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SECOND SEGMENT PREVIEW

Rob Harrington
robharrington@prepstars.com
July 20, 2011

The games resume on Friday morning, with the nation’s attention shifting from Eastern and Midwestern events primarily to the West. Two elite events occur simultaneously in Las Vegas, as the Fab 48 and Adidas Super 64 go head to head and feature many of the country’s most talented prospects.

Sin City has become a mainstay on the travel circuit due to the desirable locale for the adults, as well as the cheap rooms to accommodate all the kids flocking into town. Normally, thousands of individuals flowing into one city would put a strain — and drive up costs — on the hotels in the area, but not in Vegas, where the presence of hundreds of teams and their families hardly registers.

Beyond the logistics, there’s a lot of basketball to be played and with key ramifications for recruiting purposes.

Here’s a look at some what we’ll be looking for the next week:

1) Will anyone be able to bump Shabazz Muhammad from the top spot in the Class of 2012? We wrote earlier this week about the steps up made by juniors Julius Randle , Jabari Parker and Nerlens Noel, creating a ferocious three-way competition for the No. 1 ranking in the junior class, but which additional seniors will challenge Muhammad?

Clearly, big man Andre Drummond has the natural talent to push anyone, and we’ll be looking in Vegas to observe whether he is ready to play with the consistent aggressiveness required to truly unlock his potential. From an NBA perspective, he likely is the top dog.

Meanwhile, thin-but-skilled forward Isaiah Austin also at times has received consideration as the No. 1 guy. He didn’t fare well in a head to head matchup against Drummond at June’s Pangos All-American Camp, however, and he’ll need to erase that game from memory. Of course, Austin is the least developed physically of the three players atop the class, meaning he has the most to gain from additional weight training, too.

2) Although not generally considered a true contender for No. 1 in the class, Friday evening’s tilt against Drummond will give elite center Kaleb Tarczewski an opportunity to present his case to crack the top three. He and Drummond locked heads in Arkansas this past April, but Vegas offers both men the opportunity to make a strong closing statement.

It’s not often that two top-five players at the same position go head to head, so that will be a highly intriguing matchup.

3) Sleepers. Whom will they be? One nice thing about the large Vegas events is that inevitably we’ll stumble upon teams and players we’ve never seen previously. Prospects tend to emerge later in the tournaments as they progress through the playoff rounds and finally begin to play on the major courts, we’ll also hop around keeping a keen eye for noteworthy underclassmen and underrated seniors.

4) Finally, with so many top players in attendance and nearly every high-major head coach for at least a portion of the affair, numerous recruiting decisions will be finalized. With the scouting portion of the 2012 class winding down for coaches, playing well at the right time — or at least not playing poorly at the wrong time — is essential for those hoping to gain and keep offers from their favorite schools.