Gorham to Miss Season After Breaking Leg : CSUN basketball: Highly touted 6-foot-7 shooting guard from Riverside College will not enroll at Northridge.

Geoff Gorham, a 6-foot-7 shooting guard and prize recruit of Cal State Northridge, will not enroll at the school in the fall.

Gorham, from Riverside College, signed a letter of intent during the early signing period last fall to play at Northridge. But he recently sustained a broken leg in a pickup game and will sit out the 1992-93 season.

Gorham averaged 20.6 points and 7.1 rebounds in 23 games last season before sustaining a broken ankle and sitting out the last 12 games. He averaged 18.9 points in 1990-91.

“I just think I’m going to take a rest,” Gorham said Friday. “I don’t think it would be fair to go to Northridge with a bum leg and waste their money. I’m just going to sit and see if next year maybe I can walk on somewhere.”

Gorham’s career has been marked by soaring success and disappointment, mostly because of injuries.

As a junior at Ramona High in 1987, Gorham averaged 23 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.5 blocked shots and 2.0 steals a game.

He received honorable mention on the Street & Smith magazine’s All-American team, and he was a first-team selection on the Long Beach Press-Telegram’s Best in the West team.

At the Superstars camp in Santa Barbara, he was recognized as one of the top 15 players, and he competed in the Kentucky Prep All-American Festival.

Before his senior season at Ramona, Gorham signed a national letter of intent with California. He suffered an ankle injury at Ramona and played in only the last five games of his senior season. Then, when Cal Coach Lou Campanelli wanted Gorham to redshirt his freshman season, he transferred to Brigham Young for the spring semester.

But after one semester in Utah, he returned home and enrolled at Riverside, saying he was unhappy at the school.

Cal State Northridge was the only school to offer Gorham a scholarship during the early signing period last fall. He was impressed with Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy and looked forward to playing for the Matadors.

“It’s very disappointing,” he said. “I had really hoped on playing Division I basketball. I had high hopes.

“I’m not going to give up on playing, I just think this year would be best for me to sit out and work on strength.”

Gorham will spend his time as an assistant coach at La Sierra High in Riverside, where his father has coached for the past 24 years.

Northridge finished 11-17 last season after an 0-10 start. Three starters and a key reserve completed their eligibility at the end of the season: top scorer Keith Gibbs, top rebounder Shelton Boykin, center Brian Kilian and reserve shooting guard David Keeter.