Canyon Springs’ Thompson commits to Boise State

Michael Thompson was something of an unknown in basketball circles before last season. But after helping Canyon Springs (North Las Vegas) to the Nevada 4A state title game as a junior, Thompson emerged as one of the top prospects in the state.

Several schools, including Boise State, took notice of the 6-foot-2 guard, and on Tuesday Thompson made a verbal commitment to the Broncos.

Thompson's commitment is non-binding and the first day he can sign a National Letter of Intent is Nov. 10.

"It's a great feeling, just an amazing feeling to get all the pressure out of the way,” Thompson told Nevadapreps.com.

Thompson made an official visit to Boise State last weekend and watched the Broncos' football team defeat Oregon State. Thompson told the Web site he was impressed with the Broncos' first-year coach, Leon Rice, who was an assistant at Gonzaga for 11 years and played a major role in the Bulldogs' rise to prominence.

Boise State was the only school to offer Thompson a scholarship, although he was drawing interest from several schools, including Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana State, Murray State, Pepperdine, Stanford and UNLV after a strong summer with the Las Vegas Prospects AAU team.

Thompson was recruited by the Broncos as a point guard. He was a second-team all-state selection as a junior after averaging 16.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

Canyon Springs finished 26-4 after falling to Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) 69-48 in the title game. The Pioneers' other three losses came to out-of-state teams and they are expected to be among the favorites to challenge Gorman for state championship this season.

"(Boise State) started to focus on me a lot after we made the run,” Thompson told Nevadapreps.com.

FOOTBALL TITLE GAME MOVES SOUTH
The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association announced changes to the Class 4A football playoff schedule after mistakes to the original brackets were discovered.

The 4A state championship game will now take place at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas instead of a northern Nevada site as it was originally listed. The contest is scheduled to take place at noon on Dec. 4.

In addition, one of the sites of the state semifinals was also altered as the Northern Region champion will now host the Sunrise Region champion at 1 p.m. on Nov. 27. The Sunset Region champion will still advance directly to the state title game.

The moves were made in order to comply with an agreement made in 2006 between the NIAA and state coaches associations for determining postseason sites. The new set-up is identical to the one used in 2007 when Sunrise champion Las Vegas played at Northern Region champ McQueen (Reno) in the state semifinals and Bishop Gorman advanced to the state title game after beating Palo Verde (Las Vegas) in the Sunset final.

Last season, Del Sol (Las Vegas) earned a spot in the state title game by beating Basic (Henderson) in the Sunrise Region final, while Gorman traveled to Northern Region champ Reed (Sparks) for the other state semifinal.

The Northern Region champion will advance directly to the state title game in 2011, which is scheduled to take place in Reno.

"This was agreed upon by both the Southern and Northern Nevada Coaches Associations," NIAA assistant director Donnie Nelson told Nevadapreps.com. "It's the policy they voted on."

SNEAK PREVIEW
It's just past the unofficial halfway point of the football season and there are a number of key 4A matchups on the slate this week:

1. Basic (Henderson) at Liberty (Henderson): As expected, the Southeast League is turning into a slugfest for the four playoff berths, and Liberty, which is No. 5 in the MaxPreps state rankings, has a chance to all but lock up one of those spots with a win here. The Patriots (3-1, 2-0 Southeast League) survived a 32-30 overtime thriller against Del Sol (Las Vegas) last week by scoring 10 points in the final 3:14 of regulation and then stopping the Dragons on a 2-point conversion in OT.

The No. 10 Wolves (4-1, 1-1) bounced back from an upset loss to Coronado (Henderson) two weeks ago by outlasting Silverado (Las Vegas) 24-21. Quarterback Vincent Carducci and the Basic defense will have to continue making plays for the Wolves to avoid falling under the .500 mark in league play.

2. Del Sol (Las Vegas) at Foothill (Henderson): Yet another key matchup in the Southeast League. Del Sol (2-3, 0-1) is the defending Sunrise Region champion but is in danger of digging itself a big hole to start league play. Junior running back Chris Marshall is second in the state with 1,077 yards rushing and has gone over the 200-yard mark in three straight games, including 280 in the 32-30 loss to Liberty last week.

The No. 8 Falcons warmed up for this game with a 58-0 thrashing of Class 3A opponent Boulder City. Foothill has been one of the most impressive teams offensively in the Vegas valley this season behind quarterback Parker Riggin and an array of weapons, including running back Connor Afoa and wide receivers Kyle Keplinger and Darius Gates.

The key will be whether the Foothill defense, led by linebacker Keegan Buck, can slow down Marshall to keep Riggin and Co. on the field and not the sidelines.

3. McQueen (Reno) at Spanish Springs (Sparks): The host Cougars are off to a 5-0 start for the first time in school history, but this is their first major test of the season. Big plays were key in Spanish Springs' 24-14 win over Reno last week as wide receiver Dylan Woll scored on a 55-yard punt return and a 44-yard pass from quarterback Tanner Oates. The No. 16 Cougars haven't gotten much love in the state rankings, but a win here would certainly put them in the top 10.

No. 7 McQueen (4-1) bounced back from its loss to Reed (Sparks) two weeks ago with a 28-0 whitewashing of Douglas (Minden). The Lancers were without leading rusher Nick Shepard, who left the Reed game in an ambulance after experiencing shortness of breath and chest pains, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. Arnold Carillo rushed for 138 yards against Douglas and will be counted on again if Shepard is not cleared to play. Both of these teams appear to have a spot in the 4A Northern Region playoffs locked up, but this game should have major seeding implications.

4. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) at Desert Oasis (Las Vegas): The top-ranked Gaels (3-2, 2-0) will try to bounce back after their 28-14 setback at De La Salle (Concord, Calif.). Teams that take on De La Salle often have a difficult time bouncing back due to the mental and physical toll of playing the Spartans, and Gorman doesn't have much time to rest with at least a share of first place in the Southwest League on the line.

The No. 17 Diamondbacks (4-1, 3-0) topped Spring Valley (Las Vegas) 35-6 last week behind 120 yards and two touchdowns from running back Devin Fortenberry. Desert Oasis' defense faces a huge task in slowing down running back Shaquille Powell and the rest of the Gorman offense, however.

5. Rancho (Las Vegas) at Canyon Springs (North Las Vegas): The visiting Rams (3-2, 2-0 Northeast League) blasted two of the weaker teams in the Northeast and now get a shot at proving they can hang with the top teams in the league. Rancho has had no problems scoring points this season behind quarterback Will Gosse-Gardet, who threw for 237 yards and two scores in last week's 41-13 win over Chaparral (Las Vegas), and running back Shamel David.

The Pioneers (2-2, 2-0) routed the same two Northeast teams as Rancho and enter the game more battle-tested after nonleague games against Del Sol and Basic. Canyon Springs has a dynamic 1-2 punch at running back featuring Malik Brown and Donnel Pumphrey, who each went over the 100-yard mark in last week's 54-12 win over Sunrise Mountain (Las Vegas).

David Schoen works at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and is a former Associate Sports Editor and Turn2 columnist for the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune. You can reach him at ByDavid1@aol.com.