Lorenzen among local athletes to move on

The process for Derek Lorenzen's college dreams should be a long and arduous one over the next couple of months. Unless if Lorenzen catches a Division I college coach's eye this weekend.

The first day of the spring signing period is today and for Galena High's Lorenzen it's possible he may not find out until May or even June what he'll be doing next year. But that may change this weekend when Lorenzen plays for an unsigned all-star team at an annual basketball tournament sponsored by Adidas in Las Vegas.

The tournament, which will feature players from across the country, is designed to be a showcase for players who have yet to sign with a college. But the tournament also features players who will have already signed and among them are Bishop Gorman's Chief Watson, who has committed to San Diego State.

It will be a busy period for local athletes moving onto college in the next couple of months. Three local athletes are already scheduled to sign.

Carson High's Ciarra Christian will sign with College of Southern Idaho today. Christian, a 2004 CHS graduate, was the Northern 4A Player of the Year in basketball as a point guard.

Another local player, Galena's Joanna Hixon, will be leaving Southern Idaho as she has committed to play basketball for Idaho State. A 2003 Galena graduate, Hixon saw considerable playing time as a freshman with Montana State before transferring this year to Southern Idaho where she helped lead that school to a National Junior College Athletic Association runner-up finish.

Douglas High graduate Cal Lewis, a first baseman and a third baseman with the Feather River baseball team, is also scheduled to sign with South Dakota State, which will begin as a Division I program next season.

Galena coach Tom Maurer obviously is hopeful that Lorenzen catches someone's eye this weekend. "I'm hoping it's going to end this weekend," said Maurer about the recruiting processs involving Lorenzen.

Maurer had another player at Galena, Brian Vaka, end up at Santa Clara as a result of playing in an all-star tournament in Phoenix.

The 6-5 Lorenzen, who's an excellent three-point shooter, will be a shooting guard in college.

Division III and NAIA schools have shown plenty of interest in Lorenzen and it's a sure bet that plenty of Division II schools will show interest in Lorenzen as well after they learn what players Division I programs will end up with.

Lorenzen can also go the junior college route. Among the schools interested in Lorenzen is Southern Idaho, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation this year. "I think it's a done deal if he wanted to go to CSI," Maurer said.

There's also Fresno City, which finished this year as the unbeaten California State champion. Fresno could be a nice fit for Lorenzen since the Rams stress three-point shooting.

Lorenzen will qualify academically for a four-year school, which means he could leave junior college after one year. That could make him attractive to Division I programs, who would have Lorenzen for three years instead of just two.

Another Galena player, point guard Chad Seidenstricker, should end up at a Division III school, Maurer said. "I'm real happy about what happened with those two kids," Maurer said. "They were the success of our program."

The spring should be a busy time for plenty of local athletes playing at the junior college level. Feather River softball coach said that Douglas High graduate Cheryl Nicoll, and CHS graduates Kaitie Vidovich and Heather Diamond should all be able to move on and that all have a chance to play at the Division II level. Nicoll is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, but Trueblood said Nicoll should still be recruited at least at the Division II level.

Feather River has several more local products who have a chance to move on in baseball. Pitcher Tommy Hoyle, a Douglas graduate, should end up at a Division II school, Feather River coach Reed Peters said. Another pitcher, Galena's Rich Cummins, could play at Division II as well, Peters said.

But Cummins is an outstanding student and may opt to attend the University of Nevada or UNLV where he could possibly try to walk on in either program, Peters said.