Thursday, July 27, 2006 | 7:41 a.m.
The first question that popped into mind when I was chatting with administrators at the Warren-Walker Academy about their new prep school basketball team was how it would compare with the most famous prep school basketball program of all, Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.
"Well, why don't you come out on Dec. 2 and find out for yourself?" said Milan O'Hara, the athletic director at Warren-Walker, under whose academic banner the Findlay (as in Cliff, the local car dealer magnate) College Prep Pilots will hoop it up.
"That's the night we're playing them."
Actually, O'Hara said the site of the Oak Hill game has yet to be determined. But that Findlay Prep has scheduled a juggernaut such as Oak Hill right out of the box shows how serious it is about competing at the highest level.
Provided the 12 or 13 athlete-students, who will live under the same roof in a Henderson home just around the corner from the gymnasium, are just as serious about competing at the highest level in the classroom, there shouldn't be a problem.
But when it comes to prep schools that play basketball, there usually are problems. At last check, there were 16 prep schools banned by the NCAA. And 20 more that have been cleared for fall 2006, but whose future as accredited core-class institutions has yet to be determined by the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse.
Oak Hill was on the second list until last Friday.
So Oak Hill alums Carmelo Anthony and Jerry Stackhouse can rest a little easier, knowing that putting on a tie to attend study hall was not a complete waste of time.
Because of those who have bent the straight and narrow into the shape of a tuning fork, the phenoms who play for Findlay Prep are probably going to feel like cultures under one of Louie Pasteur's microscopes by the end of the season.
Luke O'Neill, the new Warren-Walker president, said he's not afraid of a little scrutiny.
"It's all about having quality people and kids who really want to do the work," O'Neill said, adding that he'll have the final say on whether a power forward moves on to Syracuse or a cellist to the Juilliard School.
"I'm the one who signs the diplomas."
But Jerry Hughes is the man who decides on Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association special memberships, and the NIAA executive director has reservations about admitting Findlay. His board will vote on it during its September meeting.
"I just don't see this as a traditional Nevada high school," said Hughes, who has constantly battled those in the win-at-all-costs camp.
When it comes to recruiting, the Findlay school is going to make what Bishop Gorman is - or is not - doing look like Cub Scout stuff. It will recruit nationally and internationally.
But as a show of good faith, O'Neill says Findlay is agreeable to a two-year probationary period before receiving the NIAA's final stamp of approval.
Although Findlay could compete even without the NIAA's blessing, being a member would enable it to play high school opponents both in Nevada and elsewhere. That would facilitate scheduling and save a bunch of money on travel.
In return for its membership, O'Neill said, Findlay would not recruit Nevada players nor would it compete for Nevada state championships.
Still, there are a lot of coaches who probably would not schedule Findlay even if it were handing out free Air Jordans - Nike will help defray the team's travel expenses - at the door.
"I would definitely need more information," said Palo Verde's Paul Aznarez, who has spent more than three decades as a boys head basketball coach in Southern Nevada.
Well, here's a little, coach. Findlay Prep will be coached by Scott Beeten, a former assistant at Penn, George Washington and Cal who was fired as head coach at Albany over a dispute with his administration regarding a recruit's academic credentials.
I called Beeten, but he refused to comment before I could ask him about Albany. His boss' take?
"He's a man of principle," O'Neill said, adding that there are two sides to every story and that he was comfortable with having Beeten as his basketball coach after hearing his side.
Aznarez isn't quite as comfortable having a prep school as an opponent and the concept of so-called prep basketball factories in general.
"I think high schools are getting away from the true form of what most people have come to know as an athletic program. It (prep school) may have its place, but there's a tremendous gray area there."
Durango's Al LaRocque says in the end it will be more black-and-white. In one corner will be a few coaches willing to take an Evander Holyfield-style whupping in exchange for learning how they measure up against top-flight competition. In the other will be those who prefer not to lose by 50 points.
Having lost to Oak Hill by 50 points last year, LaRocque said he doesn't mind an occasional character-builder.
"We'll play anybody, anywhere, anytime," he said, sounding a lot like Fresno State football coach Pat Hill.
Would he change his mind were Findlay Prep to change its mind and recruit one of his players?
"Probably," LaRocque said.
But, cynics might point out, it wouldn't be the first time that has happened around here.
I guess I have two visions when it comes to Findlay Prep.
The first is that it will bring notoriety to Southern Nevada by fielding a basketball team where grade-point averages are as important as scoring averages. Where players go on to become productive NBA citizens and then return one day to express their gratitude by endowing scholarships or additions to the campus library.
The second is of an old Road Runner cartoon, where Wile E. Coyote lights a match in a darkened shack - only to discover that he has stumbled into the Acme Fireworks Plant.
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