially commits to ASU. Contrary to popular opinion, this was a done deal months ago.

What popular opinion are you talking about???

 

[AZBALLER]

Was common sense the popular opinion?

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

What popular opinion are you talking about???

Within the last mnth, reports came out of Washington and UCLA saying Harden might be interested in those schools. Hell, one came out of UCLA less than 24 hours before he officially pledged to ASU. Most of those were obviously BS, myself and Russ were talking about Harden and ASU as a lock as far back as May.

 

[Russ Smith]

Within the last mnth, reports came out of Washington and UCLA saying Harden might be interested in those schools. Hell, one came out of UCLA less than 24 hours before he officially pledged to ASU.

Yep, UCLA made a last second attempt to get him and failed.

There's a new rumor out now that says Malik Story might "disavow" his verbal to USC and reopen his recruitment. he's a teammate of Harden's in HS. And they're supposed to be joined this year by 6'9" Renardo Sidney who moved from Mississippi and is considered arguably the best incoming Soph in the country. Sidney is on record that he wants to go to UCLA, problem is, UCLA is NOT recruiting Sidney right now due to his academics and other issues. Sidney recently created a stir when he said he's considering not playing highschool ball because he considers summer AAU ball more important, he says AAU ball is where kids make their reputations. But if Sidney does indeed play for Artesia, it's conceivable he could wind up on the ASU recruiting radar too.

 

[AZBALLER]

Interesting info Russ...

I don't always agree with you, but I'm a Pac basketball fan, and it's nice to hear a little cali recruiting news, that the Az Republic might report 4-5 months from now.

 

[bko32]

I am very good friends with the wife of the new basketball coach at Artesia H.S. and I met Scott Pera and watched him coach when he was at Artesia. I will tell you this, he is passionate about basketball and he's very emotional on the sidelines. He's in the Bob Huggins, Bobby Knight mold in that he is constantly yelling and screaming during a game. His players also love him. I talked with the new coach this past weekend and he said that many of the current players at Artesia were very sad that he left. It took some time for the new coach to get the players on board with his system because they still were upset the Coach Pera left. Pera has an impressive high school coaching resume - not only did he win a state championship at Artesia, he also won a state championship or two when he was coaching in PA. Sendek didn't just hire some schmuck high school PE teacher just to get a recruit. He got a good coach with lots of experience, who has a great repoire with all of his players, and has excellent recruiting ties to CA.

 

[Russ Smith]

I am very good friends with the wife of the new basketball coach at Artesia H.S. and I met Scott Pera and watched him coach when he was at Artesia. I will tell you this, he is passionate about basketball and he's very emotional on the sidelines. He's in the Bob Huggins, Bobby Knight mold in that he is constantly yelling and screaming during a game. His players also love him. I talked with the new coach this past weekend and he said that many of the current players at Artesia were very sad that he left. It took some time for the new coach to get the players on board with his system because they still were upset the Coach Pera left. Pera has an impressive high school coaching resume - not only did he win a state championship at Artesia, he also won a state championship or two when he was coaching in PA. Sendek didn't just hire some schmuck high school PE teacher just to get a recruit. He got a good coach with lots of experience, who has a great repoire with all of his players, and has excellent recruiting ties to CA.

Note, nobody is questioning Pera's coaching resume in HS, but it should be noted Pera is NOT coaching at ASU, he's the director of basketball operations or something like that. They have 3 assistant coaches, 2 from NC State(including former player Arch Miller) and one they hired named Dedrique Taylor(who has been an assistant for several West Coast schools).

Do they think Pera is going to be an asset to the program, undoubtedly, was he hired to coach at ASU, no, at least not yet.

 

[bko32]

Note, nobody is questioning Pera's coaching resume in HS, but it should be noted Pera is NOT coaching at ASU, he's the director of basketball operations or something like that. They have 3 assistant coaches, 2 from NC State(including former player Arch Miller) and one they hired named Dedrique Taylor(who has been an assistant for several West Coast schools).

Do they think Pera is going to be an asset to the program, undoubtedly, was he hired to coach at ASU, no, at least not yet.

you're correct, he is not officially coaching this year. however, i guarantee you he will be coaching in practice although he will not be allowed on the bench during games and he probably won't travel with the team. with harden now officially committed, what i've been told is that pera will officially be a coach next year.

 

[Russ Smith]

you're correct, he is not officially coaching this year. however, i guarantee you he will be coaching in practice although he will not be allowed on the bench during games and he probably won't travel with the team. with harden now officially committed, what i've been told is that pera will officially be a coach next year.

Full assistant or one of those limited duty or whatever they call it positions?

Only reason I ask is obviously as a full assistant, that implies one of the 3 this year is leaving, which would be odd after 1 year in the program.

Pera did a great job at Artesia he came in on the heels of a VERY popular coach, Wayne Merino, who went out in a really black cloud when they got caught violating a bunch of rules relating essentially to recruiting players and having players on the team who didn't live within the attendance area.

Those not old enough might not realize that under Merino, Artesia put out Ed O, Charles O, Avondre Jones, and Jason Kapono in about a decade, it was a very good program that could have been destroyed but Pera took over and put the program back on its feet.

 

[bko32]

Full assistant or one of those limited duty or whatever they call it positions?

Only reason I ask is obviously as a full assistant, that implies one of the 3 this year is leaving, which would be odd after 1 year in the program.

Pera did a great job at Artesia he came in on the heels of a VERY popular coach, Wayne Merino, who went out in a really black cloud when they got caught violating a bunch of rules relating essentially to recruiting players and having players on the team who didn't live within the attendance area.

Those not old enough might not realize that under Merino, Artesia put out Ed O, Charles O, Avondre Jones, and Jason Kapono in about a decade, it was a very good program that could have been destroyed but Pera took over and put the program back on its feet.

