Football: Crenshaw holds its own against the nation's best

Figured I'd give Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett some time to rest before bombarding him with questions about how he thought the Cougars played during the Adidas 7-on-7 passing tournament, an event that featured some of the country's top teams and was held Wednesday and Thursday in Atlanta.

Unfortunately, he wasn't very interested in speaking with me Saturday afternoon. And I was a bit surprised, given the fact Crenshaw represented the Southland well, although Texas' Richland ended up winning it all with a 32-0 victory over Florida's Jupiter Christian in the national championship game.

With practice set to begin this week, confidence must be sky-high for Marcus Andrews, Noel Grigsby, Hayes Pullard and everyone else at Crenshaw. It will be interesting to see if the Cougars can sustain some of the momentum built during the summer and challenge Birmingham for the City Section title this season.

Personally, I think the Patriots are the team to beat, regardless of how the Cougars did over the summer. Can't imagine that prediction is going to make many people happy, make me any new friends over at The Shaw.

-- Sean Ceglinsky

Football: South Hills' Deen is determined to make his mark

When it comes to future destinations, Cameron Deen's options are becoming more and more limited at the Division I level. I mean, think about how many of his quarterback counterparts from the Southland have recently made decisions about their respective futures and given oral commitments.

Somehow, the 6-foot-3 senior from South Hills remains focused, knowing full well his time will come soon enough. His lone goal is improving, honing his craft. And if Deen takes care of business on the field, things will, more than likely, take care of themselves off the field.

"Practice, practice, practice, it's all about practice,'' said Deen, who should not be confused with Allen Iverson (click here to see the hoop star's famous rant). "I've been throwing the ball all summer, and I know most people will think that's crazy, but I'm trying to get my name out there.'' 

Basketball: Windward's Morris makes decision, commits to Michigan

Been following Darius Morris for quite some time now, making sure to keep tabs on how the whole recruiting process was going for the highly regarded senior from Windward. And I honestly thought he was going to commit to Michigan. Turns out, someone ended up being right for a change.

The 6-foot-3 point guard held a news conference of sorts Friday afternoon in Los Angeles and announced he orally committed to play for the Wolverines despite having scholarship offers on the table from programs such as Kentucky, Stanford and USC, to name a few schools that were interested.

"It came down to picking the school that was showing me the most love and that school was Michigan,'' Morris said. "They have been recruiting me hard for a while now, and that was one of the big reasons I decided on going there for the next four years of my life. I'm ready. I'm excited.''

"I took a recruiting trip there earlier this year, and after I saw the campus, I knew it was the place for me. Picking Michigan was a big step for me. Knowing that I have a spot secured at the Division I level is big. It's a relief. Now, I can focus on bringing back some of the tradition there.''

-- Sean Ceglinsky

Football: Lynwood's Samuels commits to Golden Bears

Lynwood defensive back Vachel Samuels, who's popped up big time on the recruiting radar over the last six months, has committed to Cal.

Samuels received a total of 10 scholarship offers following a 60-tackle campaign in 2007 that established him as one of the Southland's top defensive backs. The 6-foot, 190-pounder with a 3.5 grade-point average told Scout.com that Cal has "everything I need, from a chance to get a great education to playing for a great football program."

I'm sure the decision wasn't an easy one for Samuels, who had offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, Fresno State, Nebraska, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State.

-- Austin Knoblauch

   

Baseball: Chatsworth continues its dominance on the diamond

Word travels fast out in the Valley, especially when it has anything to do with the kids from Chatsworth, the premier program in the City and one of the best teams in the state. So I wasn't surprised to receive a couple of phone calls Thursday night with news about the Chancellors defeating Cleveland, 4-1, in the championship game of the Valley Invitational Baseball League. Click here for the Daily News' recap of the action.

-- Sean Ceglinsky

Football: Rancho Verde's Jenkins continues to play the waiting game

Apparently, UCLA is not interested in Daniel Jenkins, because if Rick Neuheisel & Co. were, my guess is the senior from Rancho Verde would already have a scholarship offer on the table. But he doesn't, a fact that is somewhat puzzling considering the Bruins have been keeping an eye on him for a while now.

