ALL-NORTH COAST SECTION
Player of the Year
IVAN RABB, BISHOP O'DOWD
By HAROLD ABEND
Prep2Prep
The selection of the Cal-bound senior center/power forward is probably the easiest of any of the selections of Prep2Prep honors for boys and girls in the CIF North Coast and Central Coast Sections.
Rabb, who is arguably up there with the legendary Jason Kidd (St. Joseph of Alameda) as one of the best players to ever come out of the East Bay or Northern California period, was not only the
two-time Contra Costa Times Player of the Year, but was also the Cal-Hi Sports Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year, a finalist and No. 4 finisher for Grassrootshoops Mr. Basketball USA Player
of the Year, the only player from California chosen for the McDonald’s All-American game, and one of only two California boys chosen for the Jordan Brand All-Star Game in Brooklyn.
The 6-foot-11, 220-pound Rabb punctuated a great career with a storybook finish in O’Dowd’s 65-64 CIF Open Division victory over Mater Dei-Santa Ana, a triumph that ended 34 years of frustration
and a period that included eight straight losses in title game appearances since the last CIF state championship for the Dragons.
The fact that it all came down to Rabb on the game’s most important play makes all the awards and accolades he’s received even sweeter.
With O’Dowd’s losing streak in state finals and the Mater Dei streak of four straight state titles on the line, Rabb stood at the free throw line with 0.8 seconds left and with two shots in a tie
score of a contest that already had gone into one overtime.
Rabb air-balled the first of those free throws, but he rattled in the second for a 65-64 O’Dowd lead. Mater Dei could only get off a desperation heave that was well short, touching off a wild
celebration and cementing the big fella for all the subsequent recognition.
Rabb almost achieved a spectacular 20-20 mark in the state championship game, falling just short after finishing with 19 points, 21 rebounds and three blocks.
Rabb started the season with a big outing, going for 28 points and 20 rebounds in a win over Bishop Gorman-Las Vegas at the Prep2Prep NorCal Tip-Off Classic and he never let up.
For the season, Rabb averaged 24.5 points, 16.3 rebounds and 4.5 blocks a game and was a big reason O’Dowd earned Cal-Hi Sports State Team of the Year honors and finished No. 4 in the Grassroots
Hoops FAB 50, the highest ranking ever for a Northern California team since Basketball Weekly began national polls in 1976.
The bottom line is Rabb certainly didn’t need to make the free throws and would have been the Prep2Prep NCS Player of the Year even had he missed and O’Dowd gone down to defeat, but making
them and getting the Dragons off the schneid eliminates any doubts as to his place in NCS, Bay Area and California boys basketball history.
With his selection as Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year, Rabb is the first from the NCS since Kidd won the award in 1992, and only the second O’Dowd player to garner the honor following
Tony Jackson, who won in 1982, and then went on to play at DePaul.
“It’s pretty exciting to be mentioned with players like Jason Kidd. Those are all great guys,” Rabb told Cal-Hi Sports after winning the Mr. Basketball award. “I didn’t think I would be up there
with those guys but I’m excited to be. Actually I didn’t think I would be at this level with the nation’s best players. Over time, I got better and started figuring it out, because when I first
started playing I didn’t take the game seriously.”
Obviously, he serious now, and the Golden Bear faithful at Cal are just as serious and excited about his coming to Berkeley this fall.
Coach of the Year
BRIAN BOTTEEN, SAN RAMON VALLEY
First-year coach Brian Botteen led a crowded field of great candidates by leading San Ramon Valley to a state title.
(San Ramon Valley Basketball)
By HAROLD ABEND
Prep2Prep
There were a number of very deserving coaches in the NCS this season and many, including legendary coaches Frank Allocco of De La Salle-Concord, Don Lippi of St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda
and Tom Bonfigli of Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa, plus Lou Ritchie of Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland, Matt Watson of Campolindo-Moraga and Doug Donnellan of Sir Francis Drake-San Anselmo that either
reached career coaching win milestones or led their teams deep into the playoffs.
However, after all was said and done there was only one coach other than Ritchie from the NCS or Northern California period to lead his team to a state championship and it was the Wolverines
first-year head coach Brian Botteen. For his accomplishment, Botteen is the Prep2Prep NCS Coach of the Year.
After serving as the junior varsity head coach for the previous seven years, Botteen was offered the job to replace longtime Wolves Coach John Raynor after the 2014 season.
All Botteen did was guide San Ramon Valley to an 11-3 record and third place in the East Bay Athletic League before taking a team that got hot in the playoffs all the way to a Division I state
championship, the first in the school history.
It wasn’t easy in a 79-71 victory as the Wolverines needed two overtimes to outlast Chino Hills and its star Lorenzo Ball.
Senior of the Year
CHRIS HANSEN, CAMPOLINDO
Other than Rabb, no single player may have had more of an impact on his team’s success than this rugged UC San Diego-bound 6-foot-7 post. The Diablo Foothill Athletic League MVP led Campo
to the Division III state title game while averaging 25.5 points, 17.1 rebounds, six blocks and four assists per game. A sure thing around the basket, Hansen shot 67 percent from the field and 87 percent
from the free-throw line
Junior of the Year
OSCAR FRAYER, MOREAU CATHOLIC
The 6-foot-6 Cal-committed forward led the Mariners to the Mission Valley Athletic League title, a runner-up finish to O’Dowd in the NCS Division III playoffs and a spot in the Northern
Regional Open Division playoffs. The MVAL MVP and Contra Costa Times All-East Bay First Team selection also led the team in scoring and rebounding with 17.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Sophomore of the Year
DAMARI MILSTEAD, MOREAU CATHOLIC
With Milstead joining Mariners teammate Frayer as a class Player of the Year it doesn’t give us the opportunity to spread the awards around, but frankly the 6-foot-2 guard was the most deserving after
being the only sophomore selected Contra Costa Times All-East Bay. He was second to Frayer on the team in scoring (16.1 ppg), averaged 3.8 rebounds a game, and led the team in assists and steals with
5.3 and 3.4 per game, respectively.
