Headlining the first elite group of 10 players are Kawhi Leonard, Renardo Sidney, Brendan Lane, Michael Snaer and Jeremy Tyler. Second team overall topped by Will Cherry, Chase Tapley and Gary Franklin. Third unit includes Jordin Mayes, Luke Evans and Jared Cunningham. All 30 players are written up in this post.

Note: The very first Cal-Hi Sports all-state team for boys basketball was selected after the 1978-79 season by founder Nelson Tennis with assistance from editor Mark Tennis, who was attending college at the time. The CalHiSports.com all-state teams are now recognized as the most comprehensive, most detailed and best researched all-state teams in the nation, according to hobbyist Ron Siegel of Washington, who collects these teams from every state. Nearly all of our all-state teams in football and basketball are included in our recently printed seventh edition of the CalHiSports.com State Record Book & Almanac. If you love the content on our site, you'll love the book, so order your copy today.

By Mark Tennis & Ronnie Flores
(Contributing: Paul Muyskens, Harold Abend, Steve Brand)

First Team Overall

G -- Andrew Bock (Eisenhower, Rialto) 6-2 Sr.
While it only made sense to choose Eisenhower's Steve Johnson as the State Coach of the Year after the CIF Division II state title-winning season enjoyed by his program, there had to be some great players around as well. Bock definitely qualifies in that category. He led the Eagles with 21.3 points per game and also was a playmaker with 6.9 assists, 3.2 steals and 6.3 rebounds per game. The Eagles had plenty of interchangeable players, but Bock was the glue and developed a knack for playing big in the clutch. Bock has been named the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin's Player of the Year and is headed to Creighton.

C -- Brendan Lane (Rocklin) 6-9 Sr.
He was one of the many talented players in the Sacramento area this season while being compared to some of the area's all-time best like Elk Grove's Bill Cartwright. Shooting from the outside or attacking the basket, the UCLA-bound senior could do it all, as he averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds and nearly five blocks a game. He had a season-high of 40 points in Rocklin's first game and led the Thunder to league, section and NorCal championships. Lane showed his dominance with 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks for a triple-double in the state Div. II final loss to Rialto Eisenhower. He was selected for multiple honors once the season came to a close, including Sacramento Bee Player of the Year, our Division II Player of the Year award and Mr. Basketball finalist.

F -- Kawhi Leonard (M.L. King, Riverside) 6-7 Sr.
There were a couple of players in California that were better offensively and perhaps just as good defensively, but no player dominated on both ends of the floor quite like the 2009 Mr. Basketball State Player of the Year. With long arms and huge hands, Leonard could dominate the boards against players much taller and he also had the ability to defend and shoot a high percentage on the wing. "He was an excellent choice for state player of the year," remarked Woodland Hills Taft head coach Derrick Taylor, whose last two seasons were ended by Leonard's Wolves. With a freshman class that includes Leonard, his cousin Eric Lawton of Hemet West Valley, Sacramento's Chase Tapley, Serrano's Jamaal Franklin plus transfers Tyrone Shelley and Malcolm Thomas, San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher has the making of his best recruiting class since the Fab Five he recruited to Michigan in 1991.

(Read full post)

After being hosted for more than four years by Rivals.com, California's leader in high school sports for more than 25 years is now part of ESPN.

This Blog format is only temporary. All of the other features from the previous web site, including message boards, will eventually be added.

It's never easy to switch in the Internet world, but going to the Worldwide Leader in Sports is an opportunity that all of the people behind all of the sites in the Student Sports Inc. family are excited about. These sites on ESPN are going to be off the charts for the athletes, coaches, parents, and fans throughout the country.

This upward move personally is something I never could have comprehended in 1979 when my uncle, Nelson Tennis, and myself started Cal-Hi Sports as a monthly newspaper in Santa Clara County and then later that school year as a weekly newsletter. I never would have made it without the partnership of Andy Bark, who we became connected with during the 1989-90 school year. Of course Andy or any of us at Student Sports who are going to benefit from this move wouldn't have made it without Nelson.

Even after all these years, it's still Nelson's vision for California high school sports that we have followed and his record book, his weekly rankings system and his attention to detail are hallmarks of what will be continued at ESPN. The only negative in this development is that he isn't here to see it due to his death in May of 2004.

I'd also be remiss in not mentioning three other people no longer with us who contributed mightily to this site's success. This would be former Student Sports marketing director Kim Blankinship, former team sales manager and longtime supporter Jerry Keane and Andy's father, Larry Bark, who also was one of the best athletic directors in Southern California history in his tenure at Mira Costa High of Manhattan Beach.

On behalf of managing editor Ronnie Flores, Stockton office assistant Paul Muyskens and San Francisco Bay Area correspondent Harold Abend, we will be improving, expanding and enhancing our unique blend of coverage of California high school sports on ESPN. We invite you to keep coming back to this site every day to see exclusive, original content that isn't available anywhere else.

Sincerely,

Mark Tennis
Executive Editor, CalHiSports.com
Deputy Editor, ESPN RISE