If watching some of the best high school boys' basketball talent in the nation is your bag, hitch the quickest ride to either Durham, N.C., or Lexington, Ky., the respective host cities for the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions (TOC) and the Nike Blue Grass Classic.

Dozens of Amateur Athletics Union (AAU) teams from across the nation will fill out both tournament fields from May 26-28. But if it's pivot play that grabs you, then nothing could be finer than heading to Carolina.

	Al Harrington is a TOC alumnus.

A whopping five of the 25 best centers in the country from the Class of 2001 (according to All Star Sports Publications) are expected to attend the seventh annual TOC, including top-rated Eddy Curry of Thornwood High (South Holland, Ill.), a 6-foot-11, 285-pounder who is already drawing interest from the NBA. Curry's nickname, appropriately enough, is "Baby Shaq."

"Next year's class is supposed to be the class of the big guy, so if you can catch 'em all in one place in one weekend, that's a pretty good deal for basketball fans," says Oak Hill Academy head basketball coach Stephen Smith. "I'm sending two assistants to the Tournament of Champions and I'm working a clinic at the Nike Blue Grass Classic. Most of the big prospects will be at one or the other."

The impressive list of junior class centers at the TOC should also feature Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) 7-footer DeSaganna Diop; Brentwood Academy's (Tenn.) David Harrison, 6-foot-11; Brunswick Academy's (Ga.) Kwame Brown, 6-foot-11; and the Saint Jude Education Institute's (Ala.) Ousmane Cisse, 6-foot-9, who didn't play this past scholastic season because of rules pertaining to transfer students.

Returning to the TOC is Providence St. Mel High (Chicago, Ill.) junior forward LeVar Seals, who captured the Select Division co-MVP award last year.

The three-day tournament's under-17 division is scheduled to feature nine pool groups encompassing 30 teams. Pool play will begin Friday evening and continue Saturday morning and afternoon. Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon are reserved for playoff competition. The round-robin winners from each pool will advance to the National Division Playoffs bracket. The runner-up teams in each pool advance to the Select Division Playoffs bracket. The tournament structure also includes an under-16 field.

	Roman Catholic High's (Pa.) Eddie Griffith, who will play at Seton Hall next year, is a 1999 TOC alumnus.

Recent editions of the TOC have showcased such future stars as Indiana Pacers forwards Jonathan Bender and Al Harrington, as well as collegiate sophomore sensations DerMarr Johnson of the University of Cincinnati and Jason Williams of Duke. Notable alumni of past TOC under-16 play include 2000 McDonald's All-Americans Eddie Griffin (Roman Catholic High, Pa.), Chris Duhon (Salmen High, La.), Alton Ford (Milby High, Texas) and Scooter Sherrill (West Rowan High, N.C.).

"This is one of the biggies and ranks right up there," says Ben Sherman, editor and collegiate recruiting coverage coordinator for a popular, unofficial University of North Carolina basketball Web site, uncbasketball.com. "Just about all the big names in AAU, which are the biggest names in high school, will be there. It's a great look ahead."

For the teams that have qualified, the TOC is the final spring tournament tune-up before this summer's AAU under-17 national tournament in Orlando, Fla. The nationals fall during the 24-day July collegiate evaluation period, a span in which some of the nation's brightest AAU prospects will play more than 40 games.

Other top talents expected to play in the TOC his weekend are 2000 McDonald's All-American and 6-foot-10 power forward Darius Rice of Lanier High (Lanier, Miss.), 6-foot-5 wing forward Greg Tinch of The Westover School (Albany, Ga.), 6-foot-4 guard Kelvin Torbert of Northwestern High (Flint, Mich.) and 6-foot point guard Maurice Williams of Murrah High (Jackson, Miss.).

This year's TOC games will take place throughout North Carolina's Greater Raleigh-Durham area, including tip-offs at the Dean Dome (Chapel Hill), Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham), Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh) and Cary High (Cary). Tickets for the 2000 Tournament of Champions are $5 per day (good for all sites) or $10 for a tournament pass (all sites, three days).