Thursday, July 11: Well, the summer recruiting evaluation period has gotten off to it's usual fast start with the shoe company camps serving as a vital showcase for 400 of the nation's top high school basketball players. With the completion of both the adidas ABCD Camp and the Nike All-American Camp, for many of the nation's top players, it's on to tournament time. With coaches still allowed out on the trail for a few more days (the first of two NCAA certified evaluation periods ends on July 14), they'll now get a chance to see them in a more team-oriented environment as the club team tournaments get underway. We'll be at the 3 Stripes Classic, which gets underway Friday and runs through Sunday at Hofstra University. The tournament, now in its second year on the adidas summer circuit, features 24 club teams with many of the top players from the adidas ABCD Camp. Among the favored teams in the tournament: Playaz Gold, Playaz Red, New York Ravens, Long Island Panthers, Illinois Fire, Southeast Raptors, Ft. Sooy-No Limit, Juice All-Stars, Texas Blue Chip and DC Assault. It's a chance to see some exceptional talents, such as 5-11 rising junior point guard Sebastian Telfair (Lincoln H.S./Brooklyn, N.Y.); 6-6 rising junior point guard Shaun Livingston (Peoria H.S./Peoria, Ill.); 6-5 rising senior small forward Demetris Nichols (St. Andrew's School/Barrington, R.I.); 6-4 rising senior shooting guard Mike Jones (Thayer Academy/Braintree, Mass.); 5-9 rising senior point guard Daon Merritt (St. Raymond H.S./Bronx, N.Y.); 6-11 rising senior postman Darryl Watkins (Paterson Catholic H.S./Paterson, N.J.); 6-9 rising senior post player Chris Taft (Xaverian H.S./Brooklyn, N.Y.); 6-8 rising junior Michael Williams (Wilcox Central H.S./Camden, Ala.); and 6-10 rising senior center Jackie Butler (McComb H.S./McComb, Miss.).

Wednesday, July 10: There are many tangible differences between the Nike and adidas camps, but the most palpable has everything to do with an intangible one: Atmosphere. The public is allowed to attend the adidas ABCD camp. A lot of parents also are able to make it to the camp. All of that creates an exciting background hum and noise that comes from people watching games at all four courts. The players feed off of it as well. The camp is alive, making for a more festive attitude, if you will. The players are more animated, more into it. Thursday is the final day of the ABCD camp, with the camp's playoffs and all-star games for both seniors and underclassmen. It should be a full house of college basketball coaches tonight in the Rothman Center at Farleigh Dickinson University. But, it's been a different experience this year. First off, the NCAA has been putting the heat on these shoe company sponsored camps and other club events, essentially, trying to make their lives more difficult under the guise of trying to clean up the sport. One thing that hasn't changed is that the ABCD camp, as it has done for the past several years, has done a superior job in assembling the most talented camp in the country. Much of this success has to do with the grassroots programs (Christopher Rivers heads up the adidas grassroots efforts), which sponsor club teams from across the country. Overall, the adidas club teams (and the adidas basketball circuit) have more talent and face greater competition. Since the grassroots programs have a significant say in who gets invited to which camp, the adidas' sponsored ABCD camp is the beneficiary of the superiority of the adidas grassroots efforts.

Tuesday, July 9: Operating on no sleep, we knew we were on the right flight Tuesday when we caught the 6:45 am eye-opener to Newark out of Indianapolis and found a litany of NCAA coaches also making the shuttle to New Jersey. Henry Bibby (USC), Lorenzo Romar (Washington), Charlie Spoonhour (UNLV), Neil Dougherty (TCU), Larry Harrison (Hartford), Oliver Purnell (Dayton), and Jay Spoonhour (UNLV) were among the more than two dozen coaches on the flight from Nike country to adidas land. And, after less than an hour at the adidas ABCD Camp at Farleigh Dickinson University, it was obvious that adidas and its point man Sonny Vaccaro has won the battle of the shoe camps. ABCD's assembled talent is the equivalent of a sensational first-round knockout. While ABCD may have a dominant edge in talent, it's still not a great Class of 2003. But adidas ABCD Camp has an obvious majority of the nation's top players and, most importantly, there are plenty of excellent matchups to keep the hoops junkie entertained. Unlike its Indianapolis counterpart, adidas ABCD allows the public to attend -- and for $5, it's one of the great buys around. There were over 400 college coaches in attendance on Tuesday and adidas ABCD staff was making a concerted effort to keep college coaches from making any nominal contact with any players or camp staff, in accordance with the new NCAA rules (coaches were never allowed contact with players at these camps, but now, staffers, particularly high school, AAU and club coaches are not allowed any contact with college coaches). Lots of media on hand here in Teaneck and they've been getting their share of SportsCenter highlights dunks. NBA scouts, such as George Felton and Kenny "Eggman" Williamson are getting first-row looks at the talent, by serving as camp coaches. Compared to the sterile atmosphere of the high-security Nike Camp, adidas ABCD resembles more of a well-organized block party with fans and players having fun watching some great matchups. A increased sense of anticipation (along with a mass migration of the crowd to the appropriate court) can be felt at whatever court NYC sensation Sebastian Telfair is playing at. And the rising junior, arguably the best player in the Class of 2004, hasn't disappointed. There is also a definite international flavor to this summer's ABCD Camp. Overheard some campers who have already referred to christening him as "Yao Ming," but Yi Jianlian from the Liaoning Basketball School in ShenYang China appears to be good enough to known for his own talents. The 6-11, 220-pound rising sophomore is athletic and skilled. Yi can run the floor and he was making nearly everything he put up from mid-range and in. And his camp teammates on the Celtics squad erupted with glee when he got his first dunk.

David Benezra and Mark Mayemura cover the national college basketball recruiting scene. E-mail at: hoopsusa@mindspring.com or call (818) 783-2244 or (818) 783-2212 for subscription information.