State Star -- The Best Of Washington -- Boys: Shadle's Corkrum Tall Order For Foes

Looking for the best boys' high-school basketball player in the state?

Go east.

The Times has done just that for the second straight year, going to Spokane to find its Boy Player of the Year.

Shadle Park's Rob Corkrum succeeds Mead's Jeff Brown as best in the state, according to voting by Times reporters who cover prep sports.

Corkrum also was selected the state's best by the Gatorade Circle of Champions, which honors 51 players from across the nation, and will play in two prestigious postseason all-star games - the Basketball Congress International in Birmingham, Ala., and the McDonald's Wildcat Classic in Tucson, Ariz.

A 6-foot-8 senior center, Corkrum led the Highlanders to the Class AAA boys' state championship and was named the tournament's most valuable player. . During the tournament's four-game run, he averaged 16.3 points and 9.8 rebounds.

A deceptively quick defender, Corkrum owned the inside in the Highlanders' 63-51 championship-game victory over Garfield of Seattle. In addition to his 18 points and 15 rebounds against the Bulldogs, Corkrum blocked seven shots in the championship game.

Earlier this year, he knocked one back in the face of Arizona State Coach Bill Frieder when he accepted a scholarship from Washington State University over an offer from the Sun Devils.

Cal-Berkeley, Oregon and Washington also were interested in Corkrum.

``I chose WSU because I like the situation and the coaches,'' Corkrum said. ``And I think they recruited a lot of good players this year.''

Jim Meredith, Shadle Park coach, said WSU and Pullman suit Corkrum's personality.

``He's a real quiet kid who doesn't like a lot of hoopla,'' Meredith said. ``A lot of times, we couldn't tell before a game if he was excited, but he was always ready and played hard.''

Corkrum averaged more than 18 points per game during the regular season, but Meredith said it could have been much more if Greater Spokane League teams hadn't stacked defenses against him the past two seasons.

``In our league, all the teams play in the same building (the Spokane Coliseum), on the same night,'' Meredith said. ``Everyone is well-scouted. We ran into a lot of freak defenses, where they ran two or three guys at Rob.

``Everyone tried to stop him, so we weren't able to get him the ball as much as we wanted. On those nights, he'd concentrate on defense.''

Meredith said Corkrum averaged about seven blocked shots a game and had double-figure rejection totals several times.

Meredith and WSU Coach Kelvin Sampson predict Corkrum will get plenty of playing time as a freshman, though neither expects him to set the league on fire.

``It will be an adjustment for him to go against taller, more-talented players,'' Meredith said, ``But I think WSU needs a kid like Rob, and they need him to play right away. He's still a young guy who needs to work on his strength and outside shooting.''

Meredith said Corkrum will be successful if he isn't thrown into the deep end too soon or too often. Sampson agreed.

``Rob's going to play, but he doesn't have to be a star,'' Sampson said. ``We're not going to throw him to the wolves. In time, I think he's going to be an all-Pac-10 player. In terms of defense and shot-blocking, he's as good as any high-school player in the west right now.''

Rival coaches also are impressed with Corkrum's talent. Garfield's Al Hairston said Corkrum was the difference in last Saturday's AAA boys' title game. Gonzaga Prep Coach Dave Robertson, who directed Shadle Park to the 1981 state title, is an unabashed Corkrum fan.

``I told him to his face that he's the best high-school player I've ever seen,'' Robertson said. ``The more you see him, the more you realize how good he is and how he can affect your team. Your players end up missing a lot of two- and three-foot shots because they are looking over their shoulders for him.''

Corkrum is almost single-minded when it comes to basketball - it's his only hobby except for ``my girlfriend.''

The fourth of five children, he is the tallest Corkrum and the only one interested in basketball. He has two older sisters, one older brother and a younger brother, none of whom have played the game.

``I really got interested in basketball in seventh grade,'' said Corkrum, who was 6-2 at age 12. ``I was very uncoordinated at first, but gradually I got better. And as I improved, I started liking it more and more.''