Supreme Court -- State's 1990-91 Prep Basketball Crop Rated Among Best In History

CUTLINE: TERI HARRIS / SEATTLE TIMES: FEDERAL WAY'S DONNY MARSHALL WILL ATTEND

THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT NEXT FALL.

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The joy of playing your best, with the best, and beating the best can sometimes be measured in calories.

``It was sweeeet,'' Mark Pope, Newport High School basketball star, said.

That was Pope's summer season in one word, each consonant and vowel dripping with unabashed pride. In one syllable he recounted the NBA-caliber point totals he and his Washington buddies constructed. The high-fashion dunks, the telepathic passes, the fast breaks run with the precision of an appendectomy.

These were more than basketball games Team Washington played, they were jam sessions. The boys were creating.

``As a coach, it was almost scary to see how quickly they picked up things,'' said Ed Pepple, the man who brought the best high-school seniors together. ``They were flawless. It was a clinic. They had never played together before in a game situation. When they did, they absolutely exploded on the other team.''

This was a dream team. One that becomes the signpost of an era.

Call them the ``Supreme Court,'' 13 players, 10 from King County, all from Western Washington. And all are headed for the NCAA Division I schools.

``The jury's still out, but they're as good as any group, maybe better,'' Pepple said.

Last summer, the most highly touted band of college recruits from this state in recent history, were assembled under the tutelage of Pepple, Mercer Island's boys basketball coach - the one with the most wins among the state's active high-school coaches. The team, representing the Basketball Congress International of Washington, proceeded to put this state in the daydreams of many major-college scouts.

The team, which finished second and third in two national tournaments, is the gold standard of this year's class, one that will send all 10 of its seniors to NCAA Division I schools.

And maybe more to come. Statewide, as many as 30 players could end up at Division I schools.

``This is one of the best classes in the state ever,'' said Don Mead, who runs a West Coast scouting service in California used by more than 200 colleges. ``There are probably 20 kids up there who are Division I prospects.''

Mead says the state's class of '91 is the best group since Steve Hawes graduated from Mercer Island more than 20 years ago on his way to the University of Washington and the NBA.

Pope, a 6-foot-9 forward, has been heralded by coaches as the best high-school basketball player in the state. He and Kent-Meridian's K.J. Roberts, a 6-foot guard, are the two best, says Mead. Both are among the top 10 players on the Long Beach Press-Telegram's annual Best in the West list of the most-sought-after Pac-10 recruits, and both attended last summer's Nike basketball camp, which features the 100 best players in the country.

Also making the state's elite list of Division I recruits are Federal Way's Donny Marshall, Redmond's Jeff Potter and Garfield's Bryant Boston.

The other players who have signed with major colleges are: Mercer Island's Scott Didrickson, Lakeside's Jason Bond, Lynden's Derric Croft, Tahoma's Dave Hawken, O'Dea's Matt Bollinger, Redmond's Derek Looney, Puyallup's Brandon Bakke and Centralia's Lewis Lofton.

Twelve of the 13 signees are staying in the Far West, seven will play in the Pac-10, six will remain in the state, and five will stay in Seattle and play for the Huskies.

Pope, Boston, Didrickson, Hawken and Bond signed with Washington. Marshall will play for Connecticut, Looney for Idaho State and Lofton for Weber State. The others stayed in the West.

Roberts, rated the second-best player on the Best of the West list, will play for California. The other Pac-10 player is Potter, who is going to Oregon. Bollinger, overlooked by most Pac-10 schools, will play for Gonzaga. Croft is going to Pepperdine, Bakke to Fresno State.

Several others - including Joshua McMillon and Derrick Quinet from Garfield, Barry Johnson and Brian Lewallen from Redmond, Mercer Island's Charlie Barokas, and Franklin's Willie Duggins - are also Division I possibilities.

Of the 13 signees, only Bakke, Lofton and Bollinger didn't play for the Basketball Congress International of Washington team (Looney was on the second string), which also included Cleveland's Andre Winston, the only junior.

``I think we surprised a lot of people,'' Marshall said. ``When we came in, people were saying, `Who's Washington?' We played some big names, and man for man we looked as good as anybody. We might not have the big names, but we had the size and quickness to match up.''

The Washington all-stars started their summer season in Tempe, Ariz., in the four-day Prep NIT. After just three days of practice, Washington scored 117 points in its first game and finished second in the tournament. It lost the championship game to a team from Long Beach, Calif., on a last-second shot. Washington led the game until the final second.

Washington avenged the loss in Lubbock, Texas, site of the Summer Prep International, beating Long Beach by 12 points in the third-place game. Washington lost in the semifinals of the six-day tournament to another California team, which lost in the finals to Riverside Church from New York. Washington beat Riverside in the Prep NIT.

In 10 days, Washington played 15 games and won 13 of them. Although it failed to win either tournament, Washington beat both tourney champions. Pepple was so impressed that he predicted all nine of the team's seniors would play for a Division I college in the fall of 1991. He was right.

The classes of '85 and '87 approached the stature of the class of '91, but Pepple, who also coached Basketball Congress International teams in those years, said this year's class has more depth than any he has seen.

``It's going to be a while before people see another class like this just because of our size and athletic ability,'' said Marshall, whose nickname ``Law'' is etched into his haircut.

Didrickson agreed. ``There will be some good classes in the future with maybe some good big men or good point guards, but you won't see the balance this year has,'' he said. ``We have players at every position.''

Almost as significant as the depth of this year's crop is that five stayed local. Pope and company bucked the trend of the past decade, when most of the area's best players were wooed to other states.

