SDSU to Get 6-8 Forward From Kansas

Having lost his entire starting front line to graduation, Jim Brandenburg, San Diego State’s basketball coach, has landed a top community college forward from Kansas Wednesday, the first day athletes of winter and spring sports can sign national letters of intent.

Shawn Jamison, 6-feet-8 from Pratt Community College near Wichita, said he has chosen SDSU over Kansas.

Other local colleges, including the U.S. International University and the University of San Diego, have received similar commitments from athletes in a variety of men’s and women’s sports.

“I wanted to get back home,” said Jamison, a former All-Southern Section standout at Cerritos’ Gahr High. “And I felt I could be a major impact on the team.”

Jamison, who averaged 19.9 points and 9.2 rebounds this season, led Pratt (23-12) to the Kansas state community college championship and a fourth-place finish in the national tournament.

Jamison said teammate Michael Hudson, a 6-foot-5 guard, was visiting SDSU Wednesday and he is strongly leaning toward committing with the Aztecs.

Brandenburg, under NCAA restrictions, could not comment on individual players, but said he is interested in a couple of community college players to balance his roster. Brandenburg is also interested in Lincoln High’s 6-foot-8 center Aaron Wilhite, who visited SDSU Wednesday and is visiting Oregon State this weekend.

From November’s early signing period, the Aztecs already have commitments from freshmen Courtie Miller (Torrey Pines High), Terrence Hamilton (Patrick Henry High) and Ray Barefield (Fresno Hoover High). Junior Vernon Thompson of Skyline Community College in San Bruno also signed early.

USIU signed Isaac Brown from Las Vegas High and Steve McCaughey from Capistrano Valley High.

Brown, a 6-4 forward, averaged 17.4 points and nine rebounds and was named to the All-Southern AAA first-team this season. He chose the Gulls over San Jose State and Hawaii. McCaughey, a 6-11 center, averaged eight points and 10 rebounds this season.

USD had two players, Brooks Barnhard from Escondido High and Shawn Hamilton from Mesa (Ariz.) Community College, sign in November and are expected to sign one or two players this week.

Hank Egan, USD’s coach, is said to be looking at Lincoln’s Joe Temple (6-3, guard), as are USIU and SDSU.

Torrey Pines’ Kevin Flanagan signed in November to play at Arizona.

In women’s basketball, SDSU has Lori Lollis from Spokane (Wash.) Shadle Park High, who signed early, and Carla Gladden from Los Angeles Morningside, a Prop. 48 player last season.

In addition to post players, Riggins is attempting to sign Point Loma High’s Monica Filer, The Times’ player of the year in 1989. Filer, who is taking the ACT test Saturday, has said she will wait until next week to make a decision.

With only two scholarships to give, USD Coach Kathy Marpe signed Chris Enger, a 6-4 center from Vista High, and Angie Straub, 5-4, from Grass Valley Nevada Union near Sacramento.

Local high school girls’ basketball players to sign or commit to colleges include La Jolla’s Nicole Anderson (UCLA), Mission Bay’s Cristina Willis (Northern Arizona), Ramona’s Kris Miller (Cal Baptist), Mira Mesa’s Carrie Carambas (Point Loma Nazarene) and Vista’s Dana Christopherson (UC San Diego).

In boys’ soccer, Valhalla’s Scott Hargrove signed with Duke. Mia Labovitz, from San Diego High, has said she is attending Sonoma State for women’s soccer.

(Rick Hazeltine contributed to this story.)