Photo by Russell Conroy
There were no surprises yesterday on National Letter of Intent day, and that’s a good thing at Long Beach State—all three quality high school players expected to commit officially to the university did so, including Poly senior Shelton Boykin. Coach Dan Monson announced the signing of two other high school players as well: Nick Shepherd (Westbury Christian HS/Houston, Texas) and Jacob Thomas (Columbia Heights HS/Columbia Heights, Minn.). All three will join the 49ers next fall after finishing their senior seasons.
“We are thinking in recruiting mode that the first year we were trying to get good players,” Monson said. “Now we are trying to get good players that fit our needs. With Jacob we really addressed a kid that can stretch defenses and give us a really skilled shooter at the off guard position. With Shelton, we feel like we really needed a young wing that could do a lot of things–rebound, defend and knock shots down–and we think we addressed that with him. And since I’ve been here we have never had a big man that is taller than 6-foot-8 who is an athlete that could run, finish, block shots and rebound and we really think that Nick fills that void.”
Shelton Boykin, G, 6-5, 190, Fr., Long Beach, Calif. (Poly HS)
Named Second-Team Best in the West Team by the Long Beach Press Telegram … Helped Long Beach Poly to a 23-6 record as a junior, including a 9-3 league mark … Averaged 10.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game, while making 50 percent of field goal attempts … Scored in double-digits 16 times, including two games with 20 or more points … Had a season-high 22 points against Clovis West on 9-of-13 shooting, while scoring 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting against Cerritos … Grabbed double-digit rebounds twice, with matching season-highs of 11 boards against Centennial and Cerritos … Had one double-double with 20 points and 11 boards against Cerritos … Handed out a season high three assists four times, while grabbing a season-best four steals in the team’s opener … Named honorable mention All-Moore League by the Press Telegram.
Coach Monson says: “One thing we want to do is get the best player in the area every year and we felt like Shelton was the best overall basketball player in the Long Beach area. That is always a priority for us and it fit that he is very versatile; we really think he can do a lot in the mode of Larry Anderson. He can play multiple positions, be a good defender, score the basketball and help us rebound. We just liked his overall game. Obviously being a local guy we were very excited he got on board first for us to anchor the class. It’s a lot easier to sell other guys when a local Poly guy says he wants to be a part of the program.”
Nick Shepherd, F, 6-9, 205 Fr., Missouri City, Texas (Westbury Christian HS)
A first-team all-district and second-team all-state pick as a junior … Led team to a 27-6 record and the 2008-09 TAPPS 4A State Championship … Named to the all-state tournament team, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in the championship game … Finished season with 16 double-digit scoring games, 12 double-digit rebounding games and 12 double-doubles … Started 36 games and averaged 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots per game … Had season highs of 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots … As a sophomore helped team to an 8-0 record in league and a 22-17 overall record … Averaged 3.2 points and 1.9 rebounds per game … Scored a season-high 12 points against Houston, while scoring nine points against Lutheran North and eight points against Worthington and Second Baptist … Grabbed a season-high eight boards against Lutheran North.
Coach Monson says: “Nick is different than any big guy we have in our program. We just don’t have a guy with the length and size of him that is as mobile as he is. He just gives us a different dimension inside, from running the court and finishing to blocking shots. He still has development to do but that is a positive in our eyes. He has a huge upside and we think with a year or two in the weight room and playing at this level he can be a player that is as good as any big guy in our league.”
Jacob Thomas, G, 6-4, 190, Fr., Columbia Heights, Minn. (Columbia Heights HS)
Averaged 22.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game as a junior leading team to a 13-5 record in league and an 18-11 overall record … Scored in double digits in all 29 games, including two 40-point games, eight 30-plus point games and 15 games with 20 or more points … Connected on 38 percent of field goals, 34 percent of 3-pointers and 75 percent of free throws … Made five or more 3-pointers five times including a nine 3-pointer game, an eight 3-pointer game, two six 3-pointer games and a five 3-pointer game …. Had a season-high 41 points on 18-of-31 shooting from the floor and 8-of-13 shooting from three against Robbinsdale Cooper … Finished with 40 points on 24-of-39 shooting and 9-of-13 shooting from three against Rosemount … Had 37 points against St. Louis Park, 34 points against St. Francis and Spring Lake Park, and 30 points against Minnetonka, St. Bernard’s and Fridley … Grabbed a season-high nine boards against Benilde-St Margaret’s … Handed out five assists against Irondale, and had a season-best five steals against Chisago Lakes Area … As a sophomore, averaged 21.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game … Made 41 percent of field goal attempts, 34 percent of 3-pointers and 72 percent of free throws … Scored in double figures in 25 of Coumbia Heights’ 27 games, including a 42-point game, six games with 30 or more points and 14 games with 20 or more points … In addition to the 42-point game against Chisago Lakes Area, had 28 points vs. Meadow Creek Christian, 35 points against Oh Day Aki, 34 points vs. Southwest Christian, 32 points against St. Francis and 30 points against Irondale …. Finished with three double-doubles including 38 points and a season-high 13 rebounds vs. Meadow Creek Christian, 15 points and 11 rebounds against Spring Lake Park and 32 points and 10 rebounds against St. Francis … Dished out a season-high eight assists and eight steals against Oh Day Aki in the season opener … As a freshman, played in five games, averaging 4.4 points per game with a season-high six against Spring Lake Park.
Coach Monson says: ” He is a kid who is an elite scorer and an elite shooter. Those (recruiting) rankings don’t mean much but still you don’t get a lot of kids in our league who are ranked that highly. He is ranked that high for a reason. He can score on anybody and he just has a knack for putting the ball in the basket. Even evaluating our team this year that is something we are really lacking so it will give us that next year.”
From LBSU reports