High School Star Keeps Recruiters on Hold : Basketball: Bay Area’s Jason Kidd, only a junior, is expected to name his college in November.

The spring national signing period for basketball began Wednesday, but the most recruited player in the state will not sign a letter of intent until late this year.

Jason Kidd, a 6-foot-4 guard at St. Joseph High in Alameda, has gained attention from college coaches across the country, although he is only a junior. He is expected to sign in November, during the early signing period for the next academic year.

Kidd, named player of the year by Cal-Hi Sports, has narrowed his choices to 14 colleges. UCLA is on the list, along with Nevada Las Vegas and Arizona. He said he plans to cut the field to five within the next two weeks.

The Northern California star led his team to an upset victory over Fremont of Los Angeles for the State Division I championship last month at the Oakland Coliseum. After the game, hundreds of fans waited outside the Coliseum for his autograph.

A couple of days before the State final, Kidd capped off a short practice by opening fan mail.

“Younger kids mostly write and tell me I am their hero,” Kidd said. “They tell me they’re my No. 1 fan and that they want to be my friend.”

Kidd, 18, is so highly regarded in the Bay Area that high school coaches are mentioning him in the same breath with former local prep standouts Bill Russell, Paul Silas and Nate Williams.

Frank LaPorte, St. Joseph’s coach for 10 years, said Kidd has the ability to elevate other players on the team. “He makes everybody feel important,” said LaPorte, coach at St. Mary’s College in 1973-79. “He never takes all the credit. It’s a unique characteristic.”

Kidd’s statistics attest to that. He finished the season averaging 25 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and six steals. He had 10 triple-doubles while leading the Pilots to a 31-3 record.

The Kidd fan club grew even larger after the State final. He finished with a game-high 25 points and seven steals in leading St. Joseph’s to a 67-61 come-from-behind victory over top-ranked Fremont before a record crowd of 14,508.

The victory snapped Northern California’s string of nine consecutive defeats in the Division I championship game. And with Kidd returning, the Pilots are optimistically talking about a repeat performance next season.

“There’s certainly a lot to look forward to,” Kidd said.

Recruiters and reporters have been relentless in pursuing countless stories on Kidd and the success he has brought to St. Joseph’s.

“The attention is unreal,” said Jose Caraballo, an assistant coach at St. Joseph for six years. “Everyone wants to be associated with Jason. And everyone wants to see him play.”

St. Joseph’s gym has a capacity of 800, so several games against traditional rivals last season were moved to larger facilities. In a victory over East Shore Athletic League foe Oakland Bishop O’Dowd in January, Kidd scored 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds before a crowd of 5,000 at Cal State Hayward. Hundreds of fans were turned away at the door.

LaPorte, who has been coaching for more than 30 years, said he has never had a player receive as much attention as Kidd. Media requests for interviews with Kidd during the State tournament were so numerous that LaPorte said he finally stopped answering his phone and returning messages.

Kidd downplays his popularity, saying he enjoys the attention because it results in more recognition for the school and the community.

“None of this has made me have a big head or think I’m better than other people,” Kidd said. “I’d rather have people wanting to talk to me than not wanting to.”

With the attention has come scrutiny. Some have said LaPorte recruited Kidd, since he lives in an Oakland neighborhood near Bishop O’Dowd. Kidd said he chose St. Joseph because it has a small enrollment, 400 students.

Others have questioned his potential academic eligibility. Although Kidd has not scored the 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test required for NCAA eligibility as a freshman, LaPorte said he maintains a C-plus average in a course load of college preparatory courses.

Kidd turned 18 on March 23 and there has been speculation that he was held back a grade because of basketball. But Kidd said he repeated the second grade when he enrolled in a Catholic school after his family moved from San Francisco to Oakland.

Although his personal life has been the center of some debate, no one is questioning Kidd’s ability on the court.

At 200 pounds, he is quick and physical. He shoots the ball well from the perimeter and is a force inside as well. He has been a starter for the Pilots since his freshman season.

Last summer, Kidd said he took his game to a higher level after practicing with NBA players Brian Shaw of the Boston Celtics and Gary Payton of the Seattle SuperSonics, who are Oakland natives.

LaPorte has been careful to prepare Kidd for all of the attention that comes with being a winner. Calvin Byrd of Villanova graduated from St. Joseph two years ago, so Kidd had an opportunity to witness the media blitz and the recruiting process. Still, even LaPorte was not prepared for this much attention.

“Jason’s a great one, no doubt about that,” LaPorte said. “He’s also a very nice young man. But I’ll be glad when he chooses a college, so maybe my phone will stop ringing so much.”

From now until the early signing period next fall, college coaches hope LaPorte answers his phone often enough so they can get through to Kidd.