Reseda Point Guard Cross Commits to Northridge

RESEDA — Cal State Northridge landed a top point guard Thursday when Trenton Cross of Reseda High announced that he will play basketball next season for the Matadors.

Cross (5-foot-11, 170 pounds) is considered one of the best ballhandlers in the region and averaged 21.8 points and 4.3 assists as a junior.

Cross, an All-City Section and Times’ All-Valley selection last season, is the second Reseda player to commit to play to an NCAA Division I school. Archie Williams, another guard, said last week that he will play at Texas El Paso.

The NCAA’s weeklong early signing period begins Wednesday.

Cross, who also was being courted by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, averaged 16.0 points and 6.9 assists as a sophomore while playing alongside Marquis Burns (UCLA). He said he selected Northridge because his family and friends will be able to watch him play.

“I enjoyed both recruiting trips and both coaches,” said Cross, who lives in the L.A. Basin. “But I’m real close to my family.”

Landing Cross could help fill a void in the Northridge lineup in 1994-95. Guards Brooklyn McLinn (Taft High) and Andre Chevalier (Cleveland) are seniors. Cross could contribute immediately.

Cross said he talked at length with Chevalier, who gave him positive reviews on his experience at Northridge. Moreover, Northridge supplied Cross with a copy of the schedule for 1994-95. The Matadors will play UCLA,, Cal State Long Beach, California, Cincinnati and Xavier, among others.

“It’s a program on the rise,” Cross said.

The commitment of a Reseda player to Northridge marked a first for Reseda Coach Jeff Halpern, a CSUN graduate who has been critical of his alma mater’s recruiting efforts in the Valley area.

“They were never not in my good graces,” Halpern said. “I was never mad at them. I just felt like they were missing out on guys right in their own back yard.”