CHATTER: FORMER RIO MESA STAR FUJITA DRAWS LOOKS FROM NFL SCOUTS.

Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer

Former Rio Mesa of Camarillo football standout Scott Fujita, who just completed his career at Cal, has suddenly become a hot prospect going into this weekend's NFL draft.

Fujita, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound outside linebacker, has always been considered a prospect, but after an impressive showing at the recent NFL combine, running a 4.6 40-yard dash and producing a 42-inch vertical leap, Fujita has seen his value skyrocket. He's expected to be drafted between the second and fourth rounds.

The former high school slam-dunk champion is intriguing because of his size and speed and is projected to play as a stand-up rusher or strongside linebacker. Some scouts envision Fujita as a modern-day Ted Hendricks, the former Oakland Raiders player.

``I'm prepared for anything; I'm hoping for something early,'' Fujita said. ``But I just want somebody to take a chance on me. I'm very optimistic. After my workouts and meetings, it seems like a lot of teams are interested.''

Among the teams eyeing Fujita are the Giants, Patriots, Falcons, Packers and Rams. ...

Another linebacker from the region, former Montclair Prep standout Kevin Bentley, is rated the eighth-best player at outside linebacker and is projected as a third- or fourth-round pick. Bentley played at Northwestern. ...

La Canada volleyball player Greg Gaudino signed with USC. ...

Louisville High is looking for a varsity volleyball coach. Information: [phone]. ...

The Southern Section has reached a settlement with USA Water Polo regarding the CIF-SS's association rule, which limited the contact between high school coaches and their players outside the season of sport.

USA Water Polo filed a lawsuit over the rule, contending it affected water polo's Olympic pipeline programs, such as the USWP National Youth and National Junior teams because CIF-SS coaches were often chosen to coach those teams but had to decline if one of their high school players were involved in the selection process or were ultimately named to the team.

The CIF-SS had contended that the rule was designed to prevent coaches from requiring their players to devote inordinate amounts of time to training for their school's water polo teams, but after reviewing USWP's programs, the CIF-SS concluded the proposal did not seriously violate the association rule.

The settlement calls for a limited waiver of the association rule to allow USWP to select a reasonable number of CIF-SS coaches to be involved in its pipeline program as coaches. USWP has agreed to provide annual reports to CIF-SS identifying the names and high school affiliations of the players and coaches selected to participate on their national teams to ensure that coaches are not using their positions as USWP coaches to promote their own high school programs.

``We believe that the agreement will help with U.S. Water Polo's Olympic development,'' said Jim Staunton, CIF-SS commissioner of athletics.