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LONG BEACH — Twenty-nine players — seven of those from outside of Southern California — were put through three hours of drills and scrimmaging Saturday at McBride High during the fifth Kenny Smith-led, Pangos/Full Court Prep Lead Guard Workout.

Smith, now better known as the most insightful member of the NBA on TNT crew, was an all-American guard at the University of North Carolina whose 10-year NBA career included helping lead the Houston Rockets to championships in 1994 and ’95.

Among those in attendance — and, of course, impressing — were point guards who led their teams to California State titles last spring, Trent Perry of Harvard-Westlake, and Jason Crowe Jr.

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ATHENS — Noah Penda of Paris concluded a dominant two days of basketball Thursday afternoon, leading the “Blue” team to an eased-up, 81-68,  victory over its “Gold” counterpart in the Top 30 Cream of the Crop game that wrapped up the first-ever Pangos All-Euro Camp at the Basketaki Arena.

The 6-foot-7, 18-year-old was the overwhelming choice as the event’s Most Outstanding Player after grabbing eight rebounds to go with five points and six assists in the all-star clash.

Penda (pictured), a starter for the French squad that knocked off the U.S.

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ATHENS — Day 1 of the first-ever Pangos All-Euro Camp got underway Wednesday afternoon at the Basketaki Arena, with 56 athletes representing 15 different countries split among six teams.

After about 90 minutes of drills before the first of six games (with 20-minute halves) tipped off and concluded with each squad playing twice.

Action resumes Thursday morning at 10 o’clock (midnight, PT), with the camp all-star game scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

BallerTV is streaming and archiving each of the games.

The Celtics (72-71 vs. the Nuggets; 88-51 over the Mavericks) and the Lakers (69-54 against the Bucks and 79-64 over the Warriors) were 2-zip Wednesday and will meet in Thursday morning’s second game (11:45).

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HENDERSON, NV – Those of us who follow the boys’ basketball “grassroots” scene closely have known for a while that the Utah Prospects have been one of the elite programs — regionally and nationally – for a good while.

And that point was driven home succinctly — even among those who follow that hoops’ world even peripherally — last Sunday afternoon in Rock Hill, SC, when the Prospects’ 17s squad captured the adidas-fronted 3SSB national title while knocking off Georgia-based Game Elite, 62-52.

There were just a few days to bask in the glow of that remarkable run (which included a 54-51 win over another high-profile program, the Compton Magic, on July) for the Prospects, however, before they were back at it.

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LONG BEACH and ORANGE, Ca. — Thursday was the first day of the first July NCAA “viewing period”, for men’s’ basketball coaching staffs.

And, from my courtside perspectives at McBride High and Santiago Canyon College, it was a productive one.

Many of the coaching staffs of the western-based college programs were on hand to take up-close looks at the players at two events I attended — the BallerTV/Pangos Premier 80 Showcase  and the Cali-Live Summer Showcase (by way of James Johnson’s Hoop Circuit, the Elite Association Hoops, and ACES).

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