The Preps / Pat Cannon : Lewis Will Choose UNLV, or Syracuse, or . . .

The Tom Lewis situation grows more and more curious.

The national signing day for basketball players is Wednesday, but the All-American forward from Mater Dei won’t announce his choice of a college until after an all-star game at Dallas Saturday. Lewis, who was being wooed by more than 200 schools earlier this season, has narrowed the list of potential suitors to two--Nevada Las Vegas and Syracuse.

Monday night, Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim was in Orange County with assistant coach Bernie Fine to make a last pitch for the 6-7 senior. A few hours earlier, assistant Tim Grgurich of Las Vegas offered the final arguments for the Rebels.

What’s going to happen?

Lewis isn’t talking, but listen to the principals and see if you can figure it out.

Former Mater Dei assistant Pat Barrett has accompanied his protege on every recruiting trip and is expected to be given a job at either school in return for delivering the body.

Barrett, who is Lewis’ legal guardian, told The Times’ Tom Hamilton: “The worst situation for me would be Syracuse, but that’s the school Tom likes the most. We’ll do what’s best for Tom. If I was doing this for myself, he’d sign with Arizona State, but the uncertain future of their entire athletic program ruled them out.”

A Syracuse assistant: “We think that Tom wants to come here and if it was just him, he would. But if we lose him, it will be because Barrett wants him at Vegas.”

Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian: “It’s all going to boil down to who is going to make the decision, Tom or Pat. If Tom makes the choice we think he will come here. But I hear Barrett is leaning toward Syracuse.”

Add Tarkanian: “I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I’ll say this. Pat Barrett doesn’t have a degree, and this is a state institution. I told Pat he can’t be a coach. I told him we’d make him a student manager, and when he gets a degree then maybe he can coach.

“Hey, I’ve been in this business too long. All I can do is wait. Tommy is a super kid. I’d love to have him. If we get him fine, if not, he’ll be going to a good program.”

Add Boeheim: Tarkanian and Boeheim are close friends. Indeed, Boeheim will be in Las Vegas tonight to attend the UNLV basketball awards banquet.

Add Lewis: Barrett, who coached Lewis in the Dapper Dan all-star game last Tuesday in Pittsburgh, said UCLA fell out of the running by not sending a representative to that game.

“Just about every coach in the country was in Pittsburgh, including John Thompson, who had lost in the NCAA final the night before,” Barrett said. “UCLA was in our gym only once. They made one home visit.

“Tom’s right in their backyard, and they’ve only been to three or four games. That doesn’t show interest to me.”

The Arcadia Invitational will be held Saturday at Arcadia High