More High Interest for Leunen

Maarty Leunen, the versatile 6-foot-9, 210-pound combo forward from Redmond, Oregon continues to be one of the most highly sought after prospects on the West Coast. He recently returned from the USA Developmental Festival in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he performed well.

"I had a good time," said Leunen. "It was a good experience. It wasn't too much different (from the NBA Players Association Camp) except there were 48 kids there instead of 100. But the level of competition was still very high."

Leunen helped the USA West squad capture the bronze medal in the competition,

starting three of the five games and finishing third on the team in minutes played. While Leunen didn't score a ton (8.4 points), he did the dirty work on the glass, finishing fourth in the field in rebounding at nine boards per game. His offensive rebounding helped attribute to his 64 percent field goal shooting (also fourth among all the competitors) as he scored most of his offense on putbacks.

"I had to grab a lot of boards to get second chance points," said Leunen. "But I played my hardest and I enjoy any time I can play my hardest."

The next destination for Leunen on his whirlwind schedule this summer is Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis. "I'm looking forwards to it," said Leunen. "College coaches will be there watching you and everything and you get to show off your talents."

Leunen remains open in his recruiting. Although he acknowledges that new names could get added to his current list of schools based on how he performs at Nike, he remains firm with the schools that are currently involved. Leunen commented on the schools that have offered him scholarships -- all of whom he has made unofficial visits to previously.

On Oregon: "I like them a lot. Their coaching staff is really nice. I didn't get a chance to get to know a lot of the players really well but they're all good guys. Their facilities are unbelievable. I also like how they're building new ones too."

On Oregon State: "I really like their coaching staff. I really connected with their players too, and I got to spend a lot of time with them. I like their campus. Everything is close and is within walking distance."

On Cal: "It's in a big city and everything is nice. They have really good coaches. It's a big town but everyone comes to their games and its good fan support."

On Gonzaga: "It's a little different in that it's a smaller school. But they have huge fan support. I know more players there on a personal level having played with some of them and stuff. But it's a smaller school. I'm still trying to decide if that's the right thing for me or not."

While some of the other schools on Leunen's list have not yet offered, he did have some thoughts on those as well.

On Arizona: "I haven't talked to (Coach Olson) but I have been talking to their assistant coaches. It's a nice state and a nice program."

On UCLA: "I've been talking to the head coach (Ben Howland) quite a bit. I like talking to him."

On Duke & Kansas: "I'd like to learn more. Hopefully I will hear more from them."

After Nike Camp, Leunen will return to his AAU teams, Portland Legends and Oregon Nike Select. He will travel to Atlanta with Oregon Nike Select for the preliminary round of the Nike Peach Jam and is scheduled to appear in tournaments in Oregon City, Oregon and the Big Time Las Vegas with the Legends to finish out the summer.

Leunen remains hopeful that he will make his college choice before the start of his senior season.