Vegas tournament is a showcase showdown

Their focus was Tyler Honeycutt, a 6-foot-8 senior forward from Sylmar High, as he played in the Adidas Super 64 tournament here Tuesday.

Four months ago, when a high school season in which he averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds ended, Honeycutt had zero scholarship offers.

Now? "Every time I go somewhere, all the coaches are watching," he said. "My phone is always ringing. Sometimes it gets a little overwhelming because there's a new area code every time on my phone."

Welcome to Honeycutt's strange but exciting new world, where he's being wooed but also opening up himself to scrutiny as he tries to make a college choice. He's up to eight scholarship offers and counting.

However, it's not all fun and games if you believe his high school coach, Bort Escoto.

"I've had people follow me to the bathroom and follow me to the car," Escoto said. "I've told him, 'Don't answer the phone unless it's somebody you know.' "

Escoto is worried about go-betweens trying to get close to Honeycutt in a bid to influence him. He calls them "sharks."

"It's shark-infested water," Escoto said. "You better not go out without a harpoon. My harpoon is my demeanor, and it's 'Stay away.' "

With scholarship offers from UCLA, USC, Arizona State and Michigan, Honeycutt has become a summer success story after joining the Double Pump Elite club team. It gave him exposure to top college coaches, and he has done the rest.

This week, he's displaying his skills in front of the largest gathering of college coaches since the Final Four in San Antonio. In fact, there was such demand for GPS navigational devices that some rental agencies ran out.

On Tuesday, Honeycutt picked up three fouls in the first half and finished with eight points in a 77-72 loss to a club team from New Jersey.

If players can handle the likes of Howland, USC Coach Tim Floyd and Florida Coach Billy Donovan staring from chairs directly under the basket, it's a good sign they might be able to perform in front of thousands in an arena setting.

"It's preparing them for playing under pressure," Loyola Marymount Coach Bill Bayno said.