Prepare for hoops sensory overload in Las Vegas

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LAS VEGAS – So, what would be the best way to navigate the three national “travel (or club) ball” tournaments going on during a 96-hour, Wednesday-Sunday stretch across town?

Uh, Kobe, is there any way you can let me borrow – on your figurative “dime”, of course – that helicopter you often use for transportation from John Wayne Airport (near your palatial Newport Coast digs) to the Staples Center or the Lakers’ training center in El Segundo?

That would be one heck of a nifty way to get from the Cashman Center (headquarters for the adidas Uprising/850 North Las Vegas Blvd.) to Rancho High (headquarters for the Big Foot Las Vegas Classic/1900 Searles) to Bishop Gorman High (headquarters for the Fab 48/5959 South Hualapai) – multiple times – over the next five days.

Each of the three events – which include multiple “divisions” – tips off at 5 p.m. on Wednesday (when coaches from NCAA-affiliated programs are permitted to walk into the facilities and “evaluate” potential recruits).

Coaches (at least those from NCAA programs) must be out of the gyms by 5 p.m. on Sunday.

It’s the third and final summer “evaluation” period permitted by the NCAA.

There are literally thousands of high school-aged players – from coast to coast, with multiple countries represented, as well – who will participate in the three events, ranging from the most high-profile prospects with a litany of college scholarship offers to those kids who have yet to play a high school varsity game and for whom playing in college may be an unfilled fantasy.

And there will hundreds of colleges represented – some by as many as four staff members – ranging from the likes of Duke, Kentucky and Arizona to NCAA Division III (which don’t give “athletic scholarships”) programs whose coaches’ recruiting “budgets” may not equal the collective tips a lot of staffs will be tossing waitresses’ and valets’ way this week.

Each of the “Big Three” events, with their multiple divisions, will have “pool” and “bracket” play to determine champions.

But each also offers a nice hook to lure coaches – and fans – into their buildings over the first couple of days with special “high-profile” events.

For the adidas Uprising, it’s their “Creators’ Cup”, a mini-tournament featuring the eight teams from their two “Super Pools”

The first two of those will tip at 5 o’clock, with Team Loaded/North Carolina facing Big Ballers VXT (from Chino Hills, CA) at Court 4 and the New York Rens taking on Texas Pro on Court 5.

The remaining two first-round games are also on Court 5, with Team Loaded/Virginia hooking up with Indiana Elite at 6:20 and the Atlanta Celtics facing the Utah Prospects at 7:40.

Five of the 10 or so best guards in the Class of 2016 will showcased in that eight-team affair: Kyle Guy (Indiana South Lawrence Central) of Indiana Elite, Frank Jackson (Highland, UT, Lone Peak) of the Utah Prospects, Kobi Simmons (Alpharetta, GA, St. Francis) of the Atlanta Celtics, Dennis Smith (Fayetteville, NC, Trinity Christian) of Team Loaded/North Carolina and Lonzo Ball (Chino Hills High) of Big Ballers.

Fifth-place semifinals will be played at 9:20 and 10:40 Thursday morning, with championship semifinals (also on Court 5) at noon and 1:20 p.m., followed by the seventh-place (4 p.m.), fifth-place (5:20), third-place (6:40) and championship (8) contests.

Those teams will be the top eight seeds when bracket play begins in the 17 Open Division on Friday morning.

The Fab 48 will have a “Tip-Of Challenge”, also beginning at 5 o’clock, at Bishop Gorman Wednesday night before it begins pool play at 8:30 Thursday morning.

Those games include 1Nation of Michigan (led by one of the top three players in the Class of 2016, Josh Jackson) against Belmont Shore at 5 on Court 1; the same Dennis Smith-led Team Loaded squad taking on Canada Elite (an 7-footer Thon Maker) at 8 on Court 1; and the New York Rens vs. Each 1/Teach 1 (of Florida), with its plethora of talent, including 6-9 Jonathan Isaac, at 9:15 on Court 1.

And, on Thursday on Rancho High’s Court 1, the Las Vegas Classic will play host to the “8 Bracket”, an eight-team three-round tournament featuring some of the top programs from Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League.

It starts at 12:45 p.m., with Team Final (PA) facing Elfrid Payton Elite (LA), followed at 2:15 by Team Takeover (MD) and the Arkansas Wings; at 3:45 by Team CP3 (NC) and Team Melo (MD); and at 5:15 by the Oakland Soldiers (CA) and Mac Irvin Fire (IL).

Six-nine Harry Giles (Winston-Salem, NC, Wesleyan Christian) – who many, myself included, consider No. 1 in 2016 – plays for CP3 while the Arkansas Wings have two other Top 10 players in the Class in Malik Monk (Bentonville, AR) and Jayson Tatum (St. Louis Chaminade).