Two Bay Area high school stars made sports headlines Wednesday. Both signed on with the NBA.
First, Palo Alto High School grad Jeremy Lin signed a rookie contract with the Golden State Warriors.
Then came the news, Mt. Eden grad Dell Demps got the nod to lead the New Orleans Hornets. Demps, just 40, will lead the NBA team alongside another youngster, head coach Monty Williams, who is the youngest head coach in the NBA at just 38 years old.
Demps graduated from high school in Hayward in 1988 and still has lots of friends here in the Bay Area.
He was undrafted out of college, but still found a way to play pro-ball with the San Antonio Spurs, the Orlando Magic and the Golden State Warriors.
The Hornets formally named Demps as the franchise's seventh general manager. He takes over for Jeff Bower, who stepped down last week.
Team president Hugh Weber told the Associated Press Demps is a rising star among NBA front office personnel and knows what it takes to build a championship contender from working the past five years as director of player personnel in San Antonio under Spurs general manager R.C. Buford.
