Talked to Cedar Rapids Jefferson junior center Jarrod Uthoff on Thursday night, and he said he hopes to make a college commitment within the next couple of weeks or so.
The 6-foot-8 and still-growing Uthoff was a first-team Class 4A all-state pick by the Iowa Newspaper Association, helping Jefferson to its first state tournament appearance since 1999. He averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds per game.
From talking to him and others, it appears his college choice will come down to either Northern Iowa or Creighton. He wouldn’t say it, but word …

Senior shortstop Kellen Sweeney of Cedar Rapids Jefferson has been named a first-team preseason prep all-American by Rawlings, it was announced Wednesday.
Cedar Rapids Xavier senior pitcher Jon Keller was a second-team pick. The all-Americans were selected by Rawlings, in partnership with Perfect Game USA baseball club in Cedar Rapids.
Sweeney has recovered well from Tommy John surgery in his right elbow last fall. The brother of Oakland A’s outfielder Ryan Sweeney has committed to play college baseball at the University of San Diego.
Keller has committed to play at Nebraska.
The list of 400 Rawlings all-Americans …

Just got this press release from Jefferson. Should be a lot of fun.
Event begins at 6 p.m. It’s a $3 admission for those 7 or older.
JEFFERSON DECA HOSTS FIRST ANNUAL CRANDIC 3 POINT/SLAM DUNK CONTEST
Cedar Rapids, IA  March 16, 2010 – The 3rd Annual CRANDIC 3 Point/Slam Dunk Contest will be held at Jefferson High School on Thursday, March 18, 2010 . The contest will be hosted by Jefferson High School’s DECA chapter. Top players from nine Cedar Rapids, Marion, Dubuque, and Iowa City schools were invited to participate. Winners …

The first order of business for Marcus Paige was obvious.
“Rest for a little bit,” the Linn-Mar sophomore said Saturday after his team’s Class 4A state tournament consolation victory over Sioux City East.
Paige contracted mononucleosis late in the regular season and missed the final game. He sat out Linn-Mar’s first substate game and played noticeably less than 100 percent the rest of the way.
The 6-foot-1 lefty point guard was sure something when he was healthy. He averaged 14 points, shot better than 60 percent from the field most of the season …

DES MOINES — Instead of dwelling on what could have been, the Linn-Mar Lions chose to think about what could be Saturday afternoon. Metro basketball fans should be doing the same thing.
Linn-Mar beat Sioux City East, 62-57, in the Class 4A consolation game at Wells Fargo Arena to finish its season 24-2. The Lions tied a record held by Cedar Rapids Regis with their seventh consecutive state tournament trip and set a record with their seventh straight finish of fourth or better.
“I didn’t know that,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson. “I …

DES MOINES — The Class 4A part of the boys’ state basketball tournament begins, and the Division I coaches start showing up.
Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobson strolled around the Wells Fargo Arena floor following Wednesday afternoon’s session. Cedar Rapids Washington wing Josh Oglesby said coaches from Florida, West Virginia and Virginia were in town to watch him play.
Well, maybe not just Oglesby. The potential future college players in action Wednesday included Linn-Mar’s Marcus Paige and Matt Bohannon, Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s Jarrod Uthoff and Sioux City East’s Adam Woodbury.
Bohannon, Uthoff and Oglesby …

CEDAR RAPIDS — All the banging and crashing done against them. All the size they had to confront inside.
And the thing that doomed the Cedar Rapids Jefferson J-Hawks in their Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal was the 3-point shot. Go figure.
It was a trio of treys that were pivotal as Sioux City East rallied in the fourth quarter to end Jefferson’s season, 51-43, Wednesday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
“We tried to stop their inside game the whole game,” said Jeff’s Jarrod Uthoff. “Then they hit those outside shots.”
Jefferson (18-5) led …

DES MOINES — The best player in Iowa history? The best team in Iowa history?
You make the call.
Make no mistake, Harrison Barnes is a great basketball player. You don’t get handed the Morgan Wootten Award as the nation’s top prep, as he did Wednesday, without being special.
And he was unstoppable at times in the second half as his team eased to a 57-44 Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal win over Cedar Rapids Washington at Wells Fargo Arena. But without trying to sound too homerish here, if Ames is the best …

CLASS 4A QUARTERFINALS
CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON (14-8) vs. AMES (24-0), 1:45 p.m.: The Warriors will be heavy underdogs to an Ames squad that won last year’s 4A title and has notched 50 wins in a row. Harrison Barnes averages 26.9 ppg and 10.5 rpg and is a North Carolina recruit. Doug McDermott, a Northern Iowa recruit and son of Iowa State basketball coach Greg, averages 20.5 ppg and 7.8 rpg. The Little Cyclones aren’t so little, going 6-8, 6-8, 6-7 and 6-4 in the starting lineup … Washington’s big two-some all …

There are the divisions for the MVC in 2010-11 and 2011-12:
MISSISSIPPI DIVISION
Cedar Rapids Kennedy
Cedar Rapids Washington
Dubuque Senior
Dubuque Wahlert
Iowa City High
Linn-Mar
Waterloo West
VALLEY DIVISION
Cedar Falls
Cedar Rapids Jefferson
Cedar Rapids Prairie
Cedar Rapids Xavier
Dubuque Hempstead
Iowa City West
Waterloo East