A hurricane of high school boys' basketball will descend upon the desert oasis of Las Vegas from July 15-19, as the sixth annual adidas Big Time Tournament takes over a city best known for jackpots and jet-setters. Almost 4,000 high school players, filling out a tournament-record 312 teams, representing 45 U.S. states, Canada and Italy, are officially entered in the nation's largest summer boys' prep basketball tournament.

	Kwame Brown is a star player.

"It's certainly the place to be because of the volume of players we'll have here," says Larry McKay, Las Vegas public schools athletic director and the tournament's co-founder. "Almost every college in America will be represented here, and probably by more than one coach. There are so many players to see over a five-day period. That's 776 games in that span. That's a lot of basketball."

The 2000 tournament will be played on 24 courts at 12 high school gyms throughout southern Nevada. After each team plays three "pool play" games on July 15 and 16, they will move into one of four single-elimination tournaments based on their pool-play performance. Single-elimination action begins on Monday, July 17.

More than 300 college coaches are expected to attend the five-day extravaganza, and for good reason. Some of the nation's best Amateur Athletic Union squads are expected to participate, including SchoolSports.com AAU Top 25 No. 1, the Michigan Mustangs. The Mustangs are led by national high school Player of the Year candidates Kelvin Torbert of Northwestern High (Flint, Mich.) and Robert Whaley of Benton Harbor High (Mich.). Also gracing the Mustangs' loaded roster is senior-to-be Anthony Roberson of Saginaw High (Mich.) and sensational Canadian transplant and Northwestern High sophomore-to-be Olu Famutimi, both of whom shone at this past weekend's ABCD/adidas Camp in New Jersey.

This year's Big Time Tournament will also feature SchoolSports.com AAU No. 3, the Atlanta Celtics, a team that boasts 7-footers DeSaganna Diop of Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and Marcus Campbell of Westover High (Ga.). SchoolSports.com AAU No. 10, the New Orleans Jazz, is the tournament's defending champion. The Jazz roster is anchored by recent Alabama signee Maurice Williams of Murrah High (Jackson, Miss.) and 6-foot-4 Dwayne Mitchell of Kennedy High (New Orleans, La.). The Illinois Fire (Chicago) is yet another team expected to dazzle those in attendance, even though Providence St. Mel High (Chicago, Ill.) guard Lavar Seals won't play due to summer school commitments.

"I call this July Madness," says Illinois Fire head coach Mac Irvin. "Once we hit July, with all these camps and tourneys, you're never home. Vegas used to be just gambling, but now you can take these kids around and give 'em a little culture. Let 'em meet people from all walks of life. It's a blessing to be able to do this."

The tournament format consists of a pre-seeded top 56 (as rated by the adidas selection committee) in one bracket, plus the remaining 256 teams divided, by geography, into 64 four-team pools.

The teams with the best records from those pools will advance, along with the 56 top-seeded teams, to comprise the 120-team, single-elimination Open Division. Three additional A, B and C single-elimination divisions will consist of the second-, third- and fourth-place teams from pool play, respectively. A total of four divisional titles will be decided in five days.

The 2000 Big Time field includes a tournament-high 66 teams from California and 29 from Texas. Washington is next with 18, followed by Colorado (14), Ohio (13), then Nevada and Indiana with 12 each. This year's field also boasts seven teams from five provinces in Canada and Olimpia Milano from Italy.

Big Time tournament alumni represent a who's-who of young basketball superstars, including Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Tracy McGrady of the Toronto Raptors and Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Clippers. Four players who were part of this year's NCAA championship game are also Big Time alumni. Charlie Bell of Michigan State, as well as Florida's Donnell Harvey, Michael Miller and Brett Nelson all made the All-Tournament team when they played in The Big Time.