STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
Ashley Corral and Briana Gilbreath
Two years ago, the state of California produced a gold mine of girl's basketball talent and it was USC which mined it most adroitly, producing a 2006 signing class that was ranked No. 1 in the country by HoopGurlz.com. Since that lofty ascension up the recruiting ranks, if the Trojans didn't have bad luck, as the old saying goes, it wouldn't have had any luck at all.
Briana Gilbreath
To wit, Jacki Gemelos of Stockton, Calif., the crown jewel of that glittery '06 class, suffered an ACL tear during the state high-school playoffs and was red-shirted. Stefanie Gilbreath of Katy, Texas, the centerpiece of the Trojans' 2007 class, also suffered an ACL tear. In between, coach Mark Trakh's team was so injury riddled during the 2006-07 season that he at one point started a walk-on, Nicole Berberet, as his lead guard.
Trakh's kharma may finally be back on the rise. And the payoff won't be this coming season, but the next three.
Sunday, USC received a commitment, as expected, from Briana Gilbreath, a 6-foot-1 wing ranked 28th in the 2008 class by HoopGurlz. Because her Stefanie Gilbreath will be red-shirted this season, the sisters will play all four of their years at USC together. By the time they start, Gemelos, considered by many as a strong candidate for the WNBA, will have been seasoned a year and they all will be joined by Michelle Jenkins of Beaverton, Ore., the most fundamentally sound inside prospect on the West Coast.
And that likely will not be it. The Trojans have the inside - cough, cough - Trakh on Shawna-Lei Kuehu, another ACL victim who otherwise could be the best prospect to ever come off Hawaii. USC also is considered the leader for a trio of West Coast point guard - Ashley Corral of Vancouver, Wash., ranked 23rd overall in '08; Nikki Speed of Pasadena, Calif., 27th, and Chelsea Hopkins of North Las Vegas, Nev., who is 61st.
Ashley Corral
The best pure point guard in the 2008 class, Corral has just pared her school list to Cal, Louisville, Notre Dame, UCLA and USC. She will take official visits to Notre Dame (Sept. 8), Cal (Sept. 15) and USC (Sept. 22) and likely commit. If not, she'll also visit UCLA and Louisville.
Corral seems eminently well-suited for the Trojans if, for no other reason than the fact that she is coming off surgery on her left ankle that will sideline her until December. Corral previously had surgery in March on her right ankle to repair ligaments her surgeon said were stretched and partially torn since the 9th grade. Corral's surgeon found similar damage in the right ankle, according to Corral's father, Art.
The apparent duplication among this group is deceiving. The Gilbreaths appear to play the same position, but Stefanie is a tremendous scorer while Briana is an excellent defender who can do a bit of everything offensively. Some have Gemelos penciled in as a point guard because of her often-magical exploits, but the best thing she does with the ball is score it. Aarika Hughes and Morghan Medlock, two other long-limbed, Swiss Army Knife types, will be juniors when the core comes together, so don't be surprised if Trakh, in the best Southern California (read: Laker) tradition just throws out five interchangeable basketball players.
RIM SHOTS
A tight squeeze for Joslyn Tinkle
The phone at the Tinkle household in Missoula, Mont., gets a fair workout because the patriarch, Wayne, is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Montana. On Sept. 1, the ringing was even more constant because it was the first day colleges could call 2009 prospects and Tinkle has produced one of the nation's finest in Joslyn, a 6-3 post. Joslyn Tinkle is ranked as the No. 13 overall prospect in 2009 by HoopGurlz and, working quickly, she has an initial school list. Included are Arizona, Cal, Iowa State, Louisville, Maryland, Montana, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Stanford, Texas, Texas Tech and Washington. Tinkle is certain to be a popular recruit because, in addition to an expansive skillset, she has the headiness of a coach's daughter, but from the low and high posts. ... If not for some confusion over her class, Janeice Johnson of Washington, D.C., was ticketed to be ranked among the extraordinary posts in the 2009 class. Nevertheless, that didn't stop North Carolina State from squeezing a commitment from the 6-5 center during an unofficial visit. "She is a great kid with tremendous upside," said Frank Oliver, Johnson's coach at nationally regarded H.D. Woodson High School, "and N.C. State is a great fit for her academically, socially, and athletically." ... Yet another gifted 2009 inside player, Destiny Williams of Benton Harbor, Mich., has an early school list. The 6-3 forward who averaged 25.3 points as a sophomore is considering DePaul, Georgetown, Illinois, LSU, Notre Dame, Purdue and Rutgers. ... Back to 2008, Tailor Jones, a 5-11 guard out of Alltamonte Springs, Fla., is down to Ohio State and Florida. ... BYU has a pretty good 1-2, inside punch coming in. Dani Peterson, a 6-2 forward out of Salt Lake City, Utah, who also can drill the three has just pledged. She joins Kristen Riley, a 6-2 forward out of San Clemente, Calif., who is ranked 87th overall by HoopGurlz. Peterson is ranked
Rachel Hencke
as the top prospect in Utah by the Intermountain Hoops Scouting Service, which notes, "Peterson is the most difficult matchup in the state. She can score inside or take you outside and put it on the floor. She is an excellent three-point shooter with good range. She is very fast and transitions well from defense to offense. She is also effective as the trail on fast breaks for the three. Tough matchup." ... A couple of Peterson's Metro teammates also have committed. Mandy Munns, a 6-3 post averaged 13.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for Box Elder High School, has verbaled to the University of Utah. Morgan Wood, a 6-2 forward who averaged 17.2 points and 10 rebounds for Beaver High, committed to Southern Utah. ... Rachel Hencke, a 6-1 forward who averaged 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in leading Grafton High to the Wisconsin Division II state title, has committed to Miami of Ohio. She chose the Redhawks over Northern Arizona, Toldeo and Wisconsin-Green Bay. ... After a successful summer, the Maryland Hurricanes club team is piling up Division I commitments. Becky Cox, a point guard out of Hanover, Md., committed to George Mason; Destiny Jacobs a center out of Glen Burnie, Md., committed to Stony Brook; Danielle Parker, a forward out of Phoenix, Md., committed to Delaware, and Ayanna Randolph a combo guard out of Severn, Md., committed to Furman. Power forward Kandice Green of Baltimore, Md., plans to make official visits to Seton Hall, St. Joseph's, Virginia Tech and Western Kentucky. Shooting guard Brittany Coughlan of Columbia, Md., plans to visit Army, Longwood, Mount Saint Mary, and Berry College (NAIA-Division 1).
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Glenn Nelson is the publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams. Glenn previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work also has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here [0]. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com [1].
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