By Ronnie Flores, Senior Editor

Henderson, Nev. -- With Reebok cutting its Summer Championships tournament by one day, the majority of the college coaches and national media began their five-day Sin City trek at the GBOA (Grassroots Basketball Association of America) Challenge of Champions. The GBOA event, held at Henderson International School on the home court of defending FAB 50 national champion Findlay Prep, featured many of the nation's top travel ball teams regardless of shoe affiliation.

On Tuesday night, the GBOA, which prides itself on trying to bring the divisive organizations that control AAU basketball together, held a GBOA Hall of Fame Induction at the Palms Hotel. The GBOA organization honored summer basketball pioneer Sonny Vaccaro with the Grassroots Pioneer award. Vaccaro has been involved with high-level high school basketball since his days as a Special Ed middle and high school teacher in Pittsburgh during the mid 1960's.

The banquet also honored grassroots basketball legends Rafer Alston (who played his AAU ball for the New York Panthers and also is coaching them in Las Vegas) and 1990's prep All-Americans Shaheen Holloway (St. Patrick's Elizabeth, N.J.) and Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Wheeler, Marietta, Ga.). GBOA honored these summer basketball legends to help raise money for Coaches versus Cancer.

On Wednesday morning, the action got underway as a flock of college coaches hit Henderson International School, including Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, new USC coach Kevin O'Neil and Florida International's Isaiah Thomas. Read below for some updates on the players we saw in action:

*Jordan Weathers (Fairfax, Los Angeles) scored 24 points, including 22 points by halftime for California Supreme Black in its thrilling 77-76 victory over the New York Panthers. That contest was by far the best of the morning and afternoon games at GBOA's one-day showcase. The game was won when Keith Shamburger hit a three-pointer with just under 10 seconds remaining. Shamburger last played two years ago at La Verne Lutheran, but will play his senior season at Serra of Gardena. He finished with 13 points for California Supreme Black. Weathers looks like he'll be the top honors candidate for the Lions this fall, although they'll have to improve steadily to compete with league rival Westchester and Taft of Woodland Hills for the L.A. City Section title. Fairfax does have three talented incoming freshman, so the future is not dim at all.

*A kid who is not getting much national attention, but made quite an impact for California Supreme Black was 6-5 Chris Johnson (Highland, Gilbert, Ariz.). He had 15 points in the victory over the New York Panthers, displaying a strong body that he utilizes to finish strongly in transition and a half court set. The 2010 prospect lists San Francisco, USC, Arizona, Arizona St. and Cal St. Fullerton among the schools that have contacted him. Johnson said he's wide open right now and is still looking for the right fit. Down the line, colleges would love to ink his brother, 6-3 Nick Johnson, to a letter of intent as well. He's one of the better 2011 prospects on the West Coast.

*Duane Cooper confirmed to CalHiSports.com that he won't be returning as the coach at Dominguez of Compton next season. After long-time coach Russell Otis was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor and misappropriating funds from shoe sponsor Nike, Cooper coached the Dons during the 08-09 season.Cooper coached them to the CIF Southern Section Div. I-AA semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion King of Riverside. The former Lakewood High, USC and Los Angeles Laker coached the entire season without a teaching credential.

"After what happened to Otis, the parents wanted me to coach the team," Cooper said on Wednesday. "School officials went to the board to recommend me, but I thought I couldn't get a permanent job without a (teaching) credential."

Since he drew a paycheck from the Compton Unified School District, Cooper figured he would be a viable candidate for the permanent coaching job.

"Just last night (Tuesday), the (Compton Unified School District) Assistant Superintendent informed me they wanted to look for someone within the school district. If I knew that was the case, I wouldn't have applied for the job in the first place."

Keala King, who last season was a Div. I all-state selection for Cooper's team, has recently transferred to Mater Dei of Santa Ana. The natural reaction is to assume King wanted to join his California Supreme teammates, Gary Franklin and Tyler Lamb, as a three-pronged attack on the perimeter for the Monarchs. According to Cooper, who was in attendance to watch King play, it was also a case of King not knowing exactly who is going to be coaching and playing in a Dominguez uniform.

According to a source, it also appears that talented junior-to-be Norvelle Pelle, who scored nine points for Team Odom in a 78-61 loss to the Playaz Club Gold out of New Jersey Wednesday morning, will transfer out of Dominguez as well. It also wouldn't surprise us if talented sophomore-to-be point guard Chris Croom heads for, shall we say, greener pastures.

No word yet where he will end up, but he's an intriguing prospect who was invited to try out for the U16 U.S. National team earlier this summer. He's still passive at times and doesn't always fight hard for rebounds, but he was the best long-term prospect on a talented Team Odom squad that didn't play its best game on Wednesday. What the 6-foot-9 Pelle does well is pass out of the post and he also knows how to flash to get in position.

