My other great passion (besides online legal marketing) is college basketball. Having played for Dino Gaudio at Army, I will be rooting hard for Wake Forest to win it all. In watching the various conference tournaments this week, I was struck by how many Arizona high school products are now making an impact in Division 1. When I graduated in 1992 only 4 players from Arizona received division 1 scholarships. This year there are no less than 45 Arizona products playing division 1 basketball – many of whom will be playing in this year’s NCAA tournament. Here is a rundown of Arizona prepsters to watch and root for in this year’s tournament;

Lee Cummard, BYU The former Arizona player of the year at Mesa High School, is now one of the best small forwards in college basketball. After a 23-8 year, BYU has a good chance to be a #6 seed in this year’s tournament

Gavin Edwards, UConn An athletic, 6’9, role player for one of the best teams in the country. I know UCONN grad Ken Chase will be rooting for Gavin and the Huskies to win it all this year.

Ty Abott, ASU If ASU has any chance of advancing in the tournament they will need to get scoring production from someone other than James Harden. This former Desert Vista sharp shooter is certainly capable.

Tremaine Townsend, Cal St. Northridge. A 6’9 Center and former Phoenix North star, Tremaine grabbed 12 rebounds in their NCAA tournament clinching win over Pacific in the ‘Big West’ Championship.

Harper Kamp, California. A 6’8 bruising post player for Cal, Harper averaged close to 20 minutes per game for the 22-10 Golden Bears – who are a virtual lock for an at large tourney bid

On the Bubble…

Lawrence Westbrook, Minnesota. The former Chandler Wolves star is the leading scorer for Tubby Smith’s Gophers. A bubble team at 22-10, Minnesota has a convincing resume with an impressive neutral court win against Louisville.

Zane Johnson, Arizona. A freshman 3 point specialist for Arizona, Zane is a former star for Thunderbird High School where he played for head coach and trial attorney Buddy Rake. Arizona is definitely on the bubble this year.

Mickey McConnell, St. Mary’s. The former Mesa Dobson star is the back up point guard and a key contributor for the Gaels. McConnell is the latest in a long line of Arizona products to play at St. Mary’s. Todd Golden, the son of Phoenix attorney Scott Golden, was a starting guard for last year’s NCAA tournament team.

Kevin Coble, Northwestern. With their opening loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament, Northwestern can only hope for a NIT bid. However, the Wildcats had one of their best years ever with 6 wins against top 50 teams. Coble, from Scottsdale Christian, led the team in scoring (15.5) and rebounding.