Football, Not Tennis, Is His Love

When Jason Nevadomsky steps on the tennis court these days and talks about “charging the net,” opponents should consider getting out of the way. In a hurry.

At Sunny Hills, Nevadomsky was a standout doubles player who helped lead the Lancers to two Southern Section Division II titles in three years. In football, he was an All-Freeway League choice as a 6-foot-1, 200-pound defensive lineman.

But Nevadomsky had designs on becoming the next Ken Norton Jr., not Michael Chang. So he gave up competitive tennis to concentrate on football at Fullerton College.

Now a solid 6-2 and 230 pounds, Nevadomsky, whose father, Joseph, is a professor of anthropology at Cal State Fullerton, was the Hornets’ defensive leader last season at linebacker. He was chosen All-Mission Conference, all-state and honorable mention All-American by J.C. Grid-Wire.

Nevadomsky’s play attracted the attention of major colleges, and he signed a letter of intent with UCLA late last week. He also visited USC, California and Utah, and canceled trips to San Diego State and Fresno State.

On his recruiting visit to Westwood earlier in the week, Nevadomsky was hosted by freshman linebacker Brian Willmer, a former teammate at Sunny Hills with whom Nevadomsky probably will battle for playing time next season.

As good as he was in tennis at Sunny Hills, Nevadomsky, who was born in Benin City, Nigeria, might have been an even better rugby player at one time. He was captain of his boarding school team in Sussex, England, before moving with his family to the United States at age 14.

Notes

Times all-county lineman Jason Grain (6-5, 270) of Sonora has made an oral commitment to attend Arizona State. Grain, however, says he plans to take his scheduled trip to USC this weekend. Trojan assistant coach Doug Smith dropped by Sonora last week to confirm USC’s interest in Grain, who also has visited Oregon.

Another future Sun Devil could be Esperanza cornerback Kareem Clark (5-9, 170). Clark visited Nevada Las Vegas last weekend and took an earlier trip to Fresno State, but Arizona State remains No. 1 on his list.

One of Jason Nevadomsky’s Fullerton College teammates, punter Jim Wren (6-0, 195), has committed to USC. Wren, who averaged about 41 yards per kick last season and was an all-state and honorable mention All-American selection, plans to sit out next season and enroll in the spring of 1996, so he can succeed Trojan punter John Stonehouse, who will be a senior next fall. USC recruited Wren after losing another Orange County community college punter, Justin Sogoian of Orange Coast, to UCLA last year.

USC signed one of the best-kept secrets in the Southland last week, wide receiver Chris Miller (5-11, 180) of West L.A. College. Miller rejoins his cousin and former teammate at Dorsey High and West L.A., fellow wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, who will announce his decision today to return to USC for his senior season. USC also has commitments from another talented receiver, Tony Griffin (6-2, 190) of Westchester High, and linebacker Mark Cusano (6-3, 220) of The Colony, Tex., a Dallas suburb. Griffin has visited Cal, Arizona State and Oregon, and will be at USC this weekend. Biggest catch for the Trojans, however, came over the weekend when all-state tackle Mark Manskar (6-7, 245) of Canyon Country chose USC over UCLA and Colorado. Manskar joins San Clemente’s Brett Samperi (6-5, 275) as USC tries to rebuild its offensive line in the post-Tony Boselli era.

With the Feb. 1 signing date fast approaching, UCLA and USC will have a large number of key recruits on their campuses this weekend. UCLA’s guest list includes gifted running back Sirr Parker (5-10, 185) of Los Angeles Locke and highly regarded wide receiver Billy Miller (6-4, 210) of Westlake Village. Parker, a second-team All-American selection by USA Today, has visited Arizona, Notre Dame and Washington. His final trip (Jan. 19-21) is to Texas A & M. Coaches at Arizona and Washington have told Parker that he probably would start next season. He has relatives in the Seattle area. Miller, who also plays basketball, is part of the “new breed” of wide receiver (such as Johnson, J.J. Stokes, Arizona’s Richard Dice and Michael Westbrook of Colorado) now coveted by college coaches because they are tall enough to outjump most cornerbacks and fast enough to make big plays. Miller visited Washington last month, and has trips set to USC and Colorado.

