BEAR GLITCH PROJECT

The clock is ticking like some irritating casino clatter, and Jamal Sampson wants it to stop.

He is the starter at center for Santa Ana Mater Dei, one of the nation’s top high school basketball teams, and he has a scholarship to California, but he still has plenty to prove as his high school career nears its end.

He knows there are critics who would label him an underachiever rather than one of the best post players on the West Coast. Sure, there have been plenty of times the 6-foot-11, 240-pound senior has played spectacularly, dunking over almost every player who comes his way.

It’s just that too often he hasn’t had the opportunity. An assortment of injuries and illnesses has severely limited his playing time over the last three seasons, considerably reducing his star wattage.

But he can put much of that behind him tonight. Sampson will take center stage here when Mater Dei, 9-0 and ranked third in the country by USA Today, plays top-ranked Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy (12-0) in the championship of the Millennium Cup division of the Holiday Prep Classic at Green Valley High.

The Warriors feature a couple of wide-bodied centers, including 7-0, 310-pound senior DeSagana Diop, who is reportedly considering making the jump from high school to the NBA.

Sampson said the game against Oak Hill is crucial in setting the tone for his senior season, one in which he hopes to finally display his gift.

“I’d like people to see how good I really am instead of seeing me at like 50% or 60%,” Sampson said.

So far, that has been the story of his high school career.

As a sophomore, Sampson sat out long stretches of games because of a stress fracture in his foot and a broken bone in his left hand. He broke a finger in the second quarter of Mater Dei’s state championship loss to Oakland Fremont and was limited to only eight minutes in the second half.

As a junior, Sampson contracted Hepatitis A from contaminated drinking water during a tournament in Florida and was sidelined for 13 games. He returned to action after losing 25 pounds and didn’t regain his playing weight or shape the rest of the season.

This season, Sampson badly sprained his right ankle in practice after the Monarchs’ opener and had to sit out the next three games. Ever since, he has played hurt.

The only year he was injury-free, his freshman season at Westchester, Sampson barely played. The mellow 17-year-old can only laugh when he ponders his misfortune.

“It’s frustrating,” Sampson said. “I don’t really think I’ve been able to show what I can do.”

The good news for Sampson is that the effects of the ankle injury aren’t expected to linger much longer, though he has been gingerly treading up and down the court this week at the Holiday Prep Classic.

Said Mater Dei guard Cedric Bozeman: “When he’s healthy, he’s probably one of the best big men in the country. He can do so many things.”

Sampson was averaging 15 points and 9.8 rebounds a game and had blocked 21 shots in five games through Tuesday--solid numbers, but not the kind of eye-popping statistics expected of star high school players. His stats were even less impressive last season.

Sampson has shown his aptitude at the club level because he has been injury-free during his summers. He has also displayed flashes of greatness, scoring 17 points to go with 18 rebounds and eight blocks last season while still recovering from hepatitis in the Monarchs’ Southern Section Division I-A championship victory over Simi Valley.

The potential is undeniable.

To be fair, Sampson’s production this season has been hindered not only by his injuries, but also by the fact that he plays on a Mater Dei team that Coach Gary McKnight said may be his best. With so many weapons, including the UCLA-bound Bozeman, Sampson isn’t always the Monarchs’ go-to guy.

And that’s fine with him.

“I think it’s better to have more stars,” Sampson said. “When you get to the college level you’re going to have better teammates, so you have to be used to that. If you’re on a team where you’re the man and you get the ball every time, when you get to college you may not get the ball as much and may have problems.”

Anyone who has seen Sampson play when sound predicts that he can be as dominating as former Houston Rocket center Ralph Sampson, his second cousin. With his long and lithe body, Jamal Sampson can go through just about anyone or glide past the few post players he has faced who are bigger than him. He also moves well down the court and passes with surprising regularity for a big man.

“We throw him the ball and he’ll throw it back out,” McKnight said. “Sometimes you have kids who want to shoot it every time. They don’t know there’s anyone else on the floor. But Jamal’s so unselfish. If [his lack of point production] bothered him, he’d shoot it every time he got it.”

While he is expected to have an immediate impact at Cal (“I’ve seen Cal play,” McKnight said, “and he could play for them right now”), Sampson realizes he must develop a more dynamic offensive game, featuring jump hooks and quick turnaround shots, to succeed at the college level.

“In high school it’s easy for me just to go through guys,” he said. “Once you get to college, you have older guys and everything, so you can’t just go through them.”

Sampson is the central component of a highly touted Cal recruiting class that also includes forward Julian Sensley of St. Thomas Moore (Conn.) High and swingman Erik Bond of Seattle Prep. The Bears (4-3), who recently lost to lowly UC Irvine, are a work in progress this season but expect to take a step up in class once Sampson & Co. arrive.

“Jamal brings a presence,” said Cal assistant coach Jon Wheeler, in Las Vegas this week to scout his star recruit. “He changes the game quite a bit defensively, especially with his ability to score down low.

“But because of the lack of consistent playing time throughout his last two or three years of high school, he’s almost a project. Most of the time people use ‘project’ in a negative connotation, but Jamal has such a long way to go and he’ll improve so much that you almost want to put that tag on him.

“His starting point and ability level, of course, is much higher . . . That is a big advantage for Jamal and for us.”

Before he leaves for Cal, though, Sampson is intent on leading the Monarchs to their first state title since 1995 while showing that Compton Dominguez center Tyson Chandler isn’t the only big man worth watching in Southern California.

“Jamal wants to have his day in the sun and maybe play in the McDonald’s game [for senior All-Americans] and some of those big things,” McKnight said. “I think he really wants to have that kind of year to show people that maybe he’s the best center on the West Coast.”