So Flaggs is getting his wish to go D-I. When he left HSU, he was talking about getting a full ride to Saint Mary's or USF. Sac State is a big drop off from Saint Mary's. Flaggs will probably sit on the bench for a team that would finish in the middle of the pack in the CCAA and GNAC. I talked to a member of the team last summer, and he said that Flaggs didn't like the area. I wish Flaggs would have bought into the coaching more. He would not have wasted his freshman year (it would have been a redshirt) and he would have been our starting two guard last year, and set up for a great career at HSU. Flaggs has wasted a year at HSU and at Diablo, and I doubt he will do much at Sac State.
HSU has had a couple of players who have left the program to go D-I with mixed results.
Kejuan Johnson was asked to leave, going to Long Beach City College and Long Beach State. At Long Beach CC, Kejuan was All-State and played on a pretty good team. Kejuan was a starter on the Long Beach State D-I team for two years. He was second team All Big West in his junior year and first team All Big West in his senior year. I believe Long Beach State won 19 games in his junior year and about 25 games in his senior year (Long Beach State's only winning seasons in quite some time). Kejuan's team made it to the NCAA tournament in his senior year, getting smoked by Tennesse in the first round. Kejuan signed with an agent and played in the Israeli basketball league, but lasted just four games. I have no idea what he is doing now.
Keith Spencer left HSU after his freshman season to give D-I a try. He played one year of JC basketball at Seward Community College in south west Kansas (a very strong program). Then he signed a LOI with Texas San Antonio. Keith was a two year starter on the UTSA team, playing power forward. The UTSA teams played in a weak D-I conference, and were not very good. USTA went 7-22 in Spencer's junior year and 13-17 in his senior year. Spencer averaged 8.6 PPG and 7.1 RPG in his junior year, while shooting 60% from the floor and 38% from the free throw line. Spencer average 6.6 PPG and 5.9 RPG during his senior season, shooting 59% from the field and 33% from the free throw line. Keith had a promising junior year and had much poorer stats in his senior season. It appears that Keith has ambitions of playing professionally. I don't think his time at UTSA improved his chances to play professionally, but I'm not sure that he would have fit in well with the HSU team of the last three years. Spencer is very talented and it would have been nice to have him for four years.
Another former HSU player was Rick Cardoso. I think he left because he foresaw limited playing time. Rick played at Fresno City College and then at CCAA Stanislaus. Rick was a very good player for Stanislaus and probably got more playing time than he would have gotten at HSU. I would have liked to see Rick play four years for HSU, though.
A number of former Jacks have played professionally. Austin Nichols played two years in the NBA developmental league, and now plays in the top league in France. Fred Hooks has played in Iceland and the Mexican league, though it appears that Fred isn't that interested in prusuing professional basketball. Jordan Farimisco is lighting up the Finish league (he had a 40 point game last fall). Jordan has played at least two years in Europe. KJ is playing for a top team in Austria, and doing very well. Gildae and Kaylin Thorton played in the Mexican league, with Gildae putting up some big numbers. J Ward wants to play pro, but hasn't had any luck getting into a league.
I guess my point to the talented players who leave (to pursue D-I) is that you can have a great career at HSU and still play professionally.
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posted April 24, 2008 11:46 PM
