Oklahoma squad, both road-weary and recruiting-weary, finds oasis in Las Vegas

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 | 7:25 p.m.

If this were last week, Daniel Orton and Xavier Henry probably would have been able to hear the chatter from the stands behind their bench in Spring Valley High.

That was when three of the bigger events of the prep summer schedule - the adidas Super 64, the Reebok Summer Championships and the Main Event sponsored by Nike - had gyms across town filled, with both spectators and college coaches.

In other words, the road-weary (and recruiting-weary) group from Oklahoma is welcoming this week's stay in Las Vegas for the National Youth Basketball Championships.

The tournament doesn't have quite the wealth of star power as last week's events, and for the likes of Henry and Orton (ranked Nos. 2 and 10, respectively, in the class of 2009 by Rivals.com), that's just fine.

"Our coaches wanted us to just really come out and enjoy Vegas," Orton said. "So we're having a fun time out here just enjoying the festivities, so we're really not too focused on basketball. We've been so focused on basketball this whole summer, we won a national championship (last week in Orlando) and that was one of our main goals. So we're just happy."

OK, don't read into that 'we're not too focused on basketball' thing too deep. The Athlete's First team made it a straight trip from Orlando, Fla., after clinching the 17U Super Showcase Gold title Sunday in a loaded field behind 32 points from Henry.

Come Wednesday afternoon, the team was matched up against a squad from Yuma with no player standing taller than 6-foot-4. After trudging through the first half tied 32-32, Athlete's First got really serious for a stretch and scored 18 straight points in nearly non-chalant fashion. And from that came a 75-46 win.

The gym, compared to last week, presented a pretty relaxing atmosphere. The bleachers on the south side of the gym - a week ago peppered with polo shirts featuring logos from various major college programs - were empty with the exception of three men.

Those three? Memphis coach John Calipari, Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie and Kansas coach Bill Self.

Just like last week, though, the same rule applies - Look but don't speak.

"It's like window shopping," the 6-foot-10 Orton joked.

Coaches are not allowed to start contacting recruits again until August 1 (a.k.a. Friday). And what better place to spend your last few days of the no-contact period than Las Vegas? The squad also features 6-foot-5 forward Terrence Boyd, who ranks on Rivals as the No. 48 prospect in the class, and Kyle Hardrick, who at No. 123 is already verbally committed to Oklahoma.

"We came into this just ready to have fun, just as a reward," said Henry.

Henry, who was one guy all three big name coaches in the stands presumably wanted to watch, didn't even suit up. After bumping knees with Orton in the title game of the tournament in Orlando, he was resting up a bit. Whether he'll play the rest of the week or not is still up in the air.

Sitting out the rest of the week wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for Henry. He's got enough other stuff going on.

"It's all right, because (coaches) have already seen me play a lot this summer," said Henry, who is down to deciding between four schools - Texas, UCLA, Kansas and Memphis.

The word has been out for awhile on the 6-foot-6 shooting guard, considered the nation's top prospect at his position.

"Once they know your game and everything, there's no pressure to be something you're not," Henry said of trying to 'wow' coaches. "I'm just a big-time scorer. I just score a lot. I can score in a lot of different ways."

He said he's planning on committing once his official visits to those four schools this fall are all finished. You would thing that would keep the chatter down about his impending decision, but with Henry, it seems like a new rumor pops up just about every day.

"One thing said I committed and signed with Kansas as a senior, and I was just a junior," Henry joked. "Everybody hears about everything. You have a bad game, it's on the Internet. You have a great game and all of a sudden you're No. 1."

The recruiting game is nothing new to the family. Older brother C.J., who Rivals.com ranked as a three-star prospect in the '05 senior class, was highly sought after when coming out of Putnam City (Okla.) High. He verbally committed Kansas, but was then selected by the New York Yankees in the first round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. He opted for the dollars (though after a sluggish start to his pro baseball career, he is considering a potential venture into college basketbal).

Xavier's dad, Carl, serves as an Athlete's First coach. He played basketball at Kansas in the early 1980s, and while there, Calipari was an assistant.

So family history could carry some weight in Xavier's ultimate decision.

"I hope it does carry some weight," Carl said with a deep laugh. "We told him that he can make a decision where he wants to go to school.

"It's been mind-boggling. It's been people constantly calling you, constant interviews. It's been very busy. For me it doesn't (get frustrating), but I know for him it does."

It's the same story for Orton, who said he currently has a list of seven potential schools: UCLA, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Ohio State and Kentucky. In other words, he's still pretty open, which would explain why several elite coaches would follow his path to a tournament which Athletes First could wind up winning on talent alone.

"You could look at it as a blessing and a curse, also," Orton said of the no-contact setting.

Enjoy the blessing portion of it while it lasts, kids.