Talent is on display all day at Mater Dei

There won’t be any lack of talent on display at today’s nine-game Nike Extravaganza at Santa Ana Mater Dei High.

It’s a day and night for star watching in boys’ basketball. Among the participants are three juniors who have already committed to North Carolina, plus 6-foot-10 center Renardo Sidney of Los Angeles Fairfax, considered the No. 1 center prospect for the class of 2009.

If the Tar Heels weren’t playing at Florida State on Sunday, North Carolina Coach Roy Williams might want to drop by because playing at 9 p.m. are Mater Dei’s Wear twins, Travis and David, 6-10 junior forwards who have committed to North Carolina. They’ll lead the unbeaten Monarchs (24-0) against Chicago Farragut, ranked No. 6 by StudentSports in its East Coast Regional rankings.

At 7:30 p.m., junior guard Dexter Strickland, another North Carolina recruit, will join Kansas-bound 6-7 forward Quintrell Thomas in helping nationally ranked St. Patrick from Elizabeth, N.J., take on City Section power Fairfax and its dominating center.

Sidney loves to play in big games, as indicated by his 36-point, 19-rebound effort against league rival Westchester last month.

At 4:30, Compton Dominguez and 6-7 rising prospect Jordan Hamilton take on Santa Margarita, led by Washington State-bound Klay Thompson.

Hamilton could steal the spotlight based on the way he has been playing. In recent games, he scored 38 points against Cerritos Gahr and had 35 points against Riverside King at Pauley Pavilion.

Another intriguing game has Westchester taking on Concord De La Salle at 6 p.m. Both schools are contenders to play next month in the state Division I championship game in Sacramento. It could provide a clue as to how strong Northern California’s representative might be.

It will be hard to top last year’s sold-out Nike Extravaganza when UCLA freshman Kevin Love came to town with Lake Oswego, Ore., and defeated Mater Dei, and Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy routed Fairfax behind Duke freshman Nolan Smith.

There’s also talent in the morning session, which features UCLA-bound point guard Jerime Anderson of Anaheim Canyon and Long Beach State-bound point guard Casper Ware of Gahr.

The morning session: Anaheim Servite vs. Huntington Beach Ocean View at 8:30 a.m.; Gahr vs. Newport Beach Corona del Mar at 10 a.m.; Los Alamitos vs. Anaheim Canyon at 11:30 a.m.; San Juan Capistrano JSerra vs. Ontario Colony at 1 p.m. and Orange Lutheran vs. Brea at 2:30 p.m.

General admission tickets are available for $12 in the evening, $10 for the morning session and can be purchased at the Mater Dei box office.

--

[email protected]

--

NIKE EXTRAVAGANZA

* When: Today, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

* Where: Santa Ana Mater Dei High