RECRUITING / JEFF FELLENZER : Football Previews Have Coaches Ready for New Fall Season

After watching more film the past two months than Siskel and Ebert combined, college football coaches finally had the ball and chain removed this week.

As of Monday, coaches were allowed to evaluate high school and community college prospects in person. Before Monday, evaluations were being made strictly from videotape sent by scouting services, high school coaches and prospects themselves.

NCAA rules limit colleges to three face-to-face meetings with recruits, and four evaluations, which include scouting games or practices. Beginning Dec. 1, coaches can call players as often as they wish; until then, the limit is one call a week.

So what will these traveling salesmen in cleats find when they hit the California freeways this year?

With the exception of quarterbacks, there are plenty of skill-position players available. But blue-chip linemen, on both sides of the ball, are scarce.

Notes

Tremaine Fowlkes, a 6-6 senior forward from Crenshaw High, announced that he would sign a letter of intent to attend California when the weeklong early signing period begins Wednesday. Fowlkes had narrowed his choices to USC and Cal and earlier considered Arizona. After learning that he had passed the Scholastic Aptitude Test, Fowlkes took an official recruiting trip to Cal last weekend. USC Coach George Raveling had hoped that Fowlkes would visit the Trojan campus this week. Cal recruited Fowlkes, who helped lead Crenshaw to the State Division I championship last season, with the idea that he could replace starting forward Lamond Murray next season if, as expected, Murray decides to skip his senior season to become eligible for the NBA draft. “It’s close to home but not too close,” said Fowlkes of his decision to attend Cal. “Coach (Todd) Bozeman lets you play your game. I liked their motion offense, too.” Fowlkes is the second player to commit to the Golden Bears, joining 6-3 shooting guard Jeff Dayton of Kansas City. . . . Add Cal: The Bears are thought to be the leaders for another top forward, 6-6 Tony Gonzalez of Huntington Beach High. Gonzalez, also an outstanding tight end-outside linebacker prospect in football, visited Cal last weekend. He had been close to committing to Arizona before his visit to Berkeley. Contrary to earlier reports, Gonzalez has decided to sign a basketball letter of intent, meaning he will concentrate on basketball as a freshman, then decide whether to also pursue a football career.

More hoops: Jelani Gardner, a 6-6 point guard from Bellflower St. John Bosco, visited Arkansas last weekend during the Hogs’ “Midnight Madness” practice session, which he said was attended by more than 12,000. “Coach (Nolan) Richardson said they needed someone to run the team,” Gardner said. “He said if I played up to my capabilities, I might be able to start as a freshman.” Also at Arkansas, with Gardner, was 5-9 point guard Prince Fowler of Las Vegas Western, who will probably pick between Arkansas and San Francisco. Gardner has scheduled a trip to Minnesota in late February, and is planning to visit Syracuse. He also said he will probably make an unofficial visit to Cal when St. John Bosco plays in a tournament in Northern California Dec. 10-12. UCLA and Arizona State remain the front-runners to sign Gardner. . . . Besides Gardner, UCLA is recruiting 6-5 guard Felipe Lopez of New York and 6-8, 235-pound forward Ben Davis of Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kan. Lopez, considered one of the top five players in the country, is scheduled to visit UCLA Dec. 3-5 (the Bruins play host to Nevada Las Vegas on Dec. 4). Insiders believe Lopez will ultimately sign with St. John’s or Seton Hall. He visited Florida State last weekend. Davis, who left Kansas early in his freshman season and stopped briefly at Florida, is also considering Purdue and Oklahoma, among others. All three of the players are planning to sign in April.

Add USC: According to Raveling, now that Iowa has offered 6-3 shooting guard Kent McCausland of Waterloo, Iowa, a scholarship, it appears certain that he will sign with the Hawkeyes. If so, the Trojans, who had hoped to sign three players next week, would probably sign only guard Cameron Murray of Glendora. Murray passed his SAT recently, thus assuring freshman eligibility. Surprisingly, McCausland is the only player to take an official recruiting visit to USC. The reason is a new NCAA regulation requiring recruits to have passed their college entrance exams before being allowed to accept paid visits to college campuses. However, players are permitted to visit colleges “unofficially,” i.e., as long as they use their own transportation and pay their own expenses. As a result, there is a trend this year toward more “regionalized” recruiting. USC has had a number of Southern California players visit on unofficial trips.

Washington has received commitments from 6-10 center Alex Lopez of North Hollywood Campbell Hall and 6-7 forward Jason Hartman of Thousand Oaks. Lopez had also considered Tulane and Stanford, among others, and Hartman had narrowed his choices to Washington and Loyola Marymount. . . . Washington State, which has recruited well in recent years under Coach Kelvin Sampson, got unwritten commitments from 6-2 guard Chris Griffin of Carmichael, Calif., 6-8 forward Steve Slotemaker of Hillsboro, Ore., and 6-7 forward Carlos Daniel of Boulder, Colo. Griffin will rejoin former high school teammate Isaac Fontaine, a 6-3 freshman guard at Washington State. The Cougars are also the favorites to sign 6-3 Jamie Gillin, a shooting guard from Compton Dominguez, and 6-8 forward Marcus LaVette of Southern Idaho Junior College in Twin Falls, Ida. Gillin, who learned this week that he had passed the SAT, will visit Washington State this weekend and may take a trip to Wyoming next weekend. . . . Shane Willis, a 6-foot point guard from Mira Costa, returned Wednesday from a recruiting visit to Hawaii. He will choose between Hawaii and San Francisco after also visiting St. Mary’s and canceling a trip to Weber State. . . . Jeremy Veal, a 6-3 guard from San Dimas, has narrowed his choices to Arizona State and Long Beach State, where he visits this weekend. He had also considered Loyola Marymount. . . . Also scheduled to visit Long Beach State this weekend is 6-2 guard Donald Guyton of Pasadena. Guyton, who is awaiting his SAT results (meaning his weekend visit may be unofficial), is also being recruited by Arizona.

Recent unwritten commitments:

* 6-3 guard Archie Williams of Reseda, a transfer from Santa Monica High, to Texas El Paso.

* 6-1 guard Kevin Efon of Seagoville, Tex., a Dallas suburb, to Arizona. Efon is also a football prospect.

* 6-7 forward Steve Walston of Midland College, a community college in Midland, Tex., to Arizona State. Walston, who is originally from New York, also considered New Mexico State.

College basketball coaches are already busy laying the groundwork for next year’s recruiting. The top prize in the Los Angeles area probably will be a teammate of Gillin’s--smooth 6-5 guard Tommy Prince of Dominguez. Jim Harrick (UCLA), Lute Olson (Arizona), Seth Greenberg (Long Beach State) and Rollie Massimino (Nevada Las Vegas) were among coaches who dropped by Dominguez last month to see Prince. Dominguez Coach Russell Otis says virtually all of the top college programs in the country have shown interest in Prince, including Kentucky, Michigan and Kansas. He’s also a good student.