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Musings from Day One of the Las Vegas club tournaments

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The day started with a 6:40 a.m. flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (well, it actually started with a loud buzzer ringing at 5:10), continued with a morning matchup that featured consensus No. 1 boys’ basketball prospect Shabazz Muhammad versus UCLA commit Jordan Adams, took some intriguing turns during a lunch with Ben Howland at Burger King and concluded with a viewing of a game involving eighth-grader Stephen Zimmerman, who already has a scholarship offer from the Bruins.

Thanks to this blog, what happened in Vegas on Friday during the first day of the major club tournaments is going viral.

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The featured morning game involving Muhammad’s Dream Vision versus Adams’ Atlanta Celtics lived up to its billing and then some, with the Celtics building a big early lead and the Vision rallying for the victory behind a strong effort from Muhammad, who finished with a jaw-dropping 38 points in front of a laundry list of major coaches that included Howland, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Memphis’ John Calipari and Florida’s Billy Donovan.

A couple of side notes from the Vision’s victory: Adams is a great catch-and-shoot talent who is reminiscent of former USC shooting guard Lodrick Stewart. Adams looks to have an even better stroke, though his body, like Stewart’s, remains a bit doughy. And in the battle of ballyhooed big men between the Celtics’ William Goodwin and Vision’s Robert Upshaw, it was no contest--Goodwin all the way. Upshaw gave new meaning to the phrase going through the motions.

Lunch with Howland included plenty of intriguing off-the-record chatter that is staying in Vegas. Sorry. The afternoon featured some more action in a cramped gym at Bishop Gorman High, where Arizona-bound Grant Jerrett and Long Beach-based Belmont Shore hung on for an impressive victory over New York’s Juice All-Stars.

After a quick dinner at Subway (no time for fine dining on this trip), it was off to Centennial High to see Zimmerman of Dream Vision 16-under, who already has secured a scholarship offer from the Bruins despite not having played a second of high school basketball.

What could possibly happen Saturday to top all this? Stay tuned.

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-- Ben Bolch in Las Vegas

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