Locals Earn Wooden Awards

Seven Southland boys’ basketball players, one coach and a longtime athletics administrator will be honored Friday night as part of the John R. Wooden Awards at the Regal Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

One player was chosen from the City Section and five were chosen from the Southern Section by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Each player’s school will receive $500 for its scholarship fund. The players will be honored at a reception that precedes the Wooden Award dinner, at which the nation’s top college player and the college All-American team will be announced.

James Wright of Manual Arts, Casey Jacobsen of Glendora, Jason Kapono of Lakewood Artesia, Marcus Moore of Compton Dominguez, D.J. Hackett of San Dimas, Marlon Parmer of Verbum Dei and Nick Jones of Oxnard Santa Clara are players who will be honored.

Harvey Kitani, who guided Fairfax to the City Section championship game, is the coach of the year.

Southern Section Commissioner Dean Crowley, who will retire from his position at the end of the school year, also will be honored for his more than 30 years of service in high school athletics.

Wright, the City player of the year, averaged 24.2 points and 6.5 assists for the Toilers, who won the City championship and advanced to the semifinals of the Southern California regional of the state tournament. Wright, a 6-foot guard, will attend Long Beach State.

Jacobsen and Kapono, both of whom were selected McDonald’s All-Americans, share the Southern Section Division I award.

Jacobsen, a Wooden Award winner last year, averaged 31.2 points this season, led his team to the I-A championship game and finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in Southern Section history with 3,284 points. Jacobsen, a 6-6 guard, scored 22 points in the McDonald’s All-American game, had 31 at the Hoop Summit all-star game Sunday and is preparing to compete for the U.S. in a world junior tournament in France. He will attend Stanford.

Kapono, a 6-8 swingman, averaged 25 points and led Artesia to its second consecutive Division I-AA title and state regional final. Kapono will play in Magic’s Roundball Charity Classic in Detroit on Saturday. Kapono has not committed to a college.

Moore, a 6-5 guard, helped lead Dominguez to the Division II state title. He averaged 11 points, eight assists and four steals. Moore has not committed to a college.

Hackett, a 6-3 guard, was instrumental in bringing San Dimas its first Southern Section championship. He averaged 16 points and scored 29 in the Division III-AA championship game against Torrance Bishop Montgomery.

Parmer, a 6-2 guard, averaged 28 points and nine assists for Verbum Dei, which won its second consecutive Division IV state championship. Parmer scored 31 points in the state final against Sacramento Christian Brothers. He has not committed to a college.

Jones, a 6-4 guard, helped lead Santa Clara to the Division V state championship. He will attend UC Santa Barbara.

Tickets for the Wooden Award reception and dinner are available by advance sale only for $125.

Information: (213) 630-5255.