Anderson sorting through West Coast programs

Is it possible to lead one of the best tournaments in scoring, stand 6-foot-9, 220-pounds, shoot lights out from deep and still be considered a sleeper? Somehow Ryan Anderson is. The No. 145 ranked player in the class of 2006 may not have a big national rep but several West Coast programs have made him a top priority. Rivals.com caught up with the talented big man and got the latest on his recruitment.

Putting in 27 points a game at the summer's biggest tournament will change things on the recruiting front. Teams went from evaluating to offering.

"That pretty much opened a lot of doors for me," Anderson said. "After that, I got a lot of calls. Schools started coming in from nowhere. I was talking to my mom the other day and we counted up 28 offers from all kinds of schools."

He has trimmed the list down from 28 to six and now he's traveling up and down the Pacific coast and seeing some of the best schools in the West. Anderson visited USC over the weekend. He's alreadyy tripped to Cal and Pacific and has a date set with Arizona State on Sept. 30. He's debating between Gonzaga and Oregon State for his final visit.

"These were all great academic schools and good basketball schools," Anderson said of his finalists. "With Cal, you can get an awesome education there. They've had a good couple of years there and barring they don't have any injuries this year, they can be really good this season.

"USC is real close to Cal (in terms of his interest). Tim Floyd is now down there and I like what he's putting together. They were the biggest school to first offer me and means a lot.

"From what I know and saw of Pacific, it's just an awesome area. They really peaked me interest."

Anderson, who stars at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, Calif., said he knows it will be tough to trim the list down even further. In the meantime, Anderson is back for his senior season. He's the lone starter back for Oak Ridge, last year's state champs.