Loadholt teeter tottered on staying home, Drescher following history, Marcum gets late break
The best boys basketball player in Spanish Springs history is officially headed to the bay.
Marcus Loadholt was one of 10 Spanish Springs student athletes to sign a collegiate letter of intent during a ceremony held outside the school’s gym on Wednesday afternoon. He signed at Dominican University of California – an NCAA Div. II program located about 20 miles north of San Francisco – after verbally committing three weeks ago.
Listed at 6-3, Loadholt was voted the 4A/DI North Player of the Year as a junior and senior, leading Spanish Springs to an undefeated regular season (in regional play) this winter while averaging 20.3 points per game.
He nearly opted to stay much closer to home and walk on at Nevada to play for third-year coach Eric Musselman, who just led the Wolf Pack to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade and signed a new five-year contract worth $1 million annually.
“I was pretty convinced on going there,” Loadholt said. “Then talking to my dad a lot, I didn’t want to try out and I wouldn’t have a guaranteed spot on the team, or anything. So, I was I was like, ‘you know what? I’ll just go down this path and see where it takes me.’”
Dominican first contacted Loadholt on the Cougars’ annual post-Christmas trip to San Diego.
“I just liked the coaches … It’s a private university, it’s a really good school, and I will get a lot of playing time there,” he said. “It’s just a big relief. During my senior season, I was still thinking, ‘damn, where am I going to go after this?’ Finally, just knowing now, it’s a big relief.”
Cole Drescher was a substantial factor in the wrestling program’s fifth-straight regional title in February. Drescher won the 160-pound regional and state titles after celebrating the 152-pound regional title as a junior and going on to take second at state. He was the regional runner up his sophomore and freshman seasons.
He will continue wrestling at California Baptist University in Riverside, Calif. for coach Lennie Zalesky. Zalesky is a disciple of Dan Gable, one of the most recognizable names in the sport. Gable led Iowa to 15 national titles from 1976 to 1997.
“That kind of sold me right there,” Drescher said.
CBU will jump up to the Div. I ranks from Div. II following Drescher’s redshirt freshman season.
“I have the opportunity to wrestle at the Div. I level soon,” he said. “I get to go wrestle at the tournaments that Andrew Berreyesa is wrestling in. He’s a stud.”
Berreyesa will graduate from Reno next month, then wrestle for Cornell.
Quarterback Korbin Marcum took an unorthodox path to find his way to Culver-Stockton College – an NAIA program on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River.
The 2016 second-team all-region selection intended to enroll at the College of the Redwoods – a junior college in northern California – until the Wildcats called him two weeks ago and offered a full-ride scholarship.
“They called and I said, ‘sweet,’” Marcum said. “I was pumped. I was like, ‘dude, I’ll come down there for a visit, whatever you want.’”
He hopped a plane four days later and offered his verbal commitment.
Marlin Brucato will also play NAIA ball. He will play baseball at Menlo College in Palo Alto, Calif.
Brucato was a first-team all-league second baseman this spring after corralling honorable mention accolades as a junior.
“I really liked Menlo’s campus and I really liked the coach, and also, they put academics first, which was big for me and my family,” Brucato said.
Brucato’s flowing locks that fall well below his shoulders were just as demonstrative this spring as his standout play. He is unsure if his next coach has a hair-length policy.
“I don’t know yet. I’m hoping (not). We’ll find out,” he said. “I mean, I’ll cut it. If hair was a factor to go play baseball, I’ll cut it.”
Austin Cadenhead and Colton Allen joined Marcum in committing to collegiate football programs. The three total football signees were the most ever in a single ceremony for Spanish Springs.
Cadenhead, a first-team all-region wide receiver and second-team all-league return specialist, will play at the College of the Redwoods, the junior college Marcum originally planned on attending. Allen, a second-team all-league wide receiver and defensive back, will play for Sierra College – a junior college in Rocklin, Calif.
Brionna Wood was the lone female athlete of the bunch to sign on Wednesday. She will play soccer at Southern Oregon University – an NAIA program in Ashland, Ore. The Raiders went 13-6-1 last fall and earned a share of the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season title for the first time ever.
Isaac Ruiz will wrestle at Clackamas College – a junior college outside of Portland, Ore.
Kyle Georgeson will play soccer at Doane University – an NAIA school near Lincoln, Neb.
Cody Jones signed to play baseball at Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, Ore.
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