Sleeper blowing up in Hawaii
There is a player who is really benefitting by his appearance in the Hawai'i versus the Mainland All-star game. He could end up being one of biggest late sleepers of the 2009 class. The player's name is Christopher Jimenez (6-4, 318, 5.3) from Los Angeles (Calif.) Cathedral.
Rivals.com first saw Jimenez at the NIKE Camp held in Palo Alto last May and he was impressive, but he was overweight and needed to shed some pounds. He was even told by some D-I schools for him to be recruited he needed to lose weight.
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Jimenez did what winners do, he took the advise that was given to heart and he ended up losing quite a bit of weight.
"Chris played his senior season at 318 pounds," Dave Jimenez, Christopher's older brother said. "He picked up a lot of quickness without losing any strength, he even gained strength."
Jimenez is making quite a name for himself over on the Islands and has been one of the most impressive players for the Mainland team. So much so that Jimenez has earned a starting nod at one of the offensive guard spots.
One of the reasons that Jimenez's recruiting has gone slow was D-I schools that knew about him didn't know that he lost all that weight and that his extra pounds would be an issue, but because of his hard work prior to his senior season, he was able to lose 44 pounds.
Now that he has proven he has the dedication it takes to control his weight Arizona, Cal and Utah are recruiting him. Arizona called him before he left for Hawai'i.
Things are just beginning to pick up for Jimenez on the recruiting front and it is a very good bet that he will start to pick up offers in the very near future. He is beginning to pick up heat.
"Christopher is the top sleeper on the Mainland squad," Rivals.com's man in Hawai'i Greg Ladky said. "I'm surprised he doesn't have 10 to 15 offers."
"Christopher has a natural big guard body," Ladky said. "He is gaining the respect of his Mainland teammates because of his play."
Jimenez earned all-league for his junior season and another thing to like about him is he is already qualified.