Final Five for Dixon, Speed

By Glenn Nelson
HoopGurlz Publisher
Posted Mon, 09/17/2007 - 06:41 Two of the state of California's top prospects are down to a final five.

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Two of the top prospects on the West Coast share Arizona State and Rutgers on their list of finalists and are in the midst of taking their official visits.

Jasmine Dixon, the reigning California Division I player of the year, made official visits to both Arizona and ASU this past weekend, while club teammate Nikki Speed went to Rutgers.

In addition to the Arizona schools and Rutgers, Dixon, of Long Beach, Calif., has Baylor and UCLA among her five five finalists. The powerful 6-foot guard is ranked as the 26th overall prospect in the 2008 class by HoopGurlz.com. Long Beach Poly, expected to be ranked No. 1 in the country, this year added transfer Monique Oliver, a 6-3 post, which should free Dixon to further develop her perimeter game.

Dixon recently was considered a virtual lock for Cal, which no longer appears on her list. Her interest may have cooled, however, after former club teammate Lenita Sanford failed to qualify after attending summer school at Berkeley.

Speed, of Pasadena, Calif., who is ranked 27th in the 2008 class, also has Cal, Duke and USC among her finalists. The 5-9 point guard is ranked fifth nationally at her position. Cal and Duke are believed to be the front- runners for her commitment.

Dixon and Speed both led their high schools to California state championships last year and were teammates on Southern California-based Finest Basketball Club (FBC).

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Glenn Nelson is the publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams. Glenn previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work also has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here. He can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com.

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