Success in College the Norm for Times All-San Gabriel Valley Basketball Selections

It will not be surprising to see several players from this year’s Times All-San Gabriel Valley boys and girls basketball teams emerge as college stars in the not-too-distant future.

After all, the valley has produced its share of college standouts in recent years.

In fact, the list of recent all-valley performers could probably form a pretty good college all-star team.

Among the boys, the names include Scott Williams of North Carolina, Stacy Augmon of Nevada-Las Vegas, Wayne Engelstad of UC Irvine, Vincent Blow of Cal State Fullerton and Eric McArthur of UC Santa Barbara.

Topping the list of girls are Cherie Nelson of USC, Pauline and Geannine Jordan of Nevada-Las Vegas, Judy Mosley of Hawaii and Kristy Greenberg of Pepperdine.

Perhaps the most prominent of the former boys all-stars this season was Williams, a former Wilson of Hacienda Heights standout. The 6-10 forward started and was one of the top scorers as a sophomore for the powerful Tar Heels. After being a part-time starter as a freshman, Williams averaged 12.8 points and 6.4 rebounds and led North Carolina in steals (45) and blocked shots (43) as a sophomore.

As a high school senior in 1986, Williams led his team to the state Division II title and was named Times San Gabriel Valley player of the year.

Four others were starters for Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. teams this season.

Leading the way was Engelstad, a former star at Bosco Tech of Rosemead who completed a brilliant college career at UC Irvine this season. The 6-8 Engelstad averaged a team-high 23.6 points and 7.5 rebounds as a senior and was selected to the all-PCAA and all-District 8 first teams and was voted most valuable player in this year’s PCAA Tournament.

The Times San Gabriel Valley player of the year in 1984, Engelstad finished as UC Irvine’s third-leading career scorer and fourth-best career rebounder and is expected to be selected in this year’s National Basketball Assn. draft.

Another player who made a strong impact in the PCAA this season was Augmon, a former standout at Muir in Pasadena, who started in 27 of his 34 games at Nevada-Las Vegas this season and was selected the conference’s freshman of the year. A redshirt freshman this season after sitting out his first year at UNLV, the 6-7 forward averaged 9.2 points and 6.1 rebounds and made 57.4% of his field-goal attempts.

The two other PCAA starters from the valley were Blow and McArthur. Blow, a 6-8 center who played as a prep at Workman of Industry, averaged 6.4 points and 6.6 rebounds as a senior at Cal State Fullerton. McArthur, a 6-6 sophomore forward from South Pasadena High, averaged 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds to help UC Santa Barbara reach the NCAA playoffs for the first time. Most impressive was McArthur’s field-goal shooting of 58.6%, the fifth best percentage in UC Santa Barbara history.

The most successful of recent all-valley girls selections has been Nelson of USC, a former standout at Marshall Fundamental High in Pasadena who was named Pacific 10 Conference player of the year this season as a junior. The 6-3 Nelson averaged a team-leading 23.8 points and 10.8 rebounds after earning all-conference honors as a sophomore. Nelson made the all-valley team in 1984 and 1985.

Former Muir stars Pauline and Geannine Jordan, who led their high school team into the CIF 4-A finals three straight years, have continued their success at Nevada-Las Vegas. The twins, who were sophomores this season, were starters for a UNLV team that completed one of its best seasons ever at 25-9.

Pauline averaged a team-leading 16.4 points and 8.7 rebounds and made the all-PCAA first team and all-PCAA Tournament team. She also set a school-record with 84 blocked shots in 34 games and scored in double figures in 33 of her 34 games. After making the PCAA all-Freshman team in 1987, Geannine averaged 10.9 points and 7 rebounds and led the Rebels by making 52.6% of her field goals as a sophomore. Pauline is a 6-3 center and Geannine a 6-2 forward.

Another standout in the PCAA has been Mosley, who made the all-valley team at La Puente in 1985 and 1986. The 6-1 forward was Hawaii’s leading scorer and rebounder as a freshman and sophomore. A second-team all-PCAA selection, she averaged 19.6 points and 11.6 rebounds as a sophomore and led the Rainbows in scoring in 20 of her 28 games.

In addition, Greenberg has been a two-year starter at Pepperdine the last two seasons since earning all-valley honors at Walnut High in 1985 and 1986. She is a 5-9 guard.