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March 29, 2024

Prep basketball:

High-school-basketball world shifts attention to Southern Nevada

Las Vegas Prospects will play in adidas Super 64; Las Vegas Fab 48 tourney to debut

2009 Adidas Super 64 tournament

Tiffany Brown

Anthony Brown coaches the Las Vegas Prospects 17s against the Southern California All-Stars Red in the 2009 Adidas Super 64 tournament at Rancho High School in Las Vegas on Wednesday, July 22, 2009.

The Las Vegas Prospects AAU basketball teams have spent most of the spring traveling across the nation for tournaments.

This week, they won't have to travel far.

Southern Nevada will be the hub of high-school basketball from July 22 to 26 with nearly 1,000 teams congregating in the valley for a slew of tournaments. The week from July 22 to 29 is an open recruiting period for college coaches, meaning the tournaments will be scouted by virtually every college program — from elite Division I schools to NAIA programs looking for that diamond in the rough. The formula of elite high school basketball and open-recruiting has made the end of July in Las Vegas a can't-miss stop for coaches in their evaluation process.

The Prospects' four teams (17s, 16s, 15s and 14s) are playing in the adidas Super 64 — which, in its seventh year, is the most-tenured local tournament. The Reebok Summer Championships, which formerly was called Big Time tournament, won't be contested this summer after Reebok backed out as the title sponsor.

The Prospects are widely considered Nevada's top AAU organization. Last month, two former prospects were selected in the NBA Draft — Luke Babbitt at No. 16 overall and Craig Brackins at No. 21. They are competitive each year in the adidas event, reaching the final eight two years ago with a backcourt of Anthony Marshall (UNLV) and Elijah Johnson (Kansas) and being eliminated in the round of 16 last summer.

"It definitely separates us from the other teams in town," Prospects coach Anthony Brown said of his two former players being drafted. "But we still have a long ways to go in terms of catching up with some of the other teams (nationwide)."

The Prospects' 17s squad, for players entering their senior year, includes guard Michael Thompson of Canyon Springs High, point guard Greg Gentry of Durango High and center Augy French of Foothill. They also have a handful of players who aren't from the area, highlighted by forward Karam Mashour of Israel, who is expected to be one of their top players.

Brown started his AAU franchise seven years and has sent 28 to college basketball — last year, Bishop Gorman's Johnathan Loyd (Oregon) and Cheyenne's Chris McCall (Montana State) were the top players. When you consider several of the teams the Prospects compete against come from bigger areas — such as Southern California, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C. — being able to post winning records and make deep tournament runs is an accomplishment.

Brown could easily load his record with players from out of town, but prefers to give local talent a chance to shine on high-school basketball's biggest stage.

"It's a Catch-22," Brown said. "Do you want to win a tournament or do you want to help the community? I'll always take the community."

The adidas tournament will have 425 teams and play at 13 sites. That is an increase of 170 teams from last year, with the tournament expanding after the Reebok event folded. The adidas tournament had 60 teams in its initial year of 2004.

"I had to beg them to come that first year," tournament director Ron Montoya said. "Nobody knew about my tournament because Reebok was the big tournament. It weird how things like that go."

In years past, some of the NBA's top young talent, such as Michael Beasley (Minnesota Timberwolves), Thaddeus Young (Philadelphia 76ers) and Brock and Robin Lopez (New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns, respectively), each have played in the adidas event.

This year, the field includes 6-foot-7 forward LeBryan Nash of the Dallas Mustangs, who is ranked as the nation's No. 2 small forward by ESPN, and Quincy Miller, a 6-foot-9 power forward with offers from the likes of Kentucky and Duke who is ranked No. 1 at his position by ESPN. Also, Bishop Gorman High forward Shabazz Muhammad, who widely is considered the top recruit for the class of 2012 and has double-digit scholarship offers, is playing in the adidas event for Dream Vision of California.

"We've helped make some millionaires," Montoya said.

The adidas event won't be the lone tournament in town.

The 176-team Las Vegas Fab 48 will make its summer debut, with the 48 teams in event's top flight all playing at Bishop Gorman. Other game sites include Desert Oasis and Legacy highs, two recreation centers in Henderson and Henderson International.

The tournament is invitation-only for the 48 teams in the top division, which will play all of its games at Gorman.

More than high school players will be in action.

Under One Roof is hosting AAU tournaments from Thursday to Aug. 1 for boys and girls ages 8 to 17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Also, the All-American Junior College Showcase will be Friday and Saturday at Liberty High. The event will feature 100 junior-college players randomly placed on 10 teams. Each team will play four games.

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