The Recruiting Beat: More 2008 verbals

Verbal commitments continue to roll in from a very talented boys basketball class of 2008. Damian Lillard, 6-foot-1 guard from Oakland High, 6-foot-8 power forward Tim Williams from Antioch High and Las Lomas' Brian Stafford, 6-foot-2 shooting guard all announced their college decisions over the last few weeks.

Lillard, who verbally committed to Weber State, first attracted attention during the 2006-07 high school season. After transferring in from St. Joseph of Alameda, Lillard set the OAL on fire as he scored at will and was selected first team All-OAL. A scoring point guard who can shoot the ball from deep, Lillard is an offensive threat who can score in a wide variety of ways.

His stock skyrocketed after a strong performance throughout the spring and summer playing with the Oakland Rebels. In one signature game against EBO, Lillard went for 35 points, almost single-handedly keeping the Rebels in the game.

"Damian showed tremendous growth in terms of his competitiveness on the court and his will to win games," said Damon Jones, an assistant coach with the Oakland Rebels. "He could have easily been selfish and been about him, but he was all about the team. He realized that a lot of attention was on him as a lot of schools were looking at him, but he was willing to share the spotlight with some of the other players."

Schools that offered Lillard included Bradley, Oral Roberts, SMU, St. Mary's, Santa Clara, Boise State, Montana, San Diego State and Fresno State. Several others were also starting to call but the relationship Lillard had established with the Weber State coaching staff was critical in the Wildcats landing him.

"I really liked the coaches at Weber State," said Lillard. "Every other coach that I talked to that was recruiting me was all over the place. Every time I talked to these coaches, it was something new. With Weber State, they stayed the same and the focus was on me."

"They did a great job recruiting him," added Ray Young, head coach of the Oakland Rebels. "Weber State built a good relationship with him and the opportunity to play immediately, help the team to win and a chance to get to the NCAA tournament played a part in his decision."

Relationships were also one of the reasons that Williams decided to commit to the St. Mary's Gaels. Over the past few years, the 6-foot-9 forward developed a good relationship with many of the current players at St. Mary's and these relationships as well as a chance to play early and the school's proximity were key factors in his decision.

"I had a really good relationship with almost everyone on the team," said Williams. "I have been going up to St. Mary's for open gyms for over a year and I liked it."

Utah, UNLV, Fresno State, Miami, Santa Clara, LMU all offered. Williams is an athletic big who is a solid rebounder and a player who alters games on the defensive end. Various other mid-major programs inquired about him. However, Williams decided that relationships, staying close to home and the opportunity to play immediately were important

"He has a relationship with the players on the team and he has become close to Gael head coach Randy Bennett," said John Woolery, head coach at Antioch High. "I also think with St. Mary's having Diamond Simpson and Omar Samhan, they have some good bigs. He wanted to go somewhere, where he can play some three, play outside and develop that way as well."

Woolery, a former standout at Santa Clara believes that Williams has the tools to go into the WCC, play immediately, and become an all-conference type player in the WCC.

"I think Tim can come into this league and be an impact player," continued Woolery.

Making an impact is what Stafford hopes to do at the University of Denver next year. He is a force for Las Lomas, which he helped lead to a 22-win season last year and he continued this momentum while playing for the Lakeshow club this past offseason. Stafford's timely shooting was one of the main reasons the team's success and No. 1 ranking in NorCal.

"Brian is a clutch player," said Joey Fuca, head coach of Lakeshow. "He is the guy who looks to score the winning basket. He is a guard with a pure scoring mentality who wins games."

Colgate was the only other school that offered Stafford but Nevada Reno, St. Mary's, Cal State Fullerton and UC Davis showed some interest.

"I picked Denver because I liked the coaches a lot," said Stafford. "They have had successful programs in the past and I believe that Denver is a place that I can come in and make an impact right away. It is also a very good school that is close to home."

The common thread in all three cases is coaching staffs and the opportunity to play immediately were two of the biggest factors in making their college decisions.