Columnist Ron Kantowski: Silver State full of gold nuggets

Thursday, June 8, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

For a state that is only slightly more populated than Mr. Hand's sixth-period history class on the last day of school at Ridgemont High, Nevada -- and Las Vegas in particular -- sure is cranking out a lot of big-time prospects these days.

Last week, it was college football recruiting guru Tom Lemming singing Las Vegas' praises. Nearly a dozen local players landed Division I scholarships last year, when Lemming made his first visit to Southern Nevada. This year, Lemming plans to put at least two Las Vegas players -- defensive back James Sims of Valley and RB/LB Steven Jackson of Eldorado -- on his prestigious Top 100 list.

States such as Texas and Florida are still considered the Ritz-Carlton when it comes to football recruiting. But Las Vegas isn't Motel 6 any longer. And if guys such as Lemming keep having nice things to say about the quality of the local talent, you can bet area coaches will continue to leave the light on for them.

Apparently, somebody also left the light on for the Major League Baseball scouts who visited the Silver State prior to this week's MLB free agent draft. But from the looks of things, it was a floodlight.

At least 20 Las Vegas high school products were tabbed in the draft's 50 rounds on Monday and Tuesday. Throw in the prospects from Northern Nevada, and the total approaches 30.

The last time that many young men around here received their draft notices a war was brewing in Southeast Asia.

Although nobody breaks down the draft by state, it's assumed that the warm-weather commonwealths of Florida and California continue to rank 1-2 in prospects produced. After that, it's probably Texas. Beyond that, who knows?

Let's just leave it at this: Nevada has a lot more baseball prospects than it does electoral votes.

As Craig Conklin, who scouts our area for the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, told the Sun's Spencer Patterson this week, "Southern Nevada has always been a good area for baseball, and obviously the growth and amount of people coming here have made it that much better."

Obviously, Conklin has a point. The latest figure is that 5,500 potential Las Vegas residents come to town every month to at least take a look around. A percentage of those are high school-aged boys with baseball gloves and Louisville Sluggers -- or at least an Easton aluminum bat.

Four years ago, Dan Krynzel of Dayton, Ohio, hitched the family wagon (soon to be traded in) to the Las Vegas caravan. The principal reason was so his sons, Dan II and David, could play baseball year-round.

On Monday, the Milwaukee Brewers chose David Krynzel, a speedy outfielder from Green Valley High, in the first round of the draft, 11th overall. This weekend, Krynzel is expected to sign for an undisclosed bonus that sources have placed at $1.5 million.

So don't expect Dan Krynzel to complain about the heat.

And don't expect the scouts to gripe too loudly, either. After all, our casinos are climate-controlled.

Maybe it's just a coincidence that every time a new resort goes up on the strip, another local kid signs with Tennessee or the Yankees. But it's no coincidence that if you're a kid and you play ball in Las Vegas, you're going to get seen. More than once.

That's a truth that a kid hitting .460 for Sioux Falls High can't be certain of.