Beauty Padgett

Spencer Patterson

Wednesday, June 19, 2002 | 9:46 a.m.

From the moment he stepped on the floor for Reno High School as a freshman in 1999, David Padgett has been labeled the best prep big man the state of Nevada has seen in decades.

At 6-foot-11 with the agility to take his game outside, Padgett has long been on the wish list of Division I basketball powers such as Kansas, Arizona and Stanford.

The Northern Region MVP and a Sun all-state first-teamer in 2002, he was recently selected to represent the United States on this summer's prestigious USA Basketball Junior World Championship Qualifying Team.

Yet as Padgett prepares for his final high school campaign, one significant goal remains unrealized: postseason success.

"I haven't won a zone or state championship yet, so it's something I want to accomplish," Padgett said Tuesday while working as a counselor at Durango High's annual Blazer Basketball Camp. "We only lost one guy from last year, and I don't think the teams down here (in Southern Nevada) will be as strong as they've been, so we've got a chance if everything falls into place."

After bowing out in round one at state against Durango and Las Vegas, respectively, in 2000 and 2001, Padgett's Huskies were expected to challenge for Northern Nevada's first large-school state title since 1975 last winter. But his season ended in game 19 when he partially dislocated a kneecap, and Reno failed to qualify without him.

Nearly three months after suffering the injury, Padgett reports all is well with his knee.

"Knock on wood, but it hasn't bothered me," said Padgett, who averaged 23 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks before going down. "Luckily, I didn't have to have surgery. I had therapy for four months, and right now it's doing well."

Apparently so, since Padgett's play earlier this month at an invitation-only tryout in Colorado Springs, Colo., earned him a coveted spot on the 16-man Junior World Championship Qualifying Team. Padgett will participate in eight days of practice in Miami next month before heading to Venezuela for the World Championship Qualifying Tournament.

"I was very honored when I found out I'd made it," Padgett said. "Representing your country isn't something you get the chance to do every day."

Playing with the junior national team will keep Padgett away from the summer season's AAU events, including next month's adidas Big Time Tournament in Southern Nevada. But considering the list of schools in hot pursuit of the Reno star, it's clear Padgett no longer needs such events to impress college recruiters.

All eight schools on his final list -- Arizona, Stanford, Kansas, California, Louisville, Oregon, UNLV and North Carolina -- have already offered him a scholarship. Padgett has taken official visits to Arizona, Stanford and Kansas, leaving him with two official trips before the fall signing period.

"For a while there it was crazy. So many schools were calling my dad (Reno High coach Pete Padgett), sending me letters," Padgett said. "It was getting insane. So I narrowed it down, and it's slowed down a bit. I think I'll be relieved when I know where I'm going, but I'm not going to rush."

Durango's 10th annual camp, which drew approximately 120 boys and girls this week, continues today and Thursday, then resumes for four days next week.