OPINION

By Mike DeCourcy

updated 6:01 p.m. ET Aug. 4, 2008

Mike DeCourcy

Except for the bagel I pretended to eat in order to take advantage of free wireless at Panera Bread, the gas to carry me between high school gyms and the $6 blown on batteries for my digital recorder, I managed to make it out of Las Vegas without losing a dime during my annual trip for the summer recruiting period.

Never made it into a casino, which means there's probably no future for me as an NBA ref.
There were lots of terrific basketball players to see, though, on a July recruiting adventure that included stops in Washington, Akron, Cincinnati and, ultimately, Vegas.

There was at least one revelation, discovery, delight and disappointment while tracking the class of 2009.

Pretty much how it is every year.

The Revelation: Ryan Kelly, PF, Raleigh, N.C.
Kelly spent the first part of July with the United States U-18 national team, returned home for less than a day and then proceeded to tear through the Reebok Summer Championships in Las Vegas. He looks like he got lost on the way to science class, but to find a player at his size (6-9) more agile and skilled in recent years, you've got to climb all the way up the list to Kevin Durant.

Kelly showed he could shoot 3s at the U.S. trials, but in Vegas it was his finishing around the goal -- in particular a baseline spin move he executed in extremely tight quarters -- that dazzled coaches and scouts watching him.

Kelly's list: Notre Dame, Georgetown, Davidson, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Stanford, N.C. State, Virginia, Vanderbilt.

The Discovery: Tyler Honeycutt, SF, Sylmar, Calif.
So nobody is ever found on the recruiting circuit? The college coaches are only out there baby-sitting and cheerleading? Well, then -- how does one explain Honeycutt?

In a junior season at Sylmar High that Honeycutt describes as "passive," during which he "passed the ball too much" and averaged only 11.8 points, he didn't receive a single phone call or scholarship offer from a college coach. Now, having grown to 6-9 and adopted a more aggressive approach to offense with the Los Angeles-based Pump N' Run Elite, he's one of the hottest recruits along the Pacific Coast.

Honeycutt has the frame and fluid movement that catch a scout's attention immediately upon walking into a gym. He looks like a player, though recent basketball history featured several wings of his skill set and body type (Gonzaga's Micah Downs, UConn's Stanley Robinson, USC's Davon Jefferson) who lacked the aggressiveness to be consistently great.

Honeycutt's list: UCLA, USC, Arizona State.

The Delight: Roger Franklin, SG, Duncanville, Texas
Although shooting guard is his position given his 6-4 height, shooting is not his strength. If it were, he'd be one of the top 20 prospects in the class of 2009.

As it is, his college suitors imagine Franklin as a highclass program player, somebody who will do everything right for four years. Long a high school power forward, Franklin still gets most of his points around the basket. His shot will need to develop but still might never be a significant weapon. He'll be coachable, though.

"They say they love my energy," Franklin says. "Throughout the course of the game, they're going to hear me scream. They know I'm going to work hard."

During a media seminar for players at the LeBron James Skills Academy, several reporters at major magazines and websites talked about how to make a good public impression. Some players dozed off but not Franklin. He never took his eyes off the speaker, never slouched in his chair. What coach wouldn't want this guy in his locker room?

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Franklin's list: Arizona, Utah, Indiana, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Baylor.

The Disappointment: Renardo Sidney, PF, Los Angeles
The precocious prospect who arrived at Sonny Vaccaro's ABCD Camp fresh out of junior high hasn't grown much taller in the years since (he's 6-10), but he has gotten wider (listed at 260, but who's buying that?). Sidney is not in the kind of condition we now expect from elite basketball players.

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Much like that of guard Lance Stephenson of Brooklyn, whose attitude led him to be cut from the U.S. U-18 team, Sidney's rep is a product of his boundless potential and long-standing fame. But he plays with little apparent interest or passion. Sidney is more gifted than Derrick Caracter, who has managed to play himself into oblivion during two years at Louisville, but that's scant justification for any program bringing him to campus for what likely would be one tumultuous year.

Sidney's list: Still wide-open. And good luck to the program that lands him.

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