UCLA, USC Maintained Grip on West’s Best Players

Finally, a week to savor for the beleaguered West Coast college basketball fan.

Just when it appeared that 6-foot-6 forward Charles O’Bannon and 6-11 center Avondre Jones of Lakewood Artesia High would join point guard Jacque Vaughn of Pasadena Muir to make it a clean sweep for out-of-state schools of the top talent in Southern California, a funny thing happened: O’Bannon and Jones decided the grass was greener at home.

O’Bannon signed a letter of intent with UCLA on April 23 and Jones signed with USC on Friday.

After Vaughn signed with Kansas in the fall, speculation persisted that O’Bannon was wavering on his desire to follow older brother Ed to UCLA and would sign with Kentucky. Jones reportedly had become enamored with the glitz and glamour of Michigan’s Fab Five and was prepared to sign with the Wolverines over USC.

The distance factor was supposedly minimized for Jones because he has family in Toledo, Ohio. When O’Bannon and Jones played in the Magic Johnson All-Star game in Auburn Hills, Mich., on April 18, 24 of Jones’ relatives were in the stands.

But UCLA Coach Jim Harrick and USC Coach George Raveling remained calm and confident about their chances of signing the players.

Harrick offered O’Bannon a chance to be reunited on the court with his brother and a chance for his family to see him play regularly.

For his part, Raveling persisted in telling friends what he said Jones had been telling him throughout the recruiting process: Jones was coming to USC.

“This just shows that when it comes to ‘crunch time’ in recruiting, it’s always difficult to leave family and friends behind,” said basketball talent scout Bob Gibbons of Lenoir, N.C. “And isn’t it interesting that with the recent trend of kids leaving the West Coast and going away to college, both Charles O’Bannon and Avondre Jones would say no to two nationally ranked programs (Kentucky and Michigan)?”

Gibbons, who publishes a recruiting newsletter, said the addition of Jones to a group that already includes 6-4 guard Stais Boseman of Inglewood Morningside, 6-6 forward Jaha Wilson of San Francisco Riordan and 6-3 guard Claude Green of Washington, D.C., Dunbar gives USC the finest recruiting class in the Pac-10, “probably in the top 12 or 15 nationally.”

Notes

UCLA is expecting a decision soon from 6-foot-9 forward Jerald Honeycutt of Grambling, La. Honeycutt, who visited UCLA last month and reportedly told friends that he would be interested in coming West if Lakewood Artesia High’s Charles O’Bannon signed with the Bruins, is thought to be favoring Louisiana State over Arkansas and Tulane. UCLA remains a long shot. The current spring signing period for basketball players runs through May 15. . . . As expected, 6-6 swingman Calvin Curry of Ventura College, the California community college co-player of the year, signed with Oklahoma. Curry is an outstanding shooter. . . . When guard Ryan Cuff announced this week that he is leaving Brigham Young and will transfer to Arizona State, the Sun Devils stopped recruiting 6-1 Al Dillard of Southern Union College, a community college in Wadley, Ala. Dillard was at Arkansas earlier this week and may visit Alabama. He is also considering South Alabama. . . . Add Cuff: A talented 6-4 freshman with three years of eligibility left (he has already completed a two-year Mormon mission), Cuff chose Arizona State over Arizona after visiting the schools last week. Arizona’s loss of Cuff to its archrivals was the capper to a dismal recruiting year for Coach Lute Olson and his staff. Among the high-profile recruits brought in for campus visits who chose not sign with Arizona were 6-10 Jay Knollmiller of Tempe, Ariz. (Arizona State), 7-foot Scot Pollard of Kennewick, Wash. (Kansas), 6-11 Avondre Jones of Lakewood Artesia (USC) and 6-8 forward Roshown McLeod of Jersey City, N.J. (St. John’s). Only 6-8 forward Jarvis Kelley of Houston signed with the Wildcats, and he is not considered a blue-chip player.

More Pac-10 transfer talk: Mark Pope, a 6-9 sophomore forward at Washington, visited Kentucky last weekend. Pope, who decided to leave Washington when Lynn Nance was fired last month as coach, is thought to be favoring Utah. . . . Some of Southern California’s top high school basketball underclassmen were on display Friday night at Artesia High. The players were representing two teams in the Slam-N-Jam Spring-Summer Development League, and the game served as a preliminary to a senior all-star game. Junior standouts included 6-6 guard Rick Price (Long Beach St. Anthony), 6-5 swingman Toby Bailey (Los Angeles Loyola), 6-foot guard Shane Willis (Manhattan Beach Mira Costa) and 6-7 forward Luke Buffum (Beverly Hills). Price, a guard with outstanding offensive skills, is regarded by most college coaches and talent scouts as one of the three top prospects in California’s class of ‘94, along with 6-5 guard Jelani Gardner (Bellflower St. John Bosco) and 6-9 forward J.R. Henderson of Bakersfield East. Bailey’s jumping ability is extraordinary and his outside shot is improving as he attempts to refine his perimeter skills. Price and Bailey probably will sign in November.

Another junior drawing attention from college coaches is 5-8 guard Tommie Davis of Fremont. Davis has been impressive in spring league games with his quickness and better-than-expected shooting range. He’s also a good student. Among the schools showing interest in Davis are USC, Arizona State, Washington State, UC Santa Barbara and Tennessee.