Just about anyone who is anyone hanging with LeBron

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LAS VEGAS – Day I, highlighted by drills, practices and some limiting scrimmaging, got underway Saturday morning during the LeBron James Skills Academy.

For those who are asking . . . yes, the best player in the world – sure, let’s expand that territory to the universe – was among those in the building, watching 90 or so of the better prep hoopsters in the US of A, and about 25 college players get in on the action.

Workouts for the college players resume Sunday morning at 8:30 with their college counterparts getting the 9:45 staggered start and going to about 11.

Games involving the eight “teams” of college players are scheduled for games at 3 and 4 in the afternoon, and then continue at 7:30 and 8:30 in the evening.

Sunday, the final day of competition, begins at 8:30 a.m. (with the college players doing the honor), following by another 9:45 workout sessions for the preps and games again beginning at 3 in the afternoon. The camp “championship games” tips off at about 8.

Competition is closed to the public and – per the request of Nike officials – the identity of the facility where LeBron and the Chosen 100-plus hoopsters are hanging out over the long post-July 4 Weekend is not being disclosed to the “public”.

Who are some of the “elite-level” prospects in attendances among the high school classes of 2014, ’15 and (in once instance) ’16?

It’s easier to sort out who isn’t playing in front of LeBron.

Only Tyus Jones (Apple Valley, MN, Apple Valley) and Emmanuel Mudiay (Dallas, TX, Prime Time Prep), likely 1-2 at their position in the class, are not among the very best 2014 point guards here.

The best center in 2014, Jahlil Okafor (Chicago Whitney Young) and one of the best wings in the class, Justise Winslow (Houston Saint John’s), are among the best of the USA squad that is poised to win gold medals during the FIBA U19 Championships in Prague.

Two other Top-5 centers in 2014, Karl Towns (Metuchen, NJ, St. Joseph) and Isaac Haas (Hokes Bluff, AL, Hokes Bluff), also – unfortunately for those of us who were eagerly anticipating matchups with the likes of  Texans Myles Turner (Euless Trinity) and Elbert Robinson (Garland Lakeview Centennial) – also are absent.

Some of the players and matchups that caught my attention during the two sessions of competition on Saturday:

*Parker Jackson-Cartwright (Los Angeles) and Joel Berry (Orlando Lake Highland Prep), committed to Arizona and North Carolina, respectively, matched up for a while during one five-minute stretch of a scrimmage. They are two of the best half-dozen or so PGs in 2014.

Another good hookup between terrific point guards was Tyler Eulis (Chicago Heights Marian Catholic) vs. Lourawl Nairn (Bel Aire, KS, Sunrise Academy).

*Six-three Robert Johnson (Richmond, VA, Benedictine Prep), so impressive during the NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville a few weeks ago, continued to dazzle during Saturday’s action. He’s a very good scorer, playmaker and defender.

*Among the most spectacular plays I saw Saturday were the 40-foot pass from Rashad Vaughn (soon to relocate to a prep school from New Hope, MN, Robbindale Cooper) to Payton Dastrup (Mesa, AZ, Mountain View), and the block made by Myles Turner to snuff out what appeared a certain layup by 6-7 Daniel Hamilton (Bellflower, CA, St. John Bosco).

*Grayson Allen (Jacksonville, FL, Providence), who committed to Duke in the spring, more than lived up to his reputation as being one of the better jump-shooting guards in the Class of 2014.

*One of the most high-energy prospects from the Class of 2014, Baltimore St. Francis wing Dwayne Morgan (committed to UNLV), once more practiced and played as if had just pounded a couple of Five Hour Energy Drinks before taking the court.