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing in a limited role for now. As the next few years unfold, if Pera is able to help recruit some top notch guys out of CA, he'll probably get moved into one of the full assistant positions.

I actually attended Artesia when Charles and Avondre were there and played with and against them in practice a couple of times and in a couple of summer league games so I know all about that program. Travis Reed also went to Artesia before he transferred out. Anyways, the whole thing with Coach Merino was too bad. It actually stemmed from guys who were living within the district, but they were living with coaches or friends of the program. Looks like Pera got the program back on track and the new coach has things headed in the right direction as well. Sporting News contacted the new coach a couple of weeks ago and are planning on ranking Artesia #2 in the nation in their preseason poll. Apparently they may have a better team this year than last. They also moved into Division I which means they will face stiffer competition in the likes of Mater Dei and Dominquez, which should only help the program even more.

 

[Russ Smith]

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing in a limited role for now. As the next few years unfold, if Pera is able to help recruit some top notch guys out of CA, he'll probably get moved into one of the full assistant positions.

I actually attended Artesia when Charles and Avondre were there and played with and against them in practice a couple of times and in a couple of summer league games so I know all about that program. Travis Reed also went to Artesia before he transferred out. Anyways, the whole thing with Coach Merino was too bad. It actually stemmed from guys who were living within the district, but they were living with coaches or friends of the program. Looks like Pera got the program back on track and the new coach has things headed in the right direction as well. Sporting News contacted the new coach a couple of weeks ago and are planning on ranking Artesia #2 in the nation in their preseason poll. Apparently they may have a better team this year than last. They also moved into Division I which means they will face stiffer competition in the likes of Mater Dei and Dominquez, which should only help the program even more.

Cool, I saw them play for the state Title Ed's Senior year in Oakland. Charles was starting as a freshman and Avondre was the tall kid on the bench who never played but looked impressive in warmups.

I forgot about Reed, he transferred out of UCLA I always liked him,undersized but tough.

The reason they're so highly ranked is Harden, Story and now probably Renardo Sidney the 6'9" kid from Mississippi I mentioned earlier. That's 3 guys considered top 25 in their respective classes, Sidney is considered by many the best player in his class.

 

[bko32]

Cool, I saw them play for the state Title Ed's Senior year in Oakland. Charles was starting as a freshman and Avondre was the tall kid on the bench who never played but looked impressive in warmups.

I forgot about Reed, he transferred out of UCLA I always liked him,undersized but tough.

The reason they're so highly ranked is Harden, Story and now probably Renardo Sidney the 6'9" kid from Mississippi I mentioned earlier. That's 3 guys considered top 25 in their respective classes, Sidney is considered by many the best player in his class.

In addition to those guys, the rest of their roster consists of guys who would probably start for most other high school teams in the country. This team is loaded. BTW, Sidney isn't a guaranteed thing. The new coach hasn't talked to Sidney or his family concerning whether he is going to be a part of the team. You would think someone of his caliber would have contacted the coach to meet with him and stuff like that.

 

[Russ Smith]

In addition to those guys, the rest of their roster consists of guys who would probably start for most other high school teams in the country. This team is loaded. BTW, Sidney isn't a guaranteed thing. The new coach hasn't talked to Sidney or his family concerning whether he is going to be a part of the team. You would think someone of his caliber would have contacted the coach to meet with him and stuff like that.

As a UCLA fan I was actually a bit dismayed when Sidney announced he wanted to go to UCLA. Everything I read about the kid says don't touch him with a 10 foot pole. Not surprised he's not in touch with Artesia.

his dad is being paid somethink like 20K by Reebok, the claim is he's helping them setup grassroots basketball whatever that means? Makes sense to me, move the family from Mississippi, and hire the dad to setup a program in LA where he knows nobody and has no connections. Sure couldn't hire someone who already lived there but didn't have a 6'9" 15 year old son rated #1 in his class nationally!

Shoe companies just annoy the hell out of me.

I think artesia is in a tournament this year in the Bay Area I was planning to attend because i wanted to see Drew Gordon again who plays for Mitty HS in the bay area. But I may be confusing my So Cal schools it may not be Artesia.
Would be interesting to see Gordon go up against Sidney.

 

[bko32]

As a UCLA fan I was actually a bit dismayed when Sidney announced he wanted to go to UCLA. Everything I read about the kid says don't touch him with a 10 foot pole. Not surprised he's not in touch with Artesia.

his dad is being paid somethink like 20K by Reebok, the claim is he's helping them setup grassroots basketball whatever that means? Makes sense to me, move the family from Mississippi, and hire the dad to setup a program in LA where he knows nobody and has no connections. Sure couldn't hire someone who already lived there but didn't have a 6'9" 15 year old son rated #1 in his class nationally!

Shoe companies just annoy the hell out of me.

I think artesia is in a tournament this year in the Bay Area I was planning to attend because i wanted to see Drew Gordon again who plays for Mitty HS in the bay area. But I may be confusing my So Cal schools it may not be Artesia.
Would be interesting to see Gordon go up against Sidney.

I read somewhere that his dad admits that Reebok is just using him to get to his son and he's fine with that, as long as nothing he does breaks any rules that would cause his son problems. Bothers the heck out of me as well.

I'm hoping Sidney does suit up for Artesia so I can find out more about this kid. I've read some articles that put him in a bad light, but then I've also read a couple of articles that say he's a good, humble kid. If I hear anything about him from the coach, I'll let you know.

 

[Russ Smith]

FYI Sidney is now said to be enrolling at Westchester not Artesia, and he still says he wants to go to UCLA although everything I read says they're not recruiting him yet because of his academics.