Oakland's Henderson runs into Hall of Fame…..Controversial ex-coach dies from brain tumor…..Brian Sipe leaves Santa Fe Christian for San Diego State…plus more football recruiting updates.

By Mark Tennis & Brian Stumpf

It's good to be a graduate lately from Technical High of Oakland.

Leon Powe was a key figure last June for the Boston Celtics when they won the NBA title, Marshawn Lynch continued to impress in the NFL in his second year with the Buffalo Bills and Clint Eastwood continues to make Oscar-worthy movies.

Oakland Tech grad Rickey Henderson is the latest former Bulldog to make some news and did earlier this week when he was overwhelmingly voted to be inducted this summer into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Henderson, regarded by most baseball pundits as the greatest leadoff hitter in the game's history and who stole more bases and scored more runs than any other player, will be going into the Hall of Fame with former Boston Red Sox slugger Jim Rice.

There are no other Oakland Tech alums in the MLB Hall of Fame, but there sure are plenty of others from Oakland high schools, including outfielder Frank Robinson (McClymonds) and second baseman Joe Morgan (Castlemont).

The late Curt Flood, who some think also should be in the Hall of Fame and is well-known for his battle to gain free agency, is from the same high school as Henderson.

On this week's Cal-Hi Sports Bay Area TV Show, we compiled a list of the region's top five MLB Hall of Famers, with Henderson now added into the list. We don't think he beats Joe DiMaggio from Galileo of San Francisco and he doesn't beat Frank Robinson, but with all he did in his career we did rank him just in front of Morgan. Rounding out the top five was the late Willie Stargell from Encinal of Alameda.

In addition to baseball, Henderson also was a phenomenal football player during his days at Oakland Tech in the mid-1970s. Even though the Bulldogs struggled in his senior year and won only one game, Henderson was still regarded as one of the top football players in Northern California.

And with that quickness, that power, those thick, muscular legs and his vertical leap, it's easy to picture Henderson bolting around a football field. Shoot, he might have been Barry Sanders before there was a Barry Sanders.

-MARK TENNIS

Former Franklin coach passes at age 64

Tom Verner, the football coach at Franklin High in Stockton who placed his team in the center of a recruiting scandal during the 2007 season, has died. He was 64 and succumbed on Wednesday of last week from brain cancer.

According to the Stockton Record, Verner had been diagnosed just last October.

Around town, Verner was more well-known as a successful developer with a rags-to-riches story that no Hollywood screen writer could make up. Just last fall, his development company was approved to build a massive 10,000 home project in southwest Stockton to be called Mariposa Lakes. The Weston Ranch development, which is just off Interstate 5, also was done by his company.

In 1994, Verner added high school football coaching to his slate and went back to his alma mater in an effort to rebuild a program that had gone 4-45 in five previous seasons. Verner ended up coaching at Franklin for 14 seasons and went 90-61-1 with seven playoff appearances. He also spent $600,000 to build a lighted on-campus stadium.

In those years, however, Verner frequently battled with the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section office surrounding the players at Franklin, some of them who transferred in from other schools. The biggest of those cases by far was during the 2007 season when Verner and an assistant coach were accused of bringing in numerous players from American Samoa. At one point, after the players had been declared ineligible, Verner thumbed his nose at the CIF by using the players in a game against Tracy anyway.

After the Franklin program had basically been given the so-called death sentence by the section, Verner resigned and the final three games of the 2007 season were cancelled. Franklin was allowed to resume its football program last fall and other sanctions also were lifted.

I became acquainted with Verner several years ago when I'd see him exercising at the same facility I used to go to. He was certainly devoted to his players and would go the extra mile for them, but also despised many CIF rules and did his best to circumvent them. I always thought of him as comparable to Jerry Tarkanian of NCAA basketball fame. He was a man who wasn't used to anyone telling him what to do, but didn't have to be told to help out anyone in the Franklin community when they needed it.

-MARK TENNIS

Sipe joining college program

Former NFL MVP Brian Sipe was hired as quarterbacks coach earlier this week at San Diego State, his alma mater.

It will be the first college coaching job for Sipe, who has spent the last eight seasons as the head coach at Santa Fe Christian High in nearby Solana Beach. He is a former CalHiSports.com State Small Schools Coach of the Year.
 
At SDSU, Sipe will work under Brady Hoke, who was hired away from Ball State in December to replace the fired Chuck Long. Sipe was on the search committee that recommended Hoke's hiring. The two had met about six years earlier when Hoke was on a recruiting trip.
 
"This is all new territory for me,'' Sipe said. "I think I'm going to have a pretty steep learning curve but I know enough about football to recognize good coaches, and I'm excited to work with Al Borges (SDSU's new offensive coordinator).

"Defenses have gotten a little more deceptive with their blitzing, but it's still 11-on-11,'' Sipe said.
 
Sipe starred at quarterback for San Diego State from 1969-71, then played for the Cleveland Browns for 10 seasons. He finished his career by playing two seasons in the USFL. He was the NFL MVP in 1980. He led Santa Fe Christian High to four San Diego Section titles and was 75-21-1 overall.

Hoke also landed a pair of commitments last week as well. Wideout Gavin Escobar from Santa Margarita of Rancho Santa Margarita and defensive back Gabe Lemon from Lutheran of Orange both said they will be signing with SDSU next month.

-BRIAN STUMPF

More Football Recruiting Updates

•UCLA had a big weekend last week, pulling in four commitments, including three who were committed elsewhere. Marlon Pollard, a 6-1, 160 pound defensive back from San Bernardino Cajon committed to UCLA as a junior but then de-committed for Notre Dame last summer. He visited Westwood last weekend and committed on the trip.
 
•Also committing to UCLA last week was Billy Sanders, a 6-4, 235 pound tight end/defensive end from Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) Lake City, an original Miami commit, Taniela Maka, a 6-1, 220 pound linebacker from Long Beach Jordan who was committed to Arizona and Nik Abele, a 6-6, 250-pound offensive lineman from Irvine (Calif.). Abele also visited Colorado, Utah and Arizona State.

*Other commitments reported last week were from QB Desi Rodriguez (Saugus) to Air Force; DL Eddie Nuckols from Mission Hills of San Marcos to Colorado; DT Chris Robinson of Tustin to Nevada; LB Michael Clay of San Jose Bellarmine to Oregon; and DL Craig Payne from Colony of Ontario to Utah.

-BRIAN STUMPF

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