RECRUITING / JEFF FELLENZER : Combine at Murdock Stadium Helps Juniors Move to Head of the Class

A couple of Saturdays ago, when most high school juniors in Southern California were contemplating what cereal to eat or whether there was enough sun to justify a trip to the beach, Tony Gonzalez packed his football cleats and basketball sneakers and headed north on the San Diego Freeway.

First up was Murdock Stadium at El Camino College in Torrance, where the Huntington Beach High athlete participated in the Reebok Preseason Combine with other standout junior football players in Southern California. Considered a top tight end and linebacker prospect, Gonzalez ran well and displayed good hands and strength in front of an audience made up mostly of college football coaches from throughout the country.

Then he was off to Dominguez High in Compton for a 4:30 p.m. semifinal basketball playoff game of the Slam-N-Jam Spring Development League. After a slow start in which his Orange Express team fell behind 18-2, Gonzalez scored 24 points in the second half and finished with a game-high 28 as Orange Express beat Team Los Angeles, 61-56. The next day Gonzalez scored 11 points to help Orange Express to a 74-64 victory over Team Avia for the league championship.

The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Gonzalez is attracting attention from college football and basketball coaches. Among schools singled out by Gonzalez as showing the most interest in his football skills are Notre Dame, UCLA (he made an unofficial campus visit recently), USC, Arizona and Florida. In basketball, the list includes Arizona, USC, UCLA, Michigan State, Texas, San Diego State and Cal State Long Beach.

Gonzalez hasn’t decided if he will concentrate on football or basketball in college.

“He has an NBA body and an NFL body,” said Orange Express Coach Bob Gottlieb, a former coach at Jacksonville and Wisconsin-Milwaukee and former assistant at Long Beach.

To prepare for his senior year, Gonzalez plans to play a full summer basketball schedule of tournaments and camps and run pass patterns with football teammates.

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More than 600 football players turned out for the combine, including walk-ons.

“We didn’t turn anyone away,” said Andy Bark, publisher of Cal-Hi Sports magazine and organizer of the event.

Assistants from about 65 colleges sat through a brief thunderstorm to watch the workouts, which lasted for six hours and included one-on-one passing drills, hand-timed 40-yard sprints and a bench-press test. Colleges that sent coaches included Miami, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon.

Neither UCLA nor USC was represented. Some coaching staffs decided that the event was not worth using one of their four allotted evaluations, which is the maximum permitted by the NCAA for any potential recruit.

Most of Southern California’s top junior football prospects were present. A notable exception was Rodney Sermons of La Puente Bishop Amat, probably the top running back prospect in the class.

Consensus choices for most impressive athletes at the workout were Jason Reynolds (6-1, 230) of Tustin and Reggie Davis (6-2, 195) of tiny Brethren Christian High, a Division X school in Cypress.

The strong-armed Reynolds played quarterback last season, but he’s projected as a linebacker or safety in college. Davis is a quarterback-safety who impressed quarterback coaches that worked with him, including Raider assistant Mike White.

It doesn’t look like a great year for quarterbacks in Southern California, but a few who impressed were Justin Vedder (6-0, 185) of Laguna Hills, Trevor Thompson (6-4, 180) of Thousand Oaks, Steve Buck (6-3, 180) of Alta Loma and Sam Gaines (6-1, 200) of Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley.

Others players who stood out: tight ends Rome Douglas (6-7, 240) of Claremont, Michael Jackson (6-3, 220) of Santa Monica and Kyle Thomson (6-4, 235) of La Verne Damien; wide receivers Jim McElroy of Washington and Russell Shaw of Inglewood; running backs Che Johnson of Dorsey and Franklin Saunders of Canoga Park Chaminade; linemen Matt Redman (6-6, 295) of Palos Verdes Peninsula and Darrell Russell (6-6, 280) of San Diego St. Augustine; linebackers Dan Miller of La Mesa Helix and Todd Thistle of Encinitas San Dieguito and defensive backs Dylan Newman of San Clemente, Chris Jones of Washington and Greg White of Etiwanda.

Notes

One of the state’s top track and field athletes, sprinter-long jumper Edward Turner (5-10, 165) of Morningside, has signed with Washington. Other colleges he considered were Kansas, UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State.

Hoop happenings: Damon Flint, the 6-foot-5 All-American guard who was told last week that he could not attend Ohio State, the school he had signed with in November, due to numerous recruiting violations, announced that he would attend Cincinnati. . . . Tulane finally signed Jerald Honeycutt, the 6-foot-9 All-American forward from Grambling, La. Honeycutt was thought to be going to Louisiana State and had also visited UCLA and Arkansas. . . . California has signed 6-2 shooting guard Randy Duck of Garland, Tex. Duck, something of a “sleeper” who almost signed with Southwestern Louisiana, is projected as a replacement for freshman guard Jerod Haase, who announced recently that he was transferring to Kansas. . . . USC is awaiting word on whether three quarters of its standout recruiting class--guards Stais Boseman of Morningside and Claude Green of Washington, D.C., and forward Jaha Wilson of San Francisco--has successfully passed their college entrance examinations in order to receive their scholarships and ensure eligibility as freshmen. If they fail to score the minimum required by the NCAA on their latest attempts, the players still have two chances to pass the exams: Saturday and June 12. . . . More late signees: 6-foot Danny Robinson, a junior college point guard from Sheridan (Wyo.) College who averaged 12 points and eight assists a game last season, with Cal State Fullerton; 6-7 JC forward Sam Allen of American River College in Sacramento, with Washington, and 6-3 guard Jamar Curry of Jersey City, N.J., St. Anthony’s, with Oregon.

Kentucky’s latest recruit is a gem: 6-9 sophomore forward Mark Pope, one of the Pacific 10 Conference’s best players, who surprised many people close to him when he announced recently that he was transferring from Washington to Kentucky. Pope was very close to former Husky Coach Lynn Nance, who recruited him out of Bellevue, Wash., and then was fired after last season. Pope was thought to be going to Utah before a trip to Kentucky. According to sources, after losing top recruit Charles O’Bannon of Lakewood Artesia to UCLA, Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino made Pope his highest priority, reportedly guaranteeing him that he would not leave Lexington for another coaching job before Pope used up his eligibility.

Add Kentucky: Although rebuffed by O’Bannon, the Wildcats figure to be back on the West Coast this summer and fall, evaluating players in the talented class of 1994. They will probably be among the finalists for two of the top three players in California--6-9 forward J.R. Henderson of East High in Bakersfield and 6-5 point guard Jelani Gardner of Bellflower St. John Bosco. Henderson, a post player with a soft shooting touch and great range, is likely to choose from among five schools: UCLA, Kansas, Arizona, Cal and Kentucky. The consensus choice for top prospect is 6-6 guard Rick Price of Long Beach St. Anthony.

One of the most improved players in the Slam-N-Jam Spring Development League was 6-10 junior center Alex Lopez of North Hollywood Campbell Hall. Lopez displayed some good moves around the basket and a surprisingly aggressive temperament in helping Team Avia reach the championship game last weekend. Good news for recruiters: Lopez has already passed the Scholastic Aptitude Test, scoring close to 1,000. Among schools showing interest are Stanford, Arizona, Oregon, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Long Beach and Loyola Marymount.

Another talented member of the junior class, 6-2 guard Jason Pickett of Banning, lists USC, Louisiana State and Arizona as his top three choices.