The 6-foot-2 Leaf has since ditched SDSU to look elsewhere.
The case closed this week when Leaf announced he was casting his future with the University of California Santa Barbara Gauchos.
"It was a perfect fit at the right time," said Leaf, who carries a 25.4 scoring averaging into his senior high school season.
Washington State, Nevada, SMU, Portland and UNLV are among the schools that believe they can convince Leaf to change his mind.
"It’s not going to happen," Leaf said.
At UCSB, Leaf will be allowed to be a shooting point guard. Not many colleges were willing to offer him that opportunity.
"All along, what we’ve been looking for was a Division I school with great academics and a willingness to let Troy do what we all know he can do," said Brad Leaf, Troy’s father and coach at Foothills Christian. "He wants to be a scoring point guard."
Many schools dismissed Leaf from that role due to his size. Not that the younger Leaf isn’t capable or willing to make a scoring pass when the opportunity presents itself.
"Troy knows how to distribute, but he’s also an excellent shooter with great hang time in the key," said Brad Leaf, who was a seventh-round draft pick of the Indiana Pacers out of the University of Evansville in 1982. Coach Leaf never struck a deal with Indiana and instead went overseas, where he played 18 pro seasons, the majority for Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv.
In his first three seasons at Foothills Christian, Troy Leaf has connected on 49.9 percent of 1,792 shots from the field. From 3-point range, Leaf is hitting 34.7 percent (205-of-591).
Statistics aside, Leaf is pleased to have his future in hand.
"Everything about UCSB is a positive," Leaf said. "One of the most meaningful parts of the deal is I’ll be playing at a school close enough so my parents can see me play."
The younger Leaf hopes to dribble beyond college. Following in his father’s footsteps to Europe is clearly an option if the NBA shuns him.
"I believe I’m good enough to play at the highest level," he said. "If it comes to playing overseas, my best chance to do that is if I play at the point. I feel that’s where I can play my best game."
Football: Oceanside mauls Mira Mesa
Senior quarterback Quentis Clark passed for 231 yards and two touchdowns as the Pirates muzzled Mira Mesa. The top-ranked Pirates (3-0) are unbeaten in their past 28 games and have won five straight SDCIF Division II championships.
Dons extend win streak to 24
Jonny Martin led the Cathedral Catholic stampede, rushing for 253 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries in a 41-19 rout of No. 5-ranked Helix. Dons quarterback Max Brewer connected on 10-of-17 passes for 149 yards and two TDs.
Running Waters
Grossmont’s Desean Waters rushed for 160 yards and scored five touchdowns on 18 carries in the Foothillers' 42-0 romp over Castle Park. Waters took only one handoff in the second half and scampered 80 yards for his final score.
Cross country: Rancho Bernardo’s Grabill breaks record
Junior Molly Grabill shattered the record in the Mt. Carmel Invitational, winning the Division I junior race in a time of 14 minutes, 48 seconds at San Diego’s Morley Field. That mark was seven seconds under the 14-year old standard established by Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks.
Other top performances
— The Bakersfield Drillers (2-0) stormed back to beat Stockdale 32-31 when quarterback Brian Burrell plunged into the end zone from a yard out with 52 seconds left. Stockdale kicker Andre Heidari’s 61-yard field goal fell about five yards short as time expired.
— Spring Valley Mount Miguel’s Derall Hunter rushed for 192 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries as the Matadors (2-0) whipped West Hills 35-7. In two games Hunter has scored seven TDs and is averaging 205 yards rushing.
— Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter produced 308 yards and four touchdowns rushing on 16 carries and tossed a 35-yard scoring pass to lift the Buccaneers to a 43-28 victory.
— Dorian Howard of Mission Bay chipped in 208 yards rushing with a 4-yard touchdown as the Bucs (3-0) finished with 518 yards on the ground and 625 yards total offense.
— San Diego Lincoln and Eastlake combined for 36 points in the first quarter, but Lincoln scored with 1:10 remaining in the game on quarterback Jake Marrion's third touchdown pass of the night to receiver Victor Dean and the Hornets converted a two-point conversion for a 35-35 tie.
— Claremont Webb scored on every drive (10) in a record blowout of La Verne Lutheran 88-0. The Gauls led 61-0 at halftime.
Coming attractions
Forget the rankings. . . Valhalla’s (2-1) visit to Ramona (3-0) is one of those high-powered offenses against a stone-solid defense at 7:30.
Dickens dealings
Uncommonly high temperatures in San Diego’s East County – we’re talking about the range of 103-105 degrees – puts the pressure on coaches to determine what times their teams should practice.
The majority have already decided to practice in the early evening hours, which should help some. Nonetheless, the heat continues to be a factor.
"There’s no question that the heat affects our practices," Helix football coach Troy Starr said. "We don’t have water breaks, but we have open access to the water. Whenever a kid needs a drink he can have it – there’s no schedule involved."
Water or not, the heat remains a detrimental issue.
"No matter what you do, when you’re dealing with heat like this, the kids are going to be sluggish, not real sharp," Starr said. "We try to grin and bear it and tell our kids if they can handle this there’s no opponent that is going to give them any more problems down the road than what we’re dealing with now. I know our kids can handle it because they’re in great shape."