``Based on its early commitments, Washington did the best (of all the schools in the Pac-10),'' said Frank Burleson of the Long Beach Press-Telegram, who has compiled the Best of the West list for 15 years. ``Just about any school would have taken Pope. A lot of people liked Boston, too.''

The class of '84 produced J.D. Taylor and Steve Evenson, both from then-state champion Juanita. Both signed with Washington, then coached by Marv Harshman, but didn't finish there. The state also lost Richland's Kevin Presto to the University of Miami, which resurrected its basketball program that year.

Then the outward migration started in earnest. The two best players from the class of '85, Quin Snyder and Brian Schwabe, both from Mercer Island, went to Duke and Northwestern, respectively. Snyder went on to start for two Final Four teams and was picked up by the San Antonio Spurs as a free agent. He is back at Duke, enrolled in a four-year program to earn a law and MBA degree. Schwabe is playing pro ball in Europe.

Snyder said he wanted to attend Washington, but when he had to decide, the Huskies had not selected a coach to replace the retired Harshman.

California got Blanchet's Ryan Drew, Kennedy's Roy Fisher and Garfield's Bill Elleby. Stanford got Roosevelt's Peter Dukes and Sealth's Marcus Lollie. Oregon State got Roosevelt's Will Brantley and Oregon got University's (Spokane) Steve Ranniger. Portland got Redmond's Jack Estep. North Carolina-Charlotte got Sealth's Tim Goodman.

Washington, coached by Andy Russo from 1986 to '89, got most of its recruits from California. New Coach Lynn Nance seems to deserve most of the credit for this year's local catch.

``I really believe in Coach Nance's system,'' Pope said. ``I want to help build the program at Washington.''

It wasn't always that way.

``North Carolina, that's where Pope and I always wanted to go,'' Didrickson said.

Pope was no different than most young rim junkies. To him, basketball meant Indiana, UCLA, Kansas, Indiana, Syracuse. The coach of the latter was one of several to visit Pope at his home.

``If you would have told me Jim Boeheim would come to my house . . . that would have been it, I would go (to Syracuse),'' Pope said.

``This year's recruiting class is no fluke. It just shows that Northwest basketball is taking a step up. There's more publicity, more money in it, more interest. It's going to get bigger.''

The ultimate legacy to the class of '91 would be a Pac-10 championship for the Huskies before the spring of 1995 is over. The last time Washington won a conference title was with eventual NBA draftees Detlef Schrempf and Christian Welp, two German exchange students who went to high school in the area.

``This is certainly one of the top years for Washington (state) players in quite some time,'' Nance said. ``Our basic philosophy is we're going to look in Washington first. I'm real pleased with this group. Not only are they great athletes, but they're exceptional students. They have a chemistry together, having already played together (on the Basketball Congress International team).''

Nance was presented with a hypothetical challenge. Could Washington win in the Pac-10 with local talent alone?

``If you could have your pick of the crop every year, I wouldn't have any doubts that you could support a Pac-10 program. But I don't know if you can get every player you want.''

As for missing out on Potter, Roberts and Marshall:

``We didn't visit either of them (Marshall or Roberts),'' Nance said. ``There are other really good players in the state, but we got five really good players.''

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STATE'S HIGHER COURT

-- Thirteen state high-school basketball players have signed letters of intent for NCAA Division I schools. Eleven players are in photo and numbered in list (Croft and Lofton weren't pictured).

NO. PLAYER HIGH SCHOOL P HT. COLLEGE

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1. Matt Bollinger O'Dea G 6-2 GONZAGA

2. Mark Pope Newport F-C 6-9 WASHINGTON

3. Donny Marshall Federal Way F 6-6 CONNECTICUT

4. K.J. Roberts Kent-Meridian G 6-0 CALIFORNIA

5. Jeff Potter Redmond F-C 6-9 OREGON

6. David Hawken Tahoma F-C 6-9 WASHINGTON

7. Jason Bond Lakeside F-C 6-8 WASHINGTON

8. Bryant Boston Garfield G 6-2 WASHINGTON

9. Derek Looney Redmond G 6-4 IDAHO STATE

10. Scott Didrickson Mercer Island F-C 6-7 WASHINGTON

11. Brandon Bakke Puyallup G 6-1 FRESNO ST.

Lewis Lofton Centralia G 6-2 WEBER ST.

Derric Croft Lynden G 6-4 PEPPERDINE

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OTHER DIVISION I PROSPECTS

-- Thirteen state players have signed letters of intent for NCAA Division I schools. Here is a list of unsigned state players being recruited by Division I schools, or potential prospects:

PLAYER HIGH SCHOOL HT. P

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Charlie Barokas Mercer Island 6-4 F

Daimen Crump Cleveland 6-3 G

Brian Combs Prairie 6-0 G

Willie Duggins Franklin 5-11 G

Paul Jarrett Ilwaco 6-7 F-C

Barry Johnson Redmond 6-4 F

Jon Kinloch Sehome 6-6 G

Brian Lewallen Redmond 6-3 G-F

David Lindsley Columbia River 6-4 F-G

Vernon Marshall Lakes 6-4 F

Joshua McMillan Garfield 6-7 C

Donell Morgan Foss 6-5 F

Troy Morningstar Stevenson 6-6 F-C

Dan Morris Roosevelt 6-0 G

Deforrest Phelps Bremerton 6-6 F

David Pouliot Grandview 6-10 C

Scott Ranniger University 6-4 G

Jason Sherrill Eastmont 6-6 F-G

Chris Spivey Timberline 6-5 F

FOOTBALL CATEGORY #

Jeff Hansen Gonzaga Prep 6-7 C

Damon Huard Puyallup 6-4 F

# Could be major-college basketball prospects but are being recruited as major-college football prospects.