Tournament gives Adras a homecourt advantage

Spencer Patterson

Monday, July 19, 1999 | 9:40 a.m.

The top Las Vegas hotels may be filled with college coaches in town for this week's adidas Big Time Basketball Tournament, but for Northern Arizona University's Mike Adras, there's no place like home.

Adras, a longtime Las Vegan in his first year as head Lumberjacks coach, is staying with his mother in the house where he grew up.

"I'll be on the road for 24 days, so it's nice to come home, get my laundry done, get an occasional home cooked meal," joked Adras, a former coach at Bishop Gorman High School. "I'm 38 years old and (my mother) still worries about me like I'm 18."

Adras said he's enjoyed visiting with longtime friends and peers, including local prep coaches Jeff Wagonseller (Gorman), Jim Allen (Green Valley) and Al LaRocque (Durango), along with former assistant Hank Girardi, who resigned after leading Cimarron-Memorial to the 1998 4A state title.

"A lot of the guys have come up to me and said congratulations," Adras said. "It's complimenting and flattering."

As for the tournament itself, Adras finds himself with a new role at the Big Time than he had during his years as an NAU assistant.

"Instead of me saying, 'Coach, you need to see this guy' now I watch a guy after (my assistants) have seen him and think he's a good fit for us," Adras said. "I have my entire staff here, and we meet every night after the games are done."

As for any edge he might have over his peers when it comes to figuring out a way to tackle the tournament, which is held at eight high schools across town, Adras said his years in Las Vegas won't help him on that front.

"There's eight sites at this tournament, and I've never coached a game at any of them," said Adras, who left town before the 1990s school expansion spawned event sites Green Valley, Cimarron-Memorial, Cheyenne, Durango, Las Vegas (new campus), Silverado, Palo Verde and Mojave, among others.

* SHATTERED, PART TWO: For the second year in a row, a shattered backboard sent event organizers scrambling Sunday night.

After a similar incident last year at Las Vegas High, a backboard came to the floor in pieces in tournament hub Durango's main gymnasium during a game between the New Orleans Jazz and the Toledo Stars. Jazz center Justin Reed did the deed on a dunk with seven minutes remaining.

The Jazz, ahead 78-47 at the time, was declared winners of the unfinished contest, and Sunday night's remaining games were moved to Cimarron. Today's tournament is expected to proceed as planned at Durango, with the installation of a new backboard slated for this morning.

* NORTHERN BRAGGING RIGHTS: Although Northern Nevada hasn't produced a large school state title in seven years, the state's upper half has stayed alive longer in this tournament than any of its southern counterparts.

Although all eight Las Vegas-area entries were knocked from the tournament before Sunday, Reno-based Jam On It earned a spot in the C Division semfinals with a 64-59 win over Minnesota Magic/Heat Sunday night.

Jam On It features players from Class 3A and 4A Nevada schools, including Reno, Elko, Galena, Carson, McQueen, Sparks, Bishop Monogue, along with California's Tahoe-Truckee. Overall, local clubs from Durango, Green Valley, Gorman, Cheyenne, Palo Verde, Mojave, Silverado and Valley finished with a combined 9-23 record.

* TIDBITS: The defending champion Michigan Mustangs remained in the hunt for a second straight open division title with a hard-fought 75-74 win over the Alabama Ice Sunday night. With all eyes on highly-touted Ice forward Gerald Wallace, Mustangs junior-to-be Kelvin Torbert stole the show, scoring several key late baskets and blocking a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. ... Of the eight open division quarterfinalists, seven were ranked among the top 48 before the event began: California's Gateway BBC I, the Los Angeles Rockfish, California's Pump & Run Gold, Maryland's DC Assault 17s, New Jersey's T1T Playaz, the Jazz and the Mustangs.