Basketball: Leonard on way to emerging as King of Riverside

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

With so many talented wing players on the West Coast, Kawhi Leonard is overlooked more often than not. And the slight is somewhat understandable considering that Southern California is home to such high-profile talents as Jordan Hamilton and Solomon Hill, along with Hollis Thompson and Victor Rudd.

Leonard, however, could be on the verge of joining the upper echelon of recruits based on how much the senior from Riverside King has improved during the spring and summer. He’s played so well, in fact, that Division I scouts have stepped up their efforts to stay in contact with him over the past month, or so.

‘Kawhi is 6 feet 7 without shoes on, has a 7-foot wingspan and can either shoot three-pointers from NBA range or put the ball on the floor, get in the lane and dunk on you,’’ King Coach Tim Sweeney said. ‘We’ve heard from tons of college coaches. He’s a high-major, big-time college talent with a plethora of options right now.’’

Several Pac-10 Conference programs are interested, including UCLA and USC. According to Sweeney, schools from the Big East and SEC, most notably Kentucky, have inquired about him as well. And it doesn’t appear the growing buzz surrounding Leonard and his newfound skill set is going to slow down any time soon.

-- Sean Ceglinsky