HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL : After Long Wait, Jones Is Signed by Loyola

Wyking Jones decided last summer to continue his basketball career at Loyola Marymount when he graduates from St. Bernard High in Playa del Rey.

With his grade-point average and Scholastic Aptitude Test score well within the NCAA guidelines, Jones wanted to sign a letter of intent during the early-signing period last November. Loyola Coach Jay Hillock was ready to welcome the 6-foot-7 forward.

There was a hitch, however. A Loyola coach helped secure a job for Jones last summer at the A.C. Green Basketball Camp, held on the Loyola campus.

Afraid his staff made a recruiting violation, Hillock asked the NCAA for an official ruling. While the case was being reviewed, Jones had to wait for the spring signing period, which began Wednesday and continues for a month.

No infringement was found, and Jones signed with Loyola at his home Wednesday afternoon.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” said Jones, who also visited Oregon, Oregon State, UC Santa Barbara and UCLA. “I’m just glad this day has finally arrived. I decided on Loyola a long time ago, so all of this waiting wasn’t because I was undecided.”

Jones, who averaged 21 points a game last season, had a different reason than most players for waiting until spring to sign. Since the NCAA started the November early-signing period in 1983, most of the top players select a school then. The majority who delay until April are waiting on SAT scores that would enable them to avoid Proposition 48 status.

Such is the case with Tes Whitlock, a 6-1 guard from Anaheim Loara. Whitlock led Orange County in scoring last season with a 33.5-point average. But he has yet to score the NCAA minimum requirement of 700 points on the SAT and his grade-point average in core classes is below 2.0.

Several schools, including Arizona State, Arizona and Oklahoma, are actively recruiting Whitlock but are waiting to see if he improves his SAT score and GPA.

“The schools will still take a chance on him academically,” Loara Coach Ed Prange said. “He still has two or three more chances to take the SAT. He can do better.”

Wilmington Banning’s Jabari Anderson, who led the City with a 35.1-point scoring average, is awaiting his SAT results. He said he has narrowed his choices to Nevada Las Vegas, Fresno State, Utah and New Orleans.

Neither USC nor UCLA signed any players Wednesday. The Bruins have four scholarships available but are not recruiting any local players. The Trojans expect to receive a letter in the mail from 6-7 forward Lorenzo Orr of Detroit, who signed with the Trojans in 1990 but sat out the year after failing to score 700 on the SAT. Orr is now academically eligible.

Loyola also expects to sign 6-2 guard Cobi McElroy of Las Vegas Western.