"It's funny (this happened) because I feel like I was just getting to him," Cooper said.

*It appears the Team Odom duo of Ramon Eaton and Darius Nelson (Sheldon, Sacramento) will be a package deal in college. According to Eaton, they are "98 percent sure" they will attend the same college. Eaton said Darius' older brother, DeMarcus Nelson, the 2004 CalHiSports.com Mr. Basketball now with the Golden State Warriors, acts as a mentor to the duo. What he does is point out what to look for in a college and which ones to avoid.

Nelson, who was the state freshman of the year two years ago and runner-up to Angelo Chol (Hoover, San Diego) among sophomores, was forcing the action a bit trying to help his team get back in the ballgame. Eaton, on the other hand, has to continue to be aggressive every possession and still has to work on putting the ball on the floor to attack the basket. Eaton listed his favorites, in order, as LMU, Texas, Florida, Kentucky, Oregon and Arizona.

*Team Odom also included Isaac Hamilton, the younger brother of former Compton Dominguez and L.A. Dorsey standout Jordan Hamilton, bound for Texas. The 6-foot-3 Hamilton will be a freshman at Crenshaw of Los Angeles this fall and is an early candidate for the freshman all-state team. There is another Hamilton brother coming up the ranks, 5-foot-8 seventh-grader, Daniel.

*Peshon Howard, a talented 6-foot-2 senior-to-be from Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, is a Southern California native who competed with both Team Odom and later in the day with the Compton Magic Black, which lost to the SYF Players out of Indiana. When we asked him what school he would be attending if he played his high school ball in SoCal, Howard responded, "Mater Dei."

*Anthony January (Team Odom) and Eric Cooper Jr. (Belmont Shore) are young prospects that not only have bright futures, but fathers whose names are forever etched in our state record book. During the 1984-1985 season, Eric Cooper of Wilmington Banning was a first team all-state guard along with Glendale's Rich Grande. Anthony January, meanwhile, was an all-L.A. City Section choice and all-state underclass selection at rival Carson High.

Although the elder Cooper, who played collegiate ball at Arizona and Texas-San Antonio, ended his prep career as one of the state's best players, his career had humble beginnings. At first he made the Pilots' varsity club as a 10th-grader, but was dropped to the junior varsity to work on his jumper.

"I had a two-handed set shot that I released with the left hand. I was sent down to work on it and the guy who converted it was David Wilburn," Cooper recalled. "Yeah, the Wilburn brothers (David and Gilbert). What I remember about Anthony January was that he was an athlete. He wasn't the smartest guy on the court, but neither was I. Compared to my son I was more athletic."

So how does the younger Cooper, who will be coached my his father at La Verne Lutheran this fall as an incoming ninth-grader, compare at the same age? Cooper Sr. has some strong words.

"It's not even close, he's even better than I was as a senior (right now)," Cooper Sr. said. "He's so far ahead because he's got that knowledge of the college and pro game from me that I passed along. I did not have that."

As for the younger Cooper's game, he is already pushing 6-foot-2 and has the build to easily add a few more inches. He is an advanced defender for his age and a good anticipator. In an eventual 79-78 loss on Wednesday night to Grassroots Canada Elite, Cooper threw a couple of passes he'd probably like back, but he did make a huge three-pointer and a lay-up to cut Grassroots Canada's lead to one point (74-73) late in the game. Conservatively, he's one of the three best incoming freshman prospects in the state.

"He doesn't tell me anything, everybody else tells me," Cooper Jr. said about his father's high school career. "He says I was better than him, but I know he could leap out of the gym."

"Out here (with Belmont Shore) I'm trying to improve my jumper and show I can play with the older guys and do well," Cooper Jr. added. "At La Verne Lutheran this fall, we're trying to win state."

With Cooper Jr. coming in, and 6-foot-7 senior-to-be Jordan Salley, Bruce English, along with Cooper Jr.'s older cousin, C.J. Cooper, returning to the fold, a state title seems to be a realistic goal.

As for the younger January, he's a 6-foot-4 sophomore-to-be at Compton High. He has a lot of filling out to do and needs to work on his perimeter game, but he's an unselfish young talent that seems to defer to the older players.

"Anthony did better than what I did my first year," remarked Compton senior-to-be Cliff Sims Jr., who played for the California Supreme Black. "He's a really hard worker and he plays more defense than I did. He also plays with an attitude, he'll move without the ball to get open."

Along with January, Allen Gui, a 5-foot-9 junior-to-be, is another Compton player that made a positive impact on Wednesday at the GBOA event for Team Odom. With that in mind, Sims has lofty goals for this upcoming season.

"We want to obviously do better than last year," said Sims Jr.,,whose favorites include Arizona State, San Jose St., Long Beach St., Portland, and Cal. "Since DeMar DeRozan left, people have forgotten about us. We want to put Compton High on the map again."