The odyssey of talented forward Julian Sensley, who led St. Thomas More of Oakdale, Conn., to two consecutive New England Prep School Athletic Conference Class A championships the past two years, has taken another turn.

One of the country's top high school seniors last season, the 6-foot-9 Sensley, who had made a very early (two years prior) commitment to the University of California, was denied admission to Berkeley this fall when he failed to achieve full academic qualifier status. Sensley had the core grade point average, but after being denied admission to Berkeley, Sensley, while drafting an appeal to the NCAA, enrolled part-time at Diablo Valley Community College in nearby Pleasant Hill, California. After that appeal was denied by the NCAA, Sensley decided to leave Northern California and find a school to spend the spring semester, one that would accept partial qualifiers. (The Pac-10 and its members don't admit partial qualifiers.)

A native of Hawaii, Sensley was a three-time All-State selection while playing for Kalaheo High School in Kailua, a suburb of Honolulu. In search of greater basketball competition and a greater chance to become a full-qualifier, Sensley spent two years at St. Thomas More, an all-boys prep school with a top flight schedule. He did achieve over a 2.5 GPA on his core curriculum, but was repeatedly unable to gain the mandated score of 820 on the SAT. (Sensley did score 810 on numerous occasions).

With one of his best friends, 6-2 point guard Solomon Brown (who was his roommate at St. Thomas More), starting as a true freshman at point for Iona, Sensley decided to enroll at the New Rochelle, N.Y. school, which does accept partial-qualifiers.

That was in December, but Sensley has since had a change of heart. He has withdrawn from classes at Iona and moved back west.

He enrolled at Fresno late last week. It's his third stop in the past three months. "I just didn't feel right there," said Sensley, talking about Iona. "The coaches there were cool, but coming back to California was the right move. I like the school here at Fresno and the basketball teaching is really good. Coach (assistant coach John) Welch has been giving me some great workouts and I've been lifting hard each afternoon."

"He's got unbelievable upside," said Welch. "I worked him out twice yesterday and he's very receptive to coaching. Julian wants to get better."

Welch, who has spent past several off-seasons working out NBA players, is known as a top workout instructor. He's trained the likes of many NBA stars such as Kenyon Martin, DeMarr Johnson, Jason Richardson, Troy Murphy and Dion Glover.

"Julian shoots the ball well," said Welch. "He's strong and I didn't realize he was so competitive, which is something I like. I'm excited about Julian."

It still remains to be determined just when Sensley will be able to play for the Bulldogs. Will he be eligible at mid-semester next season or will he have to wait longer? Again, a NCAA interpretation will be required. And then there is the NBA option.

"I am curious about the NBA," said Sensley, who was scouted by several NBA clubs at a workout this fall. "I'll probably put my name in the draft, but I won't get an agent. More than likely, I'll spend at least a season playing here at Fresno State. But I do want to see what the interest level is."

Another bonus of the Sensley enrollment for Fresno State athletics is the accompanying enrollment of Sensley's girlfriend, sophomore Shauna Barnard, who is an accomplished athlete in her own right. Barnard, who swam for Cal last year, is a nationally-ranked swimmer.

Recruiting Trail Tidbits