Jenkins had nothing but good things to say about Westwood in this blog, which surfaced around these parts about a month ago. At that point, I figured it would just be a matter of time before UCLA stepped up its efforts to land an oral commitment from the 5-foot-9, 180-plus pound running back.

It should also be noted that the Bruins have been in contact with other players from the Southland, such as Marcus Darden from Dominguez and Curry Williams of Compton. Dasarte Yarnway from San Francisco, Hawaii's Dalton Hilliard and Texas' Kendial Lawrence are some of UCLA's other targets.

In the meantime, Missouri and Syracuse have joined in on the Jenkins sweepstakes, according to these quotes. Other programs in the mix include Boise State, Colorado and Georgia Tech. And I can't forget to mention that Arizona and Washington State have offered, unlike the Bruins, who could end up missing the boat.

-- Sean Ceglinsky   

Baseball: Yankees sign Harvard-Westlake pitcher

Nik Turley, who pitched for Harvard-Westlake last season and was a 50th-round draft pick of the New York Yankees, has signed. He turned down a scholarship to Brigham Young.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Basketball: USC in running for Walker of San Juan Capistrano JSerra

When highly touted DeMar DeRozan made the surprise announcement that he had committed to USC back in mid-April, it was a huge boost to the 2008 recruiting class. And it appears the Trojans are on the verge of duplicating the feat, this time with a prized 2009 prospect. The Cardinal and Gold is at it again.

Last time we heard from Demetrius Walker, he had narrowed his list of potential suitors to five schools. According to these quotes, two programs remain in the hunt for the 6-foot-4 senior from San Juan Capistrano JSerra, and one of them is USC. The lone threat comes from up north, more specifically, Cal.

Most Division I scouts consider him among the top 25 shooting guards in the nation and one could argue that he possesses just as much upside as Southland standouts like Rancho Verde's Michael Snaer and Santa Barbara's Roberto Nelson. Now it will be interesting to see if Tim Floyd & Co. can convince Walker to stay close to home.

-- Sean Ceglinsky   

Basketball: Chaminade's Montgomery is emerging as a prospect

My guess is that most knowledgeable fans agree that Hollis Thompson is the odds-on favorite to win the Mission League's most valuable player honor this coming season. And his status as the man to beat is warranted, considering the 6-foot-8 senior from Loyola is as talented as they come and bound for Georgetown.

Jules Montgomery, on the other hand, is an unknown commodity. However, the 6-foot-9 senior from Chaminade played well during the spring and summer, gaining some much-needed confidence, and though he isn't considered a threat to the Thompson throne, he could end up being a force in his own right.

"Honestly, and I don't just say this because I have been around him for a couple of years, but I think he can play ball at the Division I level,'' former Coach Bryan Cantwell said of Montgomery, who averaged 8.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks a season ago and had breakout efforts against University and St. Francis.   

Football: Synthetic fields declared safe regarding lead levels

You may have noticed over the past few years that artificial turf has quickly become the playing surface of choice for most Southland football programs.

Unfortunately, the synthetic turf wave came crashing down a few months ago when New Jersey state health officials reported they detected unsafe amounts of lead in the fake stuff. Several states (mostly on the right coast) closed their synthetic fields until further tests were done and now it appears those initial fears were unfounded.

A report released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission today concludes synthetic fields are safe and that "young children are not at risk from exposure to lead in these fields." However, the commission warns that as the fields become more worn out over time, lead exposure could increase due to the breakdown of synthetic grass fibers.

Though this report is a definite victory for the artificial turf manufacturers and their supporters, they're not breaking out an end-zone celebration just yet.

According to USA Today, a congresswoman has pushed for the Environmental Protection Agency to do a study on the possible health and environmental effects of "crumb rubber" -- the recycled tire rubber that acts as a cushion under most synthetic fields. There are also lingering concerns about heatstroke in players since artificial fields can exceed temperatures of 150 degrees.

-- Austin Knoblauch