Truth be told, though, the next wave of these InstaStuds is a couple years away. The current college game, after all, tends to move in two-year cycles.

That said, enter the prep Class of 2004.

When this year's rookie stars leap to the League, at least the ones who don't jump this spring, spots are going to open up for the up-and-comers.

Which is positively perfect, too, because the '04 Kids are already anointed as The Next Big Thing -- a historic haul, the type of talent infusion that comes along once in a decade (or every two years, in this case). An emphatic go in basketball's natural ebb and flow.

Some of the most promising prospects in this most promising bunch? Where to start? Names (and games) galore.

Sebastian Telfair is 'Bron's Little Bro in the Three Stripes grassroots family. The much-hyped Brooklynite is certainly the No. 1 known entity. But is he the group's No. 1 player? Is he even its No. 1 point guard?

Houston's Daniel Gibson -- so sleek, so smooth -- might have something to say about that. Same goes for Shaun Livingston, a 6-6 point -- yes, a 6-6 point -- from Peoria, Ill.

Don't forget Darius Washington. The Floridian is a fire-breathing guard from Orlando. He takes on anyone and everyone -- while telling them all about it, naturally.

On the wing, Josh Smith, a 6-8 southpaw from Powder Springs, Ga., Marvin Williams, out of Bremerton, Wash., and J.R. Smith, from Newark, N.J., are all future pros. The only question is how future?

In the paint, Al Jefferson is a 6-9 brute from Prentiss, Miss., 6-11 LaMarcus Aldridge is lethally lanky in Dallas, and Dwight Howard and Randolph Morris can be awe-inspiring as Atlanta AAU buddies.

Remember, though: How effective these kids are going to be in college isn't only about what they can do. It has just as much to do with where they end up.

Brian Johnson, for one, is said to be a Tar Heel lean.

After becoming this past summer the youngest player ever to represent the Stars and Stripes -- the bearded, then-15-year-old, tripped to Venezuela with the U.S. youth qualifiers. Johnson is now a junior in Arlington, Va., at Bishop O'Connell.

	Olu Famutimi

He might not have his license yet. "I'm in no hurry to drive," he boomed, in his tell-tale baritone, earlier this fall. But his game is uncommonly advanced.

"The kids you see making an impact right now are very skilled," O'Connell coach Joe Wootten said. "And Brian has a lot of great post moves, he can finish down low, and he has great touch on his jumper."

All of which Carolina might need starting in the fall of 2004. Especially if Sean May decides to leave. And even if he doesn't.

It doesn't really matter where Livingston chooses to play his college ball. Chances are good he's going to play, and play well, from the get-go.

"His basketball acumen is what separates him," said Verdell Jones, Livingston's coach with the Champaign, Ill.-based Ft. Sooy club team. "He sees the floor and plays in a way far beyond his years. He understands the moment."

The moment for Livingston should come two years from now. For Famutimi and Butch, of course, next fall isn't that far away.

But all of them -- the '03ers as well as the '04ers -- are on the fast track to their freshman year. A year in which they plan on logging major minutes at schools that need them to do just that.

That opportunity -- that vacancy, that necessity -- is part of what led Famutimi from Flint to Fayetteville.

"I'm not going to say it was the major factor, but it was as important as anything else," the Hurricanes' Grier said. "That's for sure."

Also for sure: JRich will be watching from out in NoCal. The 21-year-old NBAer, who jumped after two seasons and a Final Four at Michigan State, has taken a legitimate interest in large part because he's not all that removed from where Famutimi is right now -- readying for college after a standout tenure with the 'Canes.

"I don't know everything," said Richardson, who declared for the draft after his sophomore season. "But I can tell him some things."

Some things that could help Famutimi be Boss Hog - and quick.