Local stars Johnson and Marshall team up at adidas Super 64 … and maybe at the next level, too?

Thursday, July 24, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.

The text message not only made Anthony Marshall laugh out loud, but it also conjured up some fond memories.

Marshall -- a senior-to-be at Mojave -- got the news on his cell phone late Tuesday that he'd have a familiar face as a Las Vegas Prospects teammate beginning Wednesday in the adidas Super 64 at Rancho High.

The alert came from fellow local blue chip prospect Elijah Johnson.

"Yesterday, after our first game against EBO, he texted me like 'What's up, teammate?'" Marshall recalled. "I busted out laughing, and I was like 'You playing with us?' He was like 'Yeah, I'm gonna play tomorrow.'"

And like that, the pair of guards turned into teammates for the first time since seventh grade.

"We should have done it sooner, but business before pleasure," Johnson said. "I just wanted to give the Vegas people a taste of me and him before we graduate."

Marshall is a regular on the Prospects' roster. Johnson, however, normally plays for Pump-N-Run Elite, a club based out of Porter Ranch, Calif. Plans changed early this week for Johnson due to summer school commitments he had to fulfill.

In the end, it made for quite the scene at Rancho Wednesday evening.

The two blue-chippers play very similar games.

Johnson -- a 6-foot-2 point guard -- has a casually smooth jump shot and freakish athletic abilities that allow him to do several different things when he gets near the rim, including the ability to play above the iron. He executes a springy vertical leap with impressive quickness.

Marshall checks in at 6-foot-3, and the lefty is more of a combo guard, but shows the same knack as Johnson for getting to the basket at will. His thicker upper body allows him to finish in a multitude of ways inside, and he can absorb a good amount of contact.

That said, it was a treat to watch them run the floor at the same time.

"We got on the court, and in the first game, it was good," Marshall said. "We haven't played together in so long, and it just felt right. It was smooth. I usually work a lot because I'm kinda known and the (opposing) players are keying on me, and so Elijah playing with me, they know him, too, so the game just goes smooth and I can feel my way into it instead of forcing stuff."

Added Johnson: "The thing I like about him is he knows how to play basketball. And I don't mean he just plays for fun. He knows how to play. And I know how to play, too. So with that, who's gonna stop us as far as us two?"

In their first game together Wednesday, the two clicked right away. Marshall led the way with 29 points, as the Prospects dumped the Florida Rams, 75-62. Their second showing didn't go so well, and despite a flurry of buckets right after the half, the hometown club ultimately fell to the Compton Magic, 85-67, due partly to a lack of size up front. Even in defeat, the two found ways to create highlights while combining for 24 points.

It was the last time the Prospects would take the floor until bracket play begins Friday, and several of the bigger names in college coaching found their way to the school's auxiliary gym to catch a glimpse. Among those in attendance were UNLV coach Lon Kruger, Florida's Billy Donovan, Baylor's Scott Drew and UCLA's Ben Howland.

"We're trying to go out and represent Vegas as best we can," Marshall said. "Right now, the tournament being here in our home town, we don't want to look bad and let players from all over just dominate on us. There's some good players, but we feel like we can hold our own, and that's what we're trying to do in this tournament."

The two playing together has also created quite the buzz. Thought by some to be rivals because of the history between their schools, Marshall dispelled that rumor.

"We text a lot and talk a lot," said Marshall, who added that the two have been good friends since the ninth grade. "We get on the court and we just play. We can read each other -- we don't even have to say it, we just know what each other's doing."

With that chemistry established, the two have also batted around the idea here and there of playing together at the next level. If that scenario were to play out, it would add a certain boost of credibility to the school that received their commitments. According to Rivals.com, Johnson ranks as the No. 34 recruit in the class of '09, with Marshall not far behind at No. 67.

The two are in different places right now in terms of their recruitment.

Johnson said that at the moment, he has established a Top 5 of UNLV, Texas, Kansas, UCLA and Oklahoma. He hopes to have a decision made within the next three months. Marshall is also gunning for a fall commitment, but has not set a hard deadline, and if it stretches past that, then so be it. He doesn't have a list of any kind right now, but there's certainly an interest in at least one of the schools on Johnson's list.

"Vegas, hometown, UNLV," said Marshall, who still considers himself "wide open." "I take a lot of notice (to what the Rebels have done recently). I give all the credit to coach Kruger with what he's done and come in and turned the program around.

"I'm taking a real big look at it. My family wants me to stay. They're going to support me whatever I do, but I'm considering it as well as considering other schools."

While Marshall said he'll start compiling a list early next month, Johnson went a bit more in detail on the Rebels.

"I pay a lot of attention to them," he said. "It'd be nice to stay home, especially to a good program. A lot of people like staying home, most people can't do it to a good program. UNLV is a good program. That's what makes me look at them real hard, top-five schools.

"Coach Kruger. He's a good coach. I know if I go through his system, he'll get me where I want to be. That's my main issue - playing for a good coach."

And it should be pointed out that even with commitments in place for the '09 class from Findlay Prep big man Carlos Lopez and California guard Justin Hawkins, the Rebels still have two scholarships to offer.

(Note: There was even more of a UNLV tie-in with the Wednesday evening game, as Hawkins plays for the Compton Magic, as does targeted recruit Darnell Shumpert, a 6-foot-8 forward from Tucson who graduated from high school this past spring).

Though since college coaches this week (and next during the National Youth Basketball Championships here in Las Vegas) cannot have any contact with the athletes outside of window shopping, Johnson and Marshall are playing with hometown pride, having the biggest stretch of the summer prep schedule take place right here.

Johnson added that the possibility of him playing with the Prospects next week in the National Championships is very real.

"You don't want to let anybody come into your backyard and have a picnic," Marshall said. "So you go out and play your hardest and try to play your best."