Late-Blooming JC Back Joins Las Vegas Rebels

One of the most unique recruiting stories in recent weeks involves Kyle Toomer, a running back for De Anza College in Cupertino.

Toomer, 25, signed a letter of intent with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas after a late-blooming career at De Anza, where he rushed for 2,323 yards over two seasons and earned all-state honors twice.

A 1981 graduate of Inglewood High, Toomer never played prep football and enlisted in the Navy after high school. His football career didn’t take off until De Anza Coach Bob Mazzuca noticed him at spring drills in 1986.

“He was able to run under a long pass and catch the ball,” Mazzuca said. “With his size and speed, he caught our attention.”

Toomer, who weighed only a little over 150 pounds in high school, today is 6-2, 228 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds.

“He got on the weights and physically developed himself into an excellent athlete,” Mazzuca said. “He’s worked hard at improving his strength and his ability to run, as well as getting himself straight in the classroom.”

Toomer played for De Anza while stationed at Moffett Field, a naval facility in nearby Sunnyvale. Mazzuca said Toomer will complete his military duty this spring.

The coach says Toomer’s obligations to the Navy rarely conflicted with the football team.

“We’d start practice when he showed up,” Mazzuca quipped.

With Toomer at tailback, De Anza went 10-1 in 1986 and was 9-2 last season, when he was named the state’s small community college player of the year.

Not bad for a late bloomer.

Carson linebacker Rick Tiedemann spent a good portion of last season trying to stop Granada Hills quarterback Jeremy Leach.

The teams met twice, with Carson winning the regular-season game and Granada Hills gaining revenge in the L. A. City 4-A finals.

From now on, Tiedemann and Leach will be working together. Both have signed with the University of New Mexico.

Morningside Co-Coach Ron Randle says Friday night’s CIF 3-A basketball playoff opener between the Monarchs and Palos Verdes, with their contrasting styles, will be like a Lakers-Celtics match-up.

Randle, whose team favors the show-time running game of the Lakers, is hoping Morningside will enjoy a similar result to the Lakers’ 115-106 win over the Celtics last Sunday at the Forum.

In that game, the second half opened with Palos Verdes graduate Mark Acres at center for the Celtics and Byron Scott, the pride of Morningside, at guard for the Lakers.

Carolyn Hueth, a three-sport star at West Torrance, has signed a letter of intent to play volleyball for Pepperdine.

Hueth, a 6-foot outside hitter, also excels in soccer and track. She plays goalie for the Warriors’ soccer team, which won the Bay League title and will open the CIF 4-A playoffs Friday at home against Santa Monica.

In track, Hueth competes in the shot put.

Carson linebacker Arnold Ale, Carson defensive back Charles Gardner and Banning defensive lineman Titus Tuiasosopo have been invited to play for the Southern California team in the 37th annual Shrine All-Star football game July 23 at the Rose Bowl.

Others picked to play for the 32-man South squad include quarterbacks Bret Johnson of El Toro and Todd Marinovich of Capistrano Valley, who signed with UCLA and USC, respectively, and Santa Monica running back Glyn Milburn, who signed with Oklahoma after getting out of a non-valid commitment with Stanford.

Hawthorne track Coach Kye Courtney, who guided the Cougars boys team to the state title last year, has been named the 1988 California Coaches Assn. high school track coach of the year.

Courtney will be honored at a banquet March 18 at the Hyatt Airport Hotel in Oakland.

PREP NOTES--Bay League champion Palos Verdes will open the CIF 4-A boys soccer playoffs at home today at 3 p.m. against Bishop Montgomery, the third-place team from the Angelus League. Palos Verdes is seeded No. 2. In other 4-A openers today, Rolling Hills visits top-seeded Mater Dei, West Torrance plays host to Fountain Valley and Hawthorne plays at Hart in Newhall. . . . The CIF 4-A girls soccer playoffs open Friday with second-seeded West playing host to Santa Monica, Palos Verdes traveling to top-seeded Mission Viejo, Torrance playing at St. Lucy’s in Glendora, Hawthorne visiting Capistrano Valley and fourth-seeded Mira Costa, the Ocean League champion, at home against the winner of a wild-card game between El Toro and Huntington Beach. . . . Narbonne’s basketball team, in its first season under Coach Bob Hoppes, earned a spot in the L. A. City 3-A playoffs Tuesday with a 57-55 win over Roosevelt in a tie-breaker for third place in the Eastern League. The Gauchos open the playoffs Friday night at San Fernando.

South Bay Top 10 Boys’ Basketball Selected by Times sportswriters (Records through Tuesday’s games)

Rank, School, League Record 1 Westchester (Central) 18-5 2 St. Bernard (Angelus) 18-7 3 Rolling Hills (Bay) 18-6 4 Leuzinger (Pioneer) 18-5 5 Palos Verdes (Bay) 16-8 6 Morningside (Pioneer) 16-8 7 Inglewood (Ocean) 14-10 8 West Torrance (Bay) 17-7 9 Carson (Marine) 16-6 10 Hawthorne (Ocean) 13-10