When It Comes to Recruiting, Toros Coach Makes Mostly Local Calls

When it comes to recruiting, Cal State Dominguez Hills basketball Coach Dave Yanai knows his limitations.

“We don’t have the resources to go across the country and out of state,” he said. “We try to stay local.”

The high schools surrounding the Dominguez Hills campus in Carson have served Yanai well during his 11 years as head man.

William Alexander, the Toros’ all-time scoring leader, prepped at nearby Washington High in Los Angeles; James Shaw, the school’s rebounding leader, attended Gardena High, and John Nojima, the finest three-point shooter in Dominguez Hills history, went to North Torrance High.

“I’ve always been partial to the kids in the area,” Yanai said.

With the signing period beginning Wednesday, Yanai hopes to add more local names to a Dominguez Hills roster that last season included three South Bay products: freshman guards Robert Barksdale (Hawthorne) and Bryan Dell’Amico (Bishop Montgomery) and sophomore forward Mike Rudberg (Rolling Hills).

On the recruiting list are West Torrance point guard Denny Hocking and Carson forward Damon Estell. Hocking, a flashy 6-footer who was selected to the all-CIF Southern Section 3-A team, is scheduled for a campus visit on Saturday. Estell, a 6-5 all-Marine League choice, has already taken his trip.

Yanai is high on Hocking, who set the career assist record at West and helped the Warriors to a playoff berth.

“This year he showed a capacity to lead,” the coach said. “That’s very important at the point guard position. He reads the game very well, and he has excellent grades.”

Yanai also likes Estell, but academics could prove a stumbling block. Carson Coach Rich Masson said Estell still needs to raise his score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

“We basically try to recruit the best available athletes in the area,” Yanai said. “We’re not in a situation where we can recruit to fill our needs all the time. We don’t have that luxury.”

Yanai said Dominguez Hills has the equivalent of three full scholarships that it distributes among all the players on the squad.

Those limitations, plus the fact that the Toros play on the Division II level, has made it nearly impossible to recruit blue-chip players. But the school does have its advantages, Yanai noted.

“Our location is super,” he said. “We’re close to a lot of different areas that have talented players.”

Prep baseball fans will have the opportunity to see one of the top power hitters in CIF history when El Segundo plays Simi Valley in a double-header starting at 4 p.m. Friday at Recreation Park.

Simi Valley (11-4) is led by first baseman-pitcher Scott Sharts, a 6-5, 220-pound senior who set a Southern Section record last week when he hit his 26th career home run at the Colonial Tournament in Orlando, Fla.

Sharts eclipsed the previous record of 25 homers set last season by Mike Arthurs of Templeton. He has nine home runs this year.

El Segundo Coach John Stevenson has already been victimized by Sharts’ power. The slugger homered twice in Simi Valley’s 7-6 win over the Eagles on March 9 in the El Segundo Tournament.

“He can really hit,” Stevenson said. “He’ll be looking for (home runs), playing in a small park.”

El Segundo (9-4) also has some heavy hitters, most notably 6-5, 200-pound Heath Jones, who has six home runs.

Jones and Sharts both have brothers in professional baseball. Tracy Jones is an outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds and Steve Sharts is a minor league pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Jerry McIlvaine, former baseball coach at South Torrance and one of the architects of the Spartans’ Southern Section 4-A championship team in 1984, has taken over as the girls softball coach.

“It’s a new experience,” he said. “So far, it’s great. The girls are eager to learn. There’s so much pressure coaching boys. Coaching girls is a little looser.”

McIlvaine, activities director at South, said he took over the softball team before the start of Bay League play after former Coach Tony Farrell was pressured to resign because of a conflict with the administration.

The Spartans entered Wednesday’s game with a 1-2 league record.

In 1984, McIlvaine returned to baseball as an assistant coach and played a key role in South’s drive to the 4-A title. The Spartans were led that year by shortstop Chris Donnels, who set a Southern Section single-season record with 56 runs batted in.

Scott Davison of Redondo broke the record last year with 58 RBI.

Donnels went on to star at Loyola Marymount and is playing in the minor leagues for the New York Mets.

Three South Bay basketball teams will compete in the prestigious Las Vegas Holiday Prep Tournament next season.

Inglewood, Rolling Hills and St. Bernard are among the schools from across the nation entered in the tournament, which runs Dec. 26-29 at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Westchester will not defend its title.

All of the local entrants return talented players. Inglewood is led by 6-5 Harold Miner, named the Ocean League’s Most Outstanding Player; Rolling Hills boasts 6-4 John Hardy, the Bay League’s Most Valuable Player, and St. Bernard returns 6-10 center Ed Stokes and 6-4 forward Juno Armstrong.

Chris Vance, a 6-8 forward who played junior varsity basketball at Crenshaw High two seasons ago, transferred to Morningside last month from a high school in South Carolina.

Vance, a junior, gives the Monarchs one of the area’s tallest front lines. Morningside will return 6-6 Eddie Scott, 6-7 Jeff Crowe and 6-6 Arthur Savage.

PREP NOTES--Five South Bay players have been named to the girls all-Southern Section 3-A and 2-A basketball teams. Heather and Heidi Burge, a pair of 6-4 twins who led Palos Verdes to the 3-A title and the state Division II finals, were selected to the 3-A first team along with North Torrance forward Jade Hiramoto, the Bay League MVP. St. Mary guard Tammy Booker, the Camino Real League MVP, was named to the 2-A team for the third straight year. St. Bernard center Demetra Smith was a second-team 2-A choice. . . . Rosters have been completed for the 37th annual Shrine All-Star football game to be played July 23 at the Rose Bowl. The 32-player South team includes three South Bay standouts: linebacker Arnold Ale and defensive back Charles Gardner of Carson and defensive lineman Titus Tuiasosopo of Banning. Ale signed with Notre Dame, Gardner is going to Alabama and Tuiasosopo opted for USC. . . . The Redondo/Palos Verdes Baseball Tournament will resume on Saturday with second-round games. In the winner’s bracket, Leuzinger plays host to Royal of Simi Valley, Palos Verdes visits Taft of Woodland Hills and Redondo is home against Downey in 11 a.m. games. Also at Redondo, Westchester faces St. John Bosco at 3 p.m. and El Segundo meets Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks at 7 p.m. . . . The Morningside faculty will play the KJOH radio all-stars at 3 p.m. today in a fund-raising basketball game at Morningside. The Monarchs are attempting to raise money to participate in the Iolani Tournament next season in Hawaii. Admission is $3.

South Bay Top 10 Boys’ Baseball

Selected by Times sportswriters

(Records through Tuesday’s games)

Rank, School, League Record 1 Redondo (Pioneer) 12-1 2 St. Bernard (Camino Real) 8-2 3 El Segundo (Pioneer) 9-4 4 San Pedro (Marine) 9-3 5 North Torrance (Bay) 8-3 6 West Torrance (Bay) 6-3 7 Banning (Marine) 7-5 8 Gardena (Marine) 4-3 9 Palos Verdes (Bay) 5-6 10 Bishop Montgomery (Angelus) 4-5