San Diego Player of the Decade – TJ Leaf, Foothills Christian
Player of the Decade: TJ Leaf, Foothills Christian San Diego has been amid a basketball renaissance during the 2010s. The decade saw the region produce three McDonald’s All Americans, legendary coaches walk onto campuses to court our players and players…
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Continue ReadingPlayer of the Decade: TJ Leaf, Foothills Christian
San Diego has been amid a basketball renaissance during the 2010s. The decade saw the region produce three McDonald’s All Americans, legendary coaches walk onto campuses to court our players and players go off to college and shatter records.
The region has no fewer than five players either in the NBA or in the NBA G League waiting their turn for a shot at the league.
With that as the backdrop, the player of the decade was actually a pretty straightforward selection.
TJ Leaf, a 6-10 power forward blessed with a generational combination of size, skill and athleticism, was the only two-time CIF Player of the Year, a three-time CIF First-Team selection, won two CIF titles and was the first of a string of McDonald’s All Americans from the region when he graduated in 2016.
Leaf finished his career with 2,965 career points, second to his brother Troy, who had 3,318 while playing at Foothills Christian from 2007-10. T.J. also finished second in career rebounds with 1,445, behind Angelo Chol of Hoover, who had 1,732 from 2008-11.
The son of longtime Foothills Christian Brad Leaf went on to have a successful freshman year at UCLA and was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers.
As noted by Cal-Hi Sports, Leaf would have been a surefire Mr. California in any other era, but played during the same four-year span as Chino Hills PG Lonzo Ball, an omnipresent figure in prep basketball at the time.
As it stands, however, Leaf is clearly and convincingly the player of the decade in San Diego.