July 27, 2007
Vegas: the good, the bad and the ugly
Covering the July 22-26 adidas Super 64, Reebok Summer Championships and Nike Main Event tournaments is like running the Las Vegas Marathon--you’re on the move for what seems like forever as the games run from early in the morning to late at night. Here are my post-Vegas thoughts Cheeto-style, although no one can truly emulate the master.
Billy Donovan, Florida/Orlando
Of course, this is quite fitting since Las Vegas runs 24/7.
Too bad my brain and body do not.
It was fitting that Sunday was day one, with games--initial baptisms of fire on hardcourt chapels, if you will--spread across the metropolitan area. Each high school is appropriately painted in desert-like colors and all look similarly designed. Las Vegas, aptly named by one of our flight attendants as "Lost Wages," seems to grow by a subdivision a day. Everywhere you look is a construction site with building in progress.So I was up at 4 a.m. to catch a 7:25 flight. All went smoothly with Vegas coming into view as we landed at 8:43. No delays encountered, the trip running like clockwork.
That is, until we encountered the Molasses Car Rental Company. This business requires reservations but we couldn’t determine for whose benefit. Heck, the flight was shorter than the time it took for a rental car to be located. Over an hour later, we finally escaped the bowels of the McCarran Rent A Car Center to then encounter 95 to 100 degree temperatures.
Finally, on to see the homies, the West Valley Basketball Club. Al Gregsby was coaching, with Bob Bramlett coaching another West Valley squad elsewhere in the city.
Kelly Kaigler (Oak Grove) performed well, as did lefty Stephen Lumpkins as WV topped the Arizona Rage.
It’s interesting that the gymnasium setups throughout the tourney separated the college coaches in attendance from the general public. This apparently is to keep the coaches some distance from the families of the players as interaction with family or players is not allowed during this timeframe per the NCAA. The coaches were sometimes provided separate chairs or the usual bleachers found in high school gymnasiums but always across the court from the mere spectators.
Every single coach in attendance sported either a tee-shirt or knit shirt blaring his team’s name and logo. No wearing of flashing neon was allowed, this despite being in a town where such lighting is considered a birthright. For coaches, every gymnasium visit was like entering a singles bar but with no talking to or touching of the ‘merchandise’.
During one of the in-between games--contests scheduled between those teams we wished to see--we witnessed Billy Donovan walking by. It was either him or a reasonable facsimile. An hour or so later, he again crossed our path and some fans called out "Billy, Billy" but Donovan waved and continued walking to the exit. Remarkably, he still appears like a choirboy from St. Anne’s Parish despite his actual age. Within the hour, Kelvin Sampson also passed by and for some reason he gave me a look as if I was undercover NCAA. And no, I wasn’t waving my cell phone at him and shouting "need to make a call Kelvin?"
Then it was back on the road, this time to Foothill High where the Oakland Soldiers I squad took on the CB12 Ohio team. With Drew Gordon, Frank Otis and Lucas Devenny, the Soldiers were much more physical and won by 10, 79-69, after holding a slim 37-35 halftime lead.
Liberty High came next, where the Oakland Soldiers II team challenged the Northwest Ohio Basketball Club. It was no contest as the extremely unselfish Soldiers’ youngsters ran over, around and threw the mismatched Buckeyes. It was 48-17 at the half and finished 89-31.
By this time, we were falling in and out of consciousness. We believe there were other games we viewed but such escapes our collective memory. Finally, we made it to the hotel for a late dinner, made even tardier by the snail-like pace of the check-in process. Can you see a pattern forming here? One of our crew commented that the next big idea in Vegas will be to place slot machines alongside the check-in waiting areas of all facilities. Believe me, they will make a mint.
One curious item occurred after flicking on the television in our room. "Oceans 11," a film about a Las Vegas casino heist came on. Interesting.
We were also intrigued by the little signs throughout our room featuring a plea for energy and water conservation. This in a town where gigantic portions of it are framed by cascading water fountains and The Strip is lit up every day like the sky on the Fourth of July. Go figure.
Okay our batteries need recharging so time for rest and restoration. Good night.
Dawn blooms and its time to catch Newark Memorial’s Chris Jones with his California Hoops team at The Thomas and Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. California Hoops gets to play on the main court which seats 18,000 plus, with other squads at the same location relegated to auxillary gyms.
Jones appears with a bunch of new, albeit younger and less talented teammates, to face Burley High from Idaho. Jones’ squad eventually pulls out a victory and he, of course, plays with his usual intensity.
Wearing my NorCalPreps.com longsleeve tee shirt, I am spotted on the concourse by A.W. Prince, the basketball guru who runs another Rivals basketball site. It’s always good to get the rundown from A.W. because very few know more about the latest details regarding prep and college basketball than he does. On top of that, he’s a good guy.
Then it’s on to a new venue, Spring Valley High, to catch Bellarmine Prep’s Niyi Harrison but we see that he isn’t listed after checking in with the official roster keeper. A quick chat with the coach and we find out he’s playing with another team and will be back with the Bay Area Hoosiers in the evening. Club team roster shuffling seems like the norm, not the exception, and it must drive evaluators crazy especially when a detour is made to view a prospect and he’s a no-show.
We ended up watching a team from Oregon play a squad from Bethesda, Maryland. It turned out to be a good match, with lots of talent on both sides. Also, we caught word that Wendell McKines is now playing with the Oakland Soldiers I, a sure sign that something has gone wrong with his USF signing.
Back to the rental car later in the day and we’re off to yet another site to catch Chris Jones and California Hoops again. It’s a blowout, with Jones and his teammates mopping the floor with their high school team opponent. Some squads puzzlingly enter these types of tournaments without possessing even a single Division I talent and the results oftentimes aren’t pretty or even entertaining. This one certainly wasn’t challenging for Jones and his teammates.
Hitting Vegas at tournament time also provides a not so gentle reminder that all is certainly not glamorous in the life of a college coach. If the experience for coaches is anything similar to that of other spectators, well, besides having one’s professional life in a fashion dictated by the whims of 17 and 18-year-olds, there’s being on the R-O-A-D to endure. 100 degrees in Vegas is plain not fun. Hours massaging bleacher seats with your behind is not on the highly recommended list of must-do experiences. Determining (correct) directions from one school to the next is maddening. So the next time you see a college coach getting praised to high heaven by the likes of Dick Vitale just remember that there are dues that have been paid, on-going ones at that, to reach such a pinnacle.
Americana singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen is famous for his tune "The Road Goes On Forever" but this body doesn’t and that worst four-letter word known to mankind--work--is rearing its ugly head. So, it’s on to the airport.
I’ll be back...next year when the aches and pains have receded and the joys are the only things remembered.