Court Is in Session: Summer Tourney Season Under Way

The high school basketball season does not start until November, but the area’s top players will be competing in basketball tournaments nonstop throughout July.

The action begins with this weekend’s Watts Summer Games. It picks up steam between July 5 and 30 throughout the nation, when basketball coaches can scout future prospects.

Some of the top names participating in tournaments this summer are City Times Player of the Year Kristaan Johnson, teammates Tremaine Fowlkes and Leon Watson of Crenshaw, Toby Bailey of Loyola, Dayron Harris of Washington, and Tommie Davis of Fremont.

Here’s a rundown of events in which they and other area athletes will be competing:

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The Converse ABCD Summer Jam 1993 on the campus of Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., July 5-8, run by basketball guru Sonny Vaccaro.

Fowlkes will be joined in the competition by Southern California athletes Jelani Gardner of Bellflower St. John Bosco, Rick Price of Long Beach St. Anthony, Tony Gonzalez of Huntington Beach and J.R. Henderson of Bakersfield East, Alex Lopez of North Hollywood Campbell Hall and Doug Gottlieb of Tustin.

The Nike Tournament will be July 6-10 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Ind. Toby Bailey of Loyola and Tommie Davis of Fremont are the local participants.

About 250 players are expected to compete in the Pump Discovery Classic, a shootout on July 5-6, followed by the West Coast All-Star Camp, July 9-12, at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The two events are organized by David and Dana Pump. The camp is expected to attract Fowlkes, Calvin Patterson of Fremont and David Rickenbacher of Manual Arts, along with many of the region’s and nation’s top high school players.

The Pump twins will also run the West Coast Junior College Camp, July 16-18, at Cal State Bakersfield, which will attract 200 of the top prospects from the West. This year’s tournament will feature David Ng of East Los Angeles College, Marty Cotwright of Los Angeles City College, and Ventura College standout Michael Tate, who is a Fremont graduate.

Johnson of Crenshaw and Bailey of Loyola will be among the several outstanding players competing in the Superstars Camp, July 11-15, at UC San Diego in La Jolla.

Other summer tournaments: Santa Ana Mater Dei Summer Tournament, June 24-27; Lakewood Tournament, June 30-July 1; East Los Angeles Community Classic, July 1-4; L.A. Gear Grand Finale at Carson, July 5-8; Long Beach Poly Tournament, July 5-9; Mater Dei/Nike Shootout, July 8-11; Anaheim Servite Tournament, July 9-11; Artesia Summer Shootout, July 12-17; Great Western Shootout at Ocean View, July 13-16; Fairfax-Goodman Summer Classic, July 15-18; Las Vegas Invitational, July 18-25; Slam ‘N Jam at Cal State Long Beach, July 17-22; Basketball Congress International Phoenix, July 24-31; Pump-N-Run Classic national tournament at Cal Poly Pomona, July 26-30; Las Vegas Grand Finale, July 26-31.

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Recruiting update--Toby Bailey, a three-time Central City selection, lists Arizona, Cal, Duke, UCLA and USC as schools he will most likely include among his on-campus visits in the fall.

Kris Johnson, the son of former NBA and UCLA star Marques Johnson, said he expects to visit Cal, Loyola Marymount, Ohio State, UCLA and Wisconsin.

Both are expected to sign early in November.

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Rankings--Here are the Southland’s Top 20 local high school players to watch, according to Times recruiting writer Jeff Fellenzer:

* Toby Bailey (Loyola), 6-5, forward

* Luke Buffum (Beverly Hills), 6-7, forward

* Mike Carson (Chino Don Lugo), 6-10, center

* Tommie Davis (Fremont), 5-8, guard

* Tremaine Fowlkes (Crenshaw), 6-6, forward

* Jelani Gardner (Bellflower St. John Bosco), 6-5, guard

* Jamie Gillin (Compton Dominguez), 6-4, guard

* Tony Gonzalez (Huntington Beach), 6-6, forward

* Donald Guyton (Pasadena), 6-2, guard

* Jason Hartman, (Thousand Oaks), 6-5

* J.R. Henderson (Bakersfield East), 6-8, forward

* Fantasia Johnson (North Hollywood), 6-0, guard

* Kris Johnson (Crenshaw), 6-5, forward

* Alex Lopez (North Hollywood Campbell Hall), 6-11, center

* Cameron Murray (Glendora), 6-0, guard

* Leif Nelson (Arlington), 6-11, center

* Jason Pickett (Wilmington Banning), 6-2, guard

* Rick Price (Long Beach St. Anthony), 6-6, guard

* Miles Simon (Santa Ana Mater Dei), 6-2, guard

* Jeremy Veal (San Dimas), 6-3, guard

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Collegians in action--If you like dunking, probably one of the most exciting tournaments will be the 17th annual “Say No to Drugs” Tournament, starting Thursday at Cal State Los Angeles.

The 16-team tournament, which runs through Aug. 7, features incoming freshmen and collegiate stars and will begin with five games each on Saturday and June 20, beginning at 10 a.m. The tournament continues with triple-headers on subsequent Thursday and Friday nights from 6 to 10:30 and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5:30 p.m.

UCLA’s Ed and Charles O’Bannon will play for Team Pasadena, while Westside Blazers will feature USC’s Burt Harris Jr., Nevada Las Vegas guard Kenny Gibson and UCLA center Ike Nwankwo. UC Santa Barbara and Fremont star Chris Ford, Loyola Marymount’s Zan Mason, and Dana Jones for Pepperdine will play for Entertainment Tonight. USC incoming freshmen Avondre Jones (Artesia), Stais Boseman (Morningside), Jaha Wilson (San Francisco Riordan), and Claude Green (Dunbar, Washington D.C.) will be competing together.

UCLA guard Shon Tarver and USC’s Lorenzo Orr will play for Say No to Drugs.

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Say No Again--Entering freshmen and top collegians from the women’s ranks will participate in the Say No Classic, which begins Saturday in the North Gym at USC. The tournament is sponsored by the Los Angeles Lakers, Asics Tiger and Body Glove.

Coaches, including Fremont’s Matt Taylor and Washington’s Julie Rousseau, drafted some of the top women players for a 12-team league that will play six games every Saturday and Sunday through Aug. 1.

Taylor’s team features Heather Burge of Virginia and former Washington High star Remitha Houston of Cal Poly Pomona.

Rousseau’s team has Washington and UCLA guard Detra Lockhart, and former Westchester and Cal forward Trisha Stafford.

Former USC and Olympic star Cheryl Miller will coach the Lady Lakers.

Other major names include center Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson of USC, City Times Player of the Year Cathy Grice of Crenshaw, and Lynwood’s Janet Davis.