Frank Burlison

LAS VEGAS — With three travel-ball tournaments going on, more or less, at the same time in Las Vegas as the AAU National Tournament and Super Showcase were being held in Orlando, FL, the competition and overall level of talent would seem to get a tad diluted.

And what seems likely was reality – at least over the past days in the city of searing heat mixed in with the occasional deluge and head-spinning gusts of wind.

Championships in the Fab 48 (at Bishop Gorman High), adidas Super 64 (Rancho High) and Las Vegas/Big Foot (Spring Valley) were won by DC Assault, New Heights (NY) and Seattle Rotary Select, respectively.

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LAS VEGAS – And then there was one – that is, as in one July day’s worth of high school basketball in the last of three July NCAA recruiting evaluation periods.

We’re inching our way ever closer to the finish line, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls . . .

*Over at Bishop Gorman High, the field in the Fab 48/Invitational Division started at 32 before being whittled to eight late Friday night.

The most interesting – and, almost assuredly, entertaining – of the quarterfinals will be the 9:10 a.m.  

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LAS VEGAS – Day III of the five-day NCAA hoops evaluation period – a universe for which this city is unquestionably at the center of – set the stage for potentially a terrific Day IV.

Pool play is over and bracket play – which means win and move to the next round or lose and get ready to head to cooler weather – will be in full effect on Saturday morning.

Into the third day Saturday are Fab 48 (at Bishop Gorman High), the adidas Super 64 (Rancho High) and the Las Vegas Classic (Spring Valley High).

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LAS VEGAS – There is something often overlooked when discussing the overall experience of spending five days in Las Vegas watching high school hoops in every corner of the city:

Nothing says “shock to the system” like walking out of a gymnasium that had been chilled to barely 60 degrees, and then walking into an approximate 110-degree furnace that is more commonly known as “outside”.

Now, with that bit of whining out of the way . . .

I spent Day II of the final NCAA-mandated evaluation period on Thursday watching action in the adidas Super 64, going from about 9 a.m.

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LAS VEGAS – Pardon me, but I must misplaced the e-mailed flyer that was sent out in reference to the National Association of Basketball Coaches meeting Wednesday night at Bishop Gorman High.

Oh . . . it only seemed as if there enough high-profile coaches in the building to hold a national convention of sorts.

With the likes of Hall of Famers Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Roy Williams (North Carolina) and Rick Pitino (Louisville), along with John Calipari (Kentucky) and Sean Miller (Arizona), checking in from courtside, the folks who bring us the Fab 48 put on another spectacular evening of some of the finest of high school basketball.

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