To date, the Bruins have received eight commitments, including three from community colleges: Nevadomsky, tackle Gene Waters (6-7, 295) of Walla Walla (Wash.) and defensive end Jayson Brown (6-5, 255) of Mesa (Ariz.). High school players who have committed to UCLA are: wide receiver Brad Melsby (6-1, 183) of Los Alamitos, tackle Kris Farris (6-9, 275) of Santa Margarita, offensive lineman Matt Pentecost (6-4, 265) of Los Angeles Loyola, safety Eric Whitfield (6-2, 185) of Wilmington Banning and linebacker Mike Wiley (6-3, 230) of Gardena Serra.

Besides Parker, other running backs/defensive backs high on UCLA’s wish list include Tavon Cooper (5-11, 190) of Peoria, Ariz., who rushed for 1,570 yards and scored 30 touchdowns last season; Derek Poole (6-1, 190) of Las Vegas Western (1,269 yards and 15 touchdowns), and Chafie Fields (6-1, 190) of Philadelphia, one of the premier prospects in the East (Penn State is the favorite). Cooper was at UCLA last weekend.

Add USC: La Puente Bishop Amat All-American running back/defensive back Daylon McCutcheon (5-11, 175) will take his official recruiting trip to USC this weekend. He has already been to Michigan and Washington, and still plans to visit Colorado and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers might be the favorite. Teammate Kory Minor (6-2, 240), USA Today’s defensive player of the year, is scheduled to visit USC next Monday and Tuesday. Minor still has trips planned to Washington, Notre Dame (he’s a lifelong Irish fan) and UCLA. One factor that will help the Trojans is new defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, who developed a good relationship with Minor when he was at Arizona State. After Marinelli joined the USC staff, Minor canceled his Arizona State visit.

Last add USC: The Trojans are continuing to recruit two top prospects who recently committed to Texas, running back Ricky Williams (6-1, 205) of San Diego Patrick Henry and defensive lineman Clarence Martin (6-5, 270) of Oceanside El Camino.

Stanford got a commitment from one of the top linebacker prospects in the East--Brian Toner (6-2, 228) of Danvers, Mass. Toner’s father, Ed, played in the AFL for the Boston Patriots. In addition, the Cardinal signed the tight end it wanted, Greg Clark (6-5, 250), a first-team All-American from Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. Clark chose Stanford over UCLA.

Arizona has at least 12 commitments to date, most in the Pac-10. The Wildcats have actively been recruiting the community colleges. Among JC players committed to Arizona are All-American defensive back Rashee Johnson (6-0, 180) of City College of San Francisco, who had also visited USC; defensive ends Jimmie Irby (6-3, 220) of Mt. San Antonio and Cai McCray (6-4, 250) of Hancock, and offensive linemen Ian McCutcheon (6-5, 280) of Cerritos and Tevete Usu (6-5, 310) of El Camino. Usu’s younger brother, Ega Usu (6-5, 240) of Hawthorne Leuzinger High, has also committed to the Wildcats, as has Locke High defensive end James Lewis (6-4, 235). Arizona would love to sign quarterback John Fox (6-3, 185) of Corona Centennial, who visited over the weekend. Fox is USC’s top quarterback prospect, and is scheduled to visit the school this weekend.

Hoop report: UCLA will be host to the top senior prospect in the West this weekend, 6-7 swingman Paul Pierce of Inglewood High. The smooth, versatile Pierce can play any position on the floor. In the semifinal game of the recent Best in the West Tournament against host Lakewood Artesia, Pierce had 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists while playing mostly point guard. Among the impressed spectators were UCLA basketball players Ed and Charles O’Bannon, Cameron Dollar, Toby Bailey and Kris Johnson, who sat as a group at the end of the Artesia bench.