Freshman of the Year
ELIJAH HARDY, BISHOP O'DOWD
Hardy was one of a few freshmen to make a major impact in the NCS this past season, and after Prep2Prep canvassed the top coaches in the section, the choice of Hardy was unanimous.
The 6-foot guard averaged seven points and five assists in about 15 minutes per game.
FIRST TEAM ALL-NCS
Paris Austin, Bishop O'Dowd
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
It takes more than one player to make a nationally ranked state champion and this Boise State-bound guard was as important to the Dragons’ outside game as teammate Rabb was in the paint. In fact,
it was Austin who was high point man (21) in the state title game win over Mater Dei. For the season, he averaged 19 points a game and set school records for points and 3-pointers in a game with
43 and 12, respectively.
Stefan Mitu, Monte Vista
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
Mitu, a 6-foot-1 guard, was the co-Most Valuable Player of the East Bay Athletic League. He led Monte Vista to a co-EBAL title and the CIFNCS Division I championship. Mitu averaged 19.5 points
per game, made 85 3-pointers, and also averaged four rebounds and three steals a game.
SECOND TEAM ALL-NCS
Jesse Hunt, Drake
Position: Forward
Year: Senior
The 6-foot-6 Eastern Washington-committed Pirates star was named the Marin County Athletic League MVP after leading the team to a second consecutive Northern Regional Division III title game
appearance. He led the team in scoring and rebounding with 15.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
Carlos Johnson, El Cerrito
Position: Forward
Year: Junior
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound forward already has an offer from Cal and is generally regarded as one of the top recruits from the Class of 2016 in Northern California. He averaged 15.9 points, 8.3 rebounds,
2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game last season.
Keith Smith, San Ramon Valley
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
A near-miss first-team selection, the 6-foot guard was the key in leading the Wolves to the CIF Division I state championship. He had a team-high 20 points and 12 assists in the 79-71 state title-game
win over Chino Hills and 16 points and seven rebounds in the NorCal championship 49-45 victory over Woodcreek-Roseville.
THIRD TEAM ALL-NCS
HONORABLE MENTION:
ACALANES:
Joey Hewitt
ALBANY:
Marcus Simon
AMERICAN:
Mateo Roberts
ANALY:
Malcolm Jenkins
ANTIOCH:
J.T. Branch
ARCATA:
Russ Taylor
BENTLEY:
Mateen Hirbod
BERKELEY:
Zach Copeland
BISHOP O'DOWD:
Isaiah Thomas, Austin Walker
BRANSON:
Henry Feinberg
CAMPOLINDO:
Austin Clarke
CARDINAL NEWMAN:
Justin Botteri
CASA GRANDE:
Jon Christy
CLOVERDALE:
John McMillan, Marcus Poe
COLLEGE PARK:
Arash Aliyar
CONCORD:
TJ Quezon
DE LA SALLE:
Nikhil Peters, Vince Romeo
DRAKE:
Malik Huff, Jasper Verduin, Dane Wells
DREW:
Charlie Boone
DUBLIN:
Tim Falls
ELSIE ALLEN:
Jalen Busby
FOOTHILL:
Seth Cobb
FREEDOM:
Nick Evans, Kendall McIntosh
GRANADA:
Kameron Johnson
HEAD-ROYCE:
Chris Wright
HOOPA VALLEY:
Than Blake
IRVINGTON:
Scott Ho
JAMES LOGAN:
Micah Webster
JUSTIN-SIENA:
Aidan Willard
KELSEYVILLE:
Kyle Ellis
LAS LOMAS:
Ben Wood
MARIA CARRILLO:
Clayton Andrews
MARIN ACADEMY:
Kyle Roach
MARIN CATHOLIC:
Frankie Calcaterra, Joey Calcaterra
MONTE VISTA:
Wilson LaShells
MONTGMOMERY:
Eric Poulson, Michael Septimo
MOREAU CATHOLIC:
Terrell Brown
MT. EDEN:
Jacob Duran
NORTHGATE:
Jeremy Moniz
PIEDMONT:
Sean Rodriguez, Jordan Torio
PINOLE VALLEY:
Quincy Chapple
REDWOOD:
Will Breck
RICHMOND:
Daronte Shaw
SALESIAN:
Bernard Ward
SAN MARIN:
Calvin Geraci
SAN RAFAEL:
Andrew Szot
SAN RAMON VALLEY:
Christian Fuca
SONOMA VALLEY:
Cyle Caselli
ST. JOSEPH NOTRE DAME:
Jade Smith
ST. PATRICK-ST. VINCENT:
Tavian Henderson
STUART HALL:
Armani Collins
TAMALPAIS:
Yoav Pantilat
TOMALES:
Ivan Gomez
UNIVERSITY:
Brandon Lew, Mattie Mrlik
WILLITS:
Dimitri Betts
WINDSOR:
Gabe Knight
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