FOR COACHES, VEGAS IS ALL-YOU-CAN-SEE BUFFET CITY OF SIN A MUST STOP IN SUMMER RECRUITING.

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

LAS VEGAS - The neon is flashing, the car horns blaring and every third step some attraction screams for attention. The Strip, as always, is jammed.

About eight miles away, in the Doolittle Recreation Center gym, there's another kind of jam. It's with basketballs and a few of the country's top high school seniors-to-be are about to kick off the most insane five days of recruiting that college basketball coaches can experience.

High school basketball tournaments like this one, the Pangos Midnight Madness, are an integral part of the long, complex recruiting process. It is five sleep-deprived days that have staff members flying around the city like pinballs.

By the end of the 113 hours from Thursday morning to the conclusion of play last night, UCLA coach Ben Howland and assistants Ernie Zeigler, Donny Daniels and Kerry Keating will have watched all or parts of about 120 games and driven close to 1,800 miles in search of the next great player.

And this basketball orgy comes during the busiest evaluation period. Before Vegas, there were major tournaments throughout the country that had to be viewed and Daniels went to Europe on a recruiting trip. The UCLA coaching staff arrived in Vegas having already logged more than 35,000 airline miles this month.

The other events, however, are just primers. The Las Vegas extravaganza commences with something that makes the Vegas nightlife seem normal. The NCAA's four-day, nonrecruiting dead period ended at midnight Wednesday. So the Pangos organizers decided to begin a 14-team ``exhibition'' at 12:01 a.m. that is a must for coaches to attend.

The tournament drew 498 teams and more than 5,000 players, including just about every elite senior and junior prospect in the country. There were 1,628 games played at 21 locations from Henderson, Nev., to the foothills of Northwest Las Vegas, and every point between.

``At this time of the summer, most of the kids are played out, have played too many games,'' Howland said. ``A lot of times you don't get to see them playing at their best. A lot of guys are not even evaluating at this time. You're just here to support them or recruit them or watch them.''

Yet, in the world of recruiting, attending the event is mandatory.

Start the Insanity

The NCAA allows three coaches on the road at one time but that actually works in UCLA's favor during the weekend. Thanks to scheduling issues, Howland misses Thursday because his basketball camp begins on campus. Eventually, each assistant will either fly or drive back to Westwood to work the camp.

So fewer than seven hours after the exhibition ended, it is 9 a.m. and the three UCLA assistants are situated at various gyms to watch recruits. Howland won't arrive until Friday.

Some play well and with UCLA in dire need of post players in the upcoming recruiting class, the Bruins coaches would love to sell their product to the recruits again. But they cannot.

According to NCAA rules for this period, coaches cannot speak to players involved in tournaments, AAU coaches or a recruit's family. NCAA rules also prohibit coaches from commenting about possible recruits.

So to ensure a player does not get confused as to which school is attending his game, each coach becomes a walking billboard. The first day, the ``UCLA'' stripped on the T-shirt and across Ziegler's chest is easily visible from one end line to the other.

Such visibility is thought to be paramount. To some of the players, like 6-foot-7 Brandon Costner of the New Jersey-based Playaz Basketball Club, seeing coaches, seated in the ``coaches only section'' or grabbing a prime piece of hardwood real estate at the baseline of the smaller auxiliary gyms, doesn't mean much.

``I really don't care who's there,'' said Costner, who lists UCLA, Connecticut, North Carolina State, Kansas and Seton Hall as his final schools.

To others, there is a huge difference between recognizing a head coach and seeing one of his assistants.

This is the thinking of Canadian post prospect Ryan Wright, another of UCLA's top targets.

Wright plays Friday at 3:40 p.m. in the tiny auxiliary gym at Basic High in Henderson. The court is lined with coaches, mostly assistants from the schools - UCLA, Stanford, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Illinois and Pittsburgh - on his list.

Howland, dressed in white shorts, a deep blue shirt with UCLA embroidered on it and white socks and tennis shoes, sits on a chair close to center court. He is one of the few head coaches at the game.

``I know UCLA's (head) coach was here,'' the 6-8 Wright said. ``I'm not sure about some of the other schools. If a head coach wants to see me play, that let's me know he's really interested in me. It means a lot. Then when you talk to the coach (during recruiting calls) you can talk about what you need to improve.

``When the assistants show up, it's different. They can send assistant coaches to watch 200 kids.''

A night later Howland again is one of the few head coaches to watch Wright's Ontario Cyclones get eliminated in bracket play.

Touring Las Vegas

Keating's job is to make sense of the mayhem. He does the daily schedule. Howland begins his Friday morning at Centennial High in the foothills of the Northwest corner of Las Vegas, a half-hour drive from the staff's hotel just off Las Vegas Boulevard.

Alterations in midstream are the norm, but there is no changing one portion. UCLA's top target is gritty 6-foot-7 Jon Brockman of Snohomish, Wash., who plays for the Friends of Hoop team based in Seattle. Athletic guard Martell Webster, who favors Arizona but is being courted by UCLA and others, is also on the roster.

Attendance at Brockman's games is mandatory. A Bruins staff member watched each of Brockman's games during a recent tournament in the East, and that trend continues. Durango High is 20 miles from Centennial, and Howland is spotted in the coaches' section for Brockman's 12:40 p.m. tip-off. After the game, Howland and Keating are seen at a table outside the gym mulling over the schedule and talking on cell phones, planning the rest of the day.

Keating and Howland watched some morning games together, but left after Brockman's game. Howland makes the 25-mile trip to Henderson to see Wright, an explosive athlete with natural ability but raw when it comes to basketball. The game's (16-minute halves) last about an hour.

After Wright's game, Howland fights the Friday rush-hour traffic and makes the 44-mile trek from the edge of the urban sprawl, back to Centennial to watch another post player.

