Frank Burlison

LAS VEGAS – Everything was coming up “adidas” – for me, at least – Saturday during Day IV of the NCAA’s final evaluation period . . .

*The Minnesota Pump N Run 17s club was more than just a bit of a surprise as one of the eight teams making up the quarterfinal field for the championship bracket of the adidas Super 64.

Graham Woodward (5-foot-11/Edina, MN) utilized his nifty playmaking, scoring and leadership skills to lead Minnesota PNR team to an 88-82 toppling of Southern California-based Dream Vision in the Round of 32 Saturday morning in the main gymnasium on the Rancho High campus.

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LAS VEGAS – If you’re about to start what is going to turn out to be a 13-hour day of hoops-de-doing, why not begin with the best?

As far as high school low-post players go, they don’t come any better these days than Jahil Okafor.

The 6-foot-10, junior-to-be from Whitney Young High in Chicago got to play against someone his own size – more or less – and made the most of the opportunity by putting most of his immense set of skills on display while leading the Mac Irvin Fire to another lopsided victory, this one over the Los Angeles-based Basketball Training Institute Double Pump.

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LAS VEGAS – Day II of the NCAA’s final evaluation period took me across the gamut:

There were Thursday stops at Rancho (morning), Durango (mid-afternoon) and Bishop Gorman (early evening) high schools – with a pit stop tossed at a Chili’s for re-fueling.

The lowdown, starting with the Rancho stop for the adidas Super 64 . . .

*The Garner Elite (North Carolina) vs. Dream Vision (California) showdown was a dandy, with the Isaac Hamilton-led Cali lads finally prevailing in OT (79-73) after trailing through most of the first half.

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LAS VEGAS – Day II of the NCAA’s final evaluation period took me across the gamut:

There were Thursday stops at Rancho (morning), Durango (mid-afternoon) and Bishop Gorman (early evening) high schools – with a pit stop tossed at a Chili’s for re-fueling.

The lowdown, starting with the Rancho stop for the adidas Super 64 . . .

*The Garner Elite (North Carolina) vs. Dream Vision (California) showdown was a dandy, with the Isaac Hamilton-led Cali lads finally prevailing in OT (79-73) after trailing through most of the first half.

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LAS VEGAS – Wednesday, Day 1 of the final NCAA evaluation period in July, is a wrap!

Bishop Gorman High, home to the Fab 48, was the first stop on five-day stretch of hoops watching.

And here we go . . .

There were three sets of two exhibition games, played side-by-side, on Gorman’s court’s 1 and 2 (there is even a court 3 on the other of the building, where games will also be played when pool-play action gets under way Thursday morning at 8 o’clock).

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