By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
Napa Valley College will host high school and community college all-star basketball games on Saturday, May 6.
The games, which are being put on by 707 Premier Sports, Signal The Light Basketball and Simply Basketball, will feature top high school players from Napa County and Solano County in the first game, followed by top community college players in the second game.
The high school all-star game, starting at 4:30 p.m., is Napa County vs. Solano County.
There will be a dunk contest at 6 p.m.
The community college all-star game, NorCal Elite against NorCal Finest starting at 7 p.m., features Napa Valley College sophomores Cameron Joseph and Albert Dennis.
NorCal Elite has Joseph, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound forward, who was named first-team All-Bay Valley Conference after averaging 15.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Joseph has committed to play at University of Redlands, a private NCAA Division III school that is a member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
NorCal Finest has Dennis, a 6-foot-1, 160-pound guard, who was named to the Bay Valley's All-Defensive Team. Dennis averaged 12.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
"It's an all-star event, to celebrate their successes and get them hopefully a little more attention, a little more recognition for all their work," said Steve Ball, the Napa Valley College men's basketball coach.
Both games will be officiated.
"We're excited to have it," Ball said of NVC hosting the games. "I think that it's a good way, for people in the community and outside the community, to come in and realize that there's a basketball culture here in this town. It's just another way that we can reach our community and continue to provide them the entertainment value that they want."
Signal The Light Basketball named Joseph and Dennis of as Honorable Mention for Northern California, it was announced in a report on March 23 at stlball.com.
Joseph and Dennis each started all 28 games for Napa Valley. Joseph averaged 30.0 minutes per game. Dennis averaged 29.8 minutes per game.
Joseph shot 36.6 percent from the floor, 29.3 percent from 3-point range, and 77.9 percent at the free-throw line.
Dennis shot 50.8 percent from the field, 32.1 percent from 3-point distance, and 66.7 percent at the free-throw line.
Joseph scored 20 or more points in eight games. He scored a season-high 31 points against College of Alameda on Jan. 7 and scored 27 points in a game against Merritt College-Oakland on Jan. 14.
Dennis scored 20 or more points in five games for NVC. He scored a season-high 30 points in a nonconference game against De Anza College-Cupertino on Nov. 5. He scored 27 points in a game on Dec. 17 against Ohlone College-Fremont.
Joseph, Dennis and Chris Thompson all played in the Sophomore Showcase, a series of games throughout the day, on March 10, at College of Sequoias, in Visalia. The Sophomore Showcase, which is put on by the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association, featured over 120 sophomore players from around the state of California and was attended by coaches from four-year colleges.
Dennis is looking to transfer to a four-year school and to continue playing basketball.
"He's getting interest," said Ball. "I think he wants to find a home and wants to know what his next step is, like (Cameron Joseph) was able to do with the University of Redlands.
"Any program that's interested in him, he will benefit, and they will benefit from having him. He's extremely coachable. You can challenge him and he will accept challenges."
Organizers of the all-star games are working to try make it an annual event.
"I think it's the start of something special," said Ball. "The more frequently we do it, the better attended. I know there's a lot of interest in the Napa Valley to come and watch basketball games, good basketball games. So, this will be another opportunity to kind of support our community that supports us." Signal The Light Basketball, according to its website, stlball.com, is the "#1 News Source for California Men's Junior College Basketball."
John Bynum Jr. is a writer and scout for Signal The Light Basketball. Its website is at stlball.com.
"He's one of the biggest proponents of community college basketball throughout the state of California. I always feel like he's doing great job promoting my players. He's promoting everybody's players. He's announcing when players commit. He's doing a great job with helping out in the communities and really, really promoting our players."
In the high school all-star game, the Napa County team consists of Travis Hightower, Ma'el Blunt, Vincent Jackson and Asher Cleary of Justin-Siena, Ben Jackson of Vintage, Charlie Knight of St. Helena, CJ Mitchell of American Canyon, and JC Olvera of Sonoma Valley.
Justin-Siena had a super season of basketball, going 28-6 overall and winning the Vine Valley Athletic League title with a 12-0 record.
The Solano County team is comprised of James Wong and Jake Matteson of Benicia, EJ Rogers and Sterling McClanahan of Vanden-Fairfield, Jerel Victor and Joseph Gould of Rodriguez-Cordelia, Trevor Morris of Armijo-Fairfield, and Donovan Saiyad of Vallejo.
Vanden went 25-11.
The NorCal Elite team consists of Joseph of NVC, Cam Walker of Porterville College, Dmontay Warner of Los Medanos College-Pittsburg, Joe Rush of Cabrillo College-Aptos, DJ Leaks of Merritt College-Oakland, Gavin Wilburn of San Jose City College, Brandon Scott of Cosumnes River College-Sacramento, and Te'Jon Sawyer of City College of San Francisco.
The NorCal Finest team has Dennis of NVC, Miles Lewis of Contra Costa College-San Pablo, Jaden Rivera of College of Marin-Kentfield, Daniel Fagan of San Joaquin Delta College-Stockton, Kendrick Currey of City College of San Francisco, Isaiah Victor of Las Positas College-Livermore, Jailen Daniel Dalton of Gavilan College-Gilroy, and Adegoke Adeyemi of Los Medanos College-Pittsburg.
"We're just trying to recognize kids, their senior seasons or their second season in junior college, and bring a little energy to the sport," said George Nessman, Justin-Siena's head coach and Athletic Director.
Nessman is a former San Jose State head coach and was also the head coach at Porterville College and De La Salle High-Concord. He was also an assistant coach at UC Berkeley. Napa High head coach Carson Carattini will coach the Napa County team.
Benicia High head coach Steve Carter will coach the Solano County team.
Erv Anderson from Diablo Valley College-Pleasant Hill and Keenan McMiller from Chabot College-Hayward are the two community college coaches. It's still to be determined as to which teams they are assigned.
"We certainly hope to have a crowd, because that brings a lot of excitement and fun for everybody," said Nessman. "We want to do this on a yearly basis. We're learning how to how to go about it and hopefully build from here.
"It should be fun. We're just trying to promote it right now and draw as many people as possible and let the kids and young men have a good experience and get some recognition.
"We're hoping to make it an annual thing. We're anxious to make sure we get some people there and honor these young people for their talents and efforts."
Nessman and David Granucci lead 707 Premier Sports, an organization that provides club teams, camps, clinics, leagues, athletic development, training and AAU Basketball for youth basketball players in Napa, Sonoma, American Canyon, Vallejo, Fairfield, St. Helena and Calistoga.
"We're trying to provide affordable, high-quality athletic programming for young people," said Nessman.
The dunk contest will be scored by a panel of judges. It's open to the general public.
Tony Prescott, an assistant coach at NVC and a lead trainer and coach for 707 Premier Sports, is looking forward to a big night of basketball.
"These kids can all play. They're competitive. It's a little bit of a showcase because they want to make a name for themselves. The high school kids are trying to get to the next level and the (community college) kids are trying to get to the next level. They should be really good games," said Prescott, who starred at Chico State and is in the school's Hall of Fame.
Prescott, a former professional player in Australia, also coaches 15-and-under and 17-and-under teams with 707 Premier Sports. Tickets are available at the door of the Napa Valley College gym. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for seniors, students and children. Those under the age 10 will be admitted for free.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.