At Own Pace, Burns Signs Letter to Attend UCLA : Basketball: Relatively unknown swingman from Reseda takes early offer to become a Bruin.

Marquis Burns might be the marquee high school basketball player in the region, but he sure doesn’t act the part. There is no swagger, no attitude, no inflated ego.

And, evidently, no hurry to associate his name with the glamour college team of the Southland.

Burns, a swingman from Reseda High, was offered a scholarship to UCLA but didn’t exactly fall over himself in his haste to sign a letter of intent.

Burns received the documents in the mail last week but waited until late Wednesday--the first day of the NCAA’s weeklong early signing period--to put pen to paper. “I’ve been too busy,” Burns said during practice Wednesday. “I just haven’t had time.”

Burns (6-foot-3, 175 pounds) averaged 20.0 points and 9.1 rebounds a game as a junior and was selected the West Valley League’s most valuable player.

Once Burns returns the letter of intent to UCLA, it will end an odyssey. Over the summer, Reseda Coach Jeff Halpern staged a letter-writing campaign directed at several NCAA Division I schools. Halpern touted the talent of Burns, who escaped notice of most major programs even though he was a first-team City Section 3-A Division selection last season.

“I’ll take him and his athletic ability, academics, the whole package, and put him up against anybody,” Halpern said.

Shawn Talley, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound point guard at Oxnard College, signed with Texas-Arlington on Wednesday.

The sophomore from Chicago Crane High averaged 16.3 points and 5.5 assists a game for the Condors last season and earned All-Western State Conference North Division honors. He took recruiting trips to Arlington--a Division I Southland Conference school--and Toledo before making his decision.

Another player with ties to the area, former Cleveland standout Brandon Martin, is expected to sign today with USC.

Martin (6-4, 190) played at Cleveland during his sophomore and junior seasons before transferring last spring to Washington. He averaged 25 points a game for Cleveland, which won the North Valley League title, and was an All-City 4-A selection.

“I’ve looked forward to this since I was in the ninth grade,” Martin said. “I’ve been working toward this day. I was excited when I committed.”

Austin McKellar of Campbell Hall, perhaps the region’s best point guard, said he has received offers from UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach but has not decided which school he will attend. “I’ll probably wait to sign,” McKellar said.

Crespi standouts Matt Carpenter (6-7, 210) and Randy Coleman (6-6, 215), who will play in a double low post, also received scholarship offers but will wait until spring to sign, Coach Chris Nikchevich said.

Seniors Isaiah Mustafa, Chris Cole and Stevie Amar of Santa Clara--the state runner-up in Division IV--are not expected to sign early.

St. Bernard guard Parker Jenkins passed up the opportunity to sign a letter of intent with Cal State Northridge. Jenkins, who made a campus visit to Northridge, said he will wait until the April signing period. “I’d like to see how my senior year goes,” Jenkins said. “Then I’ll decide whether I want to be close to home or far from home, whether I want to go to a state school or a private school.”

Jenkins averaged 11 points and five assists last year for the Vikings, who went 14-12 and finished second in the Mission League.

It does not appear that Northridge will sign a player in the early period. Coach Pete Cassidy did not sign anyone early last season, either.

Staff writers Theresa Munoz and John Ortega contributed to this story.