No. 1 summer tournament in nation tips off Thursday

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, July 14, 1999 | 9:46 a.m.

Normally basketball fans must wait until October for the ritual of Midnight Madness.

But those in town attending the fifth annual adidas Big Time Tournament can get a head start.

The five-day tournament, which features 256 high school traveling teams from across the country playing at eight local area high schools -- Durango, Green Valley, Cimarron-Memorial, Palo Verde, Silverado, Las Vegas, Mojave and Cheyenne -- begins Thursday morning with games starting at 8 a.m. and continuing throughout the day. The final contests are scheduled to start at 10:40 p.m.

But because of a last-minute scheduling conflict, the final game Thursday at Palo Verde between the Minnesota Select Black Seniors and a Nevada-based team nicknamed Jam On It is scheduled to start at midnight.

"They were supposed to play the first game (8 a.m.) of the day," Larry McKay, co-director of the tournament, said. "But they had already scheduled their flights to come in later in the day. We didn't know about it until our schedule was already finished. The only way to still play it was to play it after the last game that day."

So sometime after Jay Leno's monologue Thursday night, the two teams will play their first round matchup at Palo Verde.

"They didn't seem to mind," McKay said. "They're coming here to play basketball. I just hope the game starts at midnight. Sometimes games get pushed back because of overtimes and stuff."

Such is the price of success. Only five years ago, the Big Time Tournament had 64 teams and was considered the little brother to the longer running and more prestigious Nike-sponsored Las Vegas Invitational at UNLV.

But the Big Time Tournament quickly has established itself as the top summer prep tournament in the nation. The LVI is no longer held as Nike focused instead on holding much smaller tournaments in cities such as Augusta, Ga., and Orlando, Fla.

Last year 220 teams participated in the Big Time Tournament. This year the number is up to 256.

"And I had to turn away another 50 or so teams," McKay said.

It's not just quantity, either. Some longtime college scouts are saying this also is the best Big Time Tournament for quality, too.

"This will be by far the best tournament of the summer," respected talent scout Bob Gibbons of Lenoir, N.C., said. "Of all the Big Time Tournaments, this will be the biggest and the best."

Fourteen of Gibbons' top 25 prospects from the class of 2000 will take part in the tourney, including his top two: 6-7 wing forward Gerald Wallace of Childersburg, Ala., and 6-8 power forward Eddie Griffin of Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia.

Wallace, who will play for the Alabama Ice who face the Fort Worth Lions on Thursday at 5:20 at Durango's auxiliary gym, has been compared to former UNLV star Stacey Augmon.

"He plays like Stacey did as far as intensity and effort on the floor," Gibbons said. "He dives all over the floor for loose balls. But he's much more talented and skilled overall (than Augmon)."

Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State were among the first schools to recruit Wallace hard. But Gibbons said that list has recently expanded to include schools such as Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, Kentucky, UCLA and "even the NBA."

Griffin, who will play for the T1T Playaz team at Durango's Main Gym on Thursday at 2:40 p.m. against Salt Lake Metro, has his share of boosters as the No. 1 player in the nation.

"As complete a player his size as has come out of the East this decade," wrote respected basketball writer Frank Burlison of the Orange County Register after watching Griffin dominate at the adidas ABCD Camp at Teaneck, N.J., last week.

"He's very athletic," Gibbons added. "He's an excellent rebounder and big-time shot blocker. He weighs just 185 pounds. But he reminds you a little of Antawn Jamison the way he kind of explodes across the court."

North Carolina, Duke, Villanova, UConn and St. John's are among the schools battling for Griffin.

Some of the other top prospects who will be in town this weekend include:

* Chris Duhon, a 6-1 point guard from Slidell, La., who will be playing for the New Orleans Jazz at Durango's Main Gym on Thursday night at 6:40 against the Madison Broncos. "The nation's best point guard who seems headed for Duke," Burlison said.

* Jerome Harper, a 6-4 wing from Columbia, S.C., who will be playing for TOPP Sports of South Carolina at 8 p.m. on Thursday night at Durango's Auxiliary Gym against Team Detroit. "Edges Wallace and (DeShawn Stevenson of Eastin, Ca.) as the most explosive wing in the class," Burlison said.

* Stevenson, a 6-5 guard from Washington High near Fresno, who will be playing for EBO/EA Sports at 5:20 Thursday at Green Valley's Main Gym against DTA Wisconsin. Gibbons rates Stevenson the nation's seventh best player. "Easily the best prospect in the West Coast Class of 2000," Burlison said.

* Anthony Roberson, a 6-0 sophomore guard from Saginaw, Mich., who will play for the Michigan Mustangs on Thursday afternoon at Durango's Main Gym at 5:20 p.m. against Stormin's Classic of Delaware. Burlison rated Roberson No. 2 in his Top 30 ratings for the Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis. "The best all-around guard already," Burlison said. "It's scary how good he could be."

* Andre Brown (6-8 PF) and Imari Sawyer (6-1 PG) of the Illinois Fire, which produced NBA first round pick Leon Smith last year. Both Brown (No. 8) and Sawyer (No. 17) are rated among the nation's top 20 players by Gibbons. The Illinois Fire play the Blue Ridge Wildcats of Virginia at 2:40 p.m. at Green Valley's Main Gym in their first game on Thursday.

* Shooting guard A.J. Moye and 6-9 center Abdou Diame of the Atlanta Celtics, one of the tournament favorites. Both are ranked in the top 25 by Gibbons and Atlanta already has defeated Wallace's Alabama Ice squad in the finals of Gibbons' Memorial Day Tournament in North Carolina. The Celtics open tourney play Thursday at 2:40 at Durango's auxiliary gym against Utah Select.

One-day passes for the tournament are $8 and can be used at all venues.

The championship game is scheduled for Monday at 5:20 p.m. at Durango.