I've been a busy man this week so without adieu, I present the links to enjoy on a Friday.
Tonight I'll be at East LA College watching the LA City Section Division I championship between Crenshaw and Narbonne. Here's my preview (Daily Breeze)
To add to that story, here's a piece on Narbonne linebacker Uchenna Nwosu. Nwosu isn't just a USC commit, he's also a standout student (3.3/3.8 GPA) who didn't play football until his 10th grade season. (Daily Breeze)
After being drafted by the Mets, Dominic Smith has his moment interviewing with Sam Ryan of the MLB Network
What an amazing seven days for Serra High School's Dominic Smith. Last Friday, he pitched his school to their first ever CIF Division championship. Thursday, he became the newest member of New York Mets as the No. 11 overall selection of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
This Friday? He graduates from Serra. Not bad for a 17-year-old who's living his dream. Even better that former Mets All-Star and Crenshaw High School standout Darryl Strawberry was at the draft to welcome Smith to the team. If anybody understands the adjustment moving from L.A. to N.Y., it's Strawberry.
This was a great day not just for Southern California, but the Black baseball community in Los Angeles. Smith hopefully represents a rebirth of Black kids enjoying baseball and I know that many will see him as think, I can do that do. Especially as they watch his high school team continue to succeed with mostly Black players.
Congrats to Dominic! Congrats to Serra, who has a rare honor of having an high-round NFL (Robert Woods) and MLB Draft selection in the same year! I'm working on arranging an interview with Smith so if that develops, I'll keep you posted.
Also congrats to Oaks Christian pitcher Phil Bickford going No. 10 to Toronto and J.P. Crawford (cousin of Carl Crawford) going No. 16 to Philadelphia. Even bigger props to my alma mater's latest star Kris Bryant, who was drafted No. 2 overall by the Chicago Cubs.
Serra High School here in Gardena is an athletic powerhouse. You might have heard of a few football guys who went there. Marqise Lee, the No. 1 college WR in the country, and NFL rookie-to-be Robert Woods. One of the top female track-and-field athletes in the country, UCLA's Turquoise Thompson, also spent her senior year at Serra, where her mother is the head track-and-field coach.
Their football team remains one of the best in Southern California and their 2013 squad will be one of the favorites to win state. Their basketball team is one of the better small schools in Southern California and their boys and girls track program ranks among the best in the state and nation.
Just this school year, they've won state titles in football and girls' basketball. Their track team heads north to the state track-and-field meet this weekend as the favorites to win several events and the boys' team title.
But also this weekend, another Serra team is poised to win a division championship. Their baseball heads to Dodger Stadium on Friday for the chance to win the program's first CIF title. Yet, they're also playing for much more than just that. They're perhaps the first predominantly Black team to be this close to a CIF title in three decades, although that has not been confirmed.
I remember the first time I saw Robert Woods play.
Halloween 2008. I was feeling sick and since I didn't want to cover a late game, I drove to St. Bernard's in Playa Del Rey since Serra and St. Bernard played at 5 p.m. I had already seen the LA Times hype Woods up as perhaps the most versatile player in the area and he was only a junior.
It only took a few minutes to see why Woods deserved it.
He caught a tipped pass for a touchdown and nobody was even close. Then he did one of those special plays only he can do. He was back to return a punt and let the ball drop since St. Bernard was close to him. Normally a player lets the other team down it so the offense can take the field but Woods, with his instincts and speed, picked the ball up and raced up-field nearly untouched for another score.
All this was in the first half. After the game, I did my interviews and wrote my feature (above). The best thing I heard was that Woods was as driven as a practice player as much as he was on the field. He was a hard worker and he loved to be exciting.
Flash forward to now. Woods has a great chance to be drafted Thursday in the first round thanks to an All-American career at USC where he leaves the all-time leader in receptions. Over the last five seasons, he has been one of the best players on the field (whether HS and college) and he's made an impact on and off the field.
When I used to write at my newspaper, I had an old column called the Prep Report. It was my commentary on things high school related and I loved being able to use it for features and observations.
One of my favorite things to cover was track and field. I didn't know much about the sport beforehand behind loving it at the Olympics but it quickly became one of my faves the more I was around it and learned how deep the community was around it.
It's a shame that I never made it out to the Arcadia Invitational due to one reason or another but there are few meets better than that one in the country. That's why I followed the results on Saturday when I saw them on Twitter. Two things stuck out to me right away.
1. State 100/200 meter champ Khalfani Muhammad is in ridiculous shape already. The Cal-bound senior won the 100 Arcadia in 10.46 seconds and even though they have a fast track, that's remarkable considering he won state in 10.44 last year. He may not approach that time again til the CIF Finals or the Masters Meet but that's a scary thought to imagine him that much faster.
The last two juniors who won the 100 meters ended up repeating so unless an injury happens, everyone else might be playing for second in two months at state.
2. Defending state long jump champion Adoree Jackson has already had a heck of a school year. A state championship in football where he had tworidiculous plays in the state game. A CIF sectional championship as a role player for the basketball team. How does he get ready for his encore?
By running the 3rd leg on Gardena Serra's 4 x 100 relay team that ran the fastest prep time in the nation (41.45) and jumping 24 feet, 6.5 inches into a slight wind for the longest distance in the nation. If there's a better athlete in the country, good luck finding him. Jackson's the latest marvel from a school that gave us Robert Woods and Marqise Lee and trust me, you'll want to know him.
Serra's come close to winning a boys state title twice (2010 and 2012) and I hope this is the year they do it. They've got 2 outstanding relay teams, Jackson in the long jump and defending state 110 hurdles champ Lloyd Siscard, who won the 300 hurdles at Arcadia (37.62).
I'm sure it'll be another fun season and I'll be watching as much as I can. The next big meet out here is at Mt. SAC on April 19/20.