Centennial is on the edge of the valley, elevated from The Strip. The game ends, the gym empties and the view is spectacular. The sun has set, the glow of the neon is slightly faded at this distance, and the night sky is brilliant. Howland has no time to soak it in.

The day is over for many of the coaches, but not for UCLA's staff. James Keefe, a talented, athletic and gifted 6-9 junior from Coto de Caza in Orange County, is playing at Cimmaron High, a 20-mile drive toward downtown. The game is overlooked by almost everyone, but UCLA, it seems, wants to make a big impression.

Keefe, who visited UCLA unofficially, said later only a handful of coaches were in attendance for the Santa Margarita Eagles' blowout victory, but there is a notable cluster. He says three UCLA coaches - Howland, Zeigler and Keating - were in the stands. Evidently, it is UCLA's way to send a strong message to Keefe that he is considered the cornerstone of their 2006 class.

Keefe is also interested in Cal, Stanford, Arizona, Duke, North Carolina and Notre Dame.

On the day the coaching staff logged close to 700 miles, traveled the perimeter of the city limits, extending beyond at some points, and cut back and forth several times. They will do it again Saturday, but this time with Daniels in town. Zeigler went back to UCLA, to work Howland's camp for a day before leaving Sunday for Orlando for another tournament.

Recruiting on the fly

By Saturday, the mayhem really begins and Keating's skill of schedule- maker is being tested. Pool play in two of the tournaments ends with Friday's games, so Keating must get the match-ups and locations for bracket play.

By 7 a.m. the next day, Keating is mapping out the schedule. An hour later the staff is meeting to finalize plans. UCLA offered scholarships to several players, but with another five available even with the commitment of point guard Darren Collison, there is plenty more to see.

Frustration also pops in. Sam Warren, a 6-9 post player for Colorado Pump N Run, has opened eyes on the summer AAU circuit. He is being looked at primarily by mid-major schools, but in this weak class of big men, some of the power conferences want to see him.

It's back to Centennial High for a 9 a.m. game. The auxiliary gym is filled with coaches, and UCLA is represented. Warren plays fewer than 5 minutes and the college coaches are unhappy, as are other scouts. They insist the mission of these events is to get exposure for kids, but AAU coaches don't agree. Warren's team wins, but did he lose?

Word is AAU coach Gabe Rodriguez was mad about Warren's effort in a game earlier in the week, but he says otherwise. Rodriguez apparently decides to save the coaches the trouble of evaluating Warren, then defends his decision.

``I thought it was a style of play type of game, and he would have had trouble guarding guys outside,'' said Rodriguez, who added Warren's ankle was a little sore. ``Sam played really well the other day and some of the other kids didn't play as much. Maybe he doesn't go to UCLA or a big school, but he'll still wind up at Pepperdine or San Diego, or a school like that.''

There are other disappointments, too. D'Andre Bell, a 6-5 wing who played well in a May tournament at Pauley Pavilion and participated in an elite camp at UCLA last month, has the Bruins high on his list. But he has not yet been offered a scholarship by UCLA, and he won't get the chance to be evaluated here. A few minutes before tip-off it is learned Bell injured his groin recently and won't play.

The tournaments sponsored by Reebok and Nike are in bracket play, but adidas doesn't conclude pool play until Saturday afternoon. So Keating, who often sits near an electrical outlet at a gym so he can charge his always-in-use phone, makes arrangements to get the adidas bracket, fills out the Reebok and Nike brackets and tries to plan for Sunday.

There are two days left, but Keating's eyes are already reddening. His meals consist mostly of fast food, sandwiches or candy bars.

``I had a breakfast burrito at some gourmet place around the corner,'' Keating says one day. ``They actually used real eggs.''

Sunday brings another challenge. The teams are whittled, but so is the coaching staff. Zeigler is off to Orlando. Keating returns to Los Angeles to work the camp, and Daniels returns.

Games coaches play

Amid the games on the court, there are also games on the sidelines. Some coaches rise from their seats for a well-timed stretch, a way of making themselves more visible to a recruit.

Coaches are acutely aware of who is at each game and whether an assistant is there or a head coach. Often, games take place in both gyms of a high school, creating a dilemma as to which recruit to watch. So coaches stand in a doorway, head on a swivel, and watch both games.

It is, after all, mandatory a kid sees a coach in attendance. Coaches make the ultimate gesture of offering a scholarship, but that isn't enough. A school's interest in a player must be constantly confirmed and that is done by having a staff member watch every game because the moment a coach stops showing up, other schools will pounce on it like it's a loose ball in a tie game with 10 seconds left.

A Sunday camp-out at Durango High, about five miles west of the Strip, demonstrates this, and confirms coaches' beliefs about kids being overplayed. Brockman's team plays five games in 10 hours and wins the title in the Nike event. Howland and Washington coach Lorenzo Romar are the only head coaches watching every game.

``It doesn't mean the world to me,'' Brockman said. ``I think it's neat to have them here to watch, but you don't really pay attention to it.''

Howland heads back to UCLA early Monday to finish his camp before going on the road again. He will join Zeigler in Florida today, but the cycle goes for a few more days before August brings a new dead period.

Tournaments begin today in Southern California with a few of UCLA's targets, including Brockman's team at the Best of Summer tournament headquartered at Loyola Marymount.

UCLA, along with a host of other schools, will be there. Saying nothing, but needing to be seen.

Brian Dohn, [phone]

brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) UCLA basketball coaches were on hand to watch James Keefe, a touted forward from Orange County, during a showcase tournament in Las Vegas.

Bob Leverone/Sporting News

(2) Like a lot of college basketball coaches, UCLA's Ben Howland was in Las Vegas recently to watch the top high school basketball players.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer