Gorman’s Johnathan Loyd grabs offers from Florida, Michigan State

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 | 2:12 a.m.

Johnathan Loyd never has wavered from his wishes to play major Division I basketball.

The Bishop Gorman High senior point guard could have easily settled earlier this school year and accepted a scholarship offer from the likes of Northern Arizona or Cal-Poly.

But Loyd, a 5-foot-9 speedster who led the Gaels to back-to-back large-school state championships, knew he had the ability to play in a major conference. It appears he will get that chance.

Loyd has received offers from Florida, Michigan State, Washington State and Oklahoma in the last two weeks. He also has offers from Northwestern (where he took a recruiting trip last week), George Washington, SMU and Creighton.

"When it rains, it pours," Gorman coach Grant Rice said of the interest. "It's been a little overwhelming for him."

The spring signing period begins Wednesday, but Loyd more than likely will not decide until he takes his two remaining recruiting trips.

He previously visited Northern Arizona and Cal-Poly before his stock skyrocketed following a stellar senior season where he averaged 14 points and 8.2 assists per game in being named the state's Gatorade Player of the Year. He had 103 victories in four years on Gorman's varsity team.

He liked his visit to Northwestern and smiled at the thought of helping the once perennial doormat Wildcats make their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

Loyd previously received interest for football, where he scored eight touchdowns — six on kickoffs or punt returns, and two on interception returns — in helping the Gaels win the state title. However, he essentially has ruled out playing college football.

Loyd isn't the lone local with a decision to make.

Foothill guard Evan Roquemore has offers from Air Force, Ball State, Boise State, Eastern Washington and Fairfield, Falcons coach Kevin Soares said. Creighton and Tulane also have expressed interest.

Roquemore averaged 23.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game this winter in leading the Falcons to the Sunrise Regional title game. Soares said Roquemore could take his first trip this weekend.

Cimarron-Memorial guard Kevin Olekaibe has an offer from Fresno State and interest from Houston, UTEP and Boise State, Spartans coach Steve Boyack said. Also, Connecticut stopped by the school to recruit Olekaibe while they were in Southern Nevada seeing Findlay Prep's Cory Joseph.

"He's going to wait and weigh everything out," Boyack said.

The 6-foot-1 Olekaibe led the state in scoring this winter with 35.6 points per game. Most teams game-planned around stopping him, but he proved to be hard to contain — he scored 50 or more points twice in December and had a three-game stretch where he scored 50, 40 and 48 points.

"He earned his points. He scored every which way," Boyack said. "He is one of the greatest kids I've coached in 30 years as a coach. He has great traits and qualities as a human being."

Findlay Prep forward Godwin Okonji has visited New Mexico, Hawaii TCU and Texas Tech. He recently picked up offers from Marquette and Missouri.

The 6-foot-8 Okonji, who is known for his defense and physical style of play, averaged nine points and eight rebounds per game as a senior. He finished his three-year career with a 97-3 record and two national titles.

"We've tried to say this all along — he's a winner," Findlay coach Mike Peck said. "If you look at what he does, his game within our program, and you compare it to his peers in the class of 2010 being recruited at that similar position, it is clear to see he is head and shoulders better."

Also, Findlay's Marko Petrovic has offers from San Francisco and Delaware.

Okonji and Petrovic last weekend played in the Jack Jones Shootout at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. The senior all-star game was played before a Memphis Grizzlies home game and included three state players of the year.

Findlay Prep's Joseph is still deciding between Connecticut, Minnesota, Texas, UNLV and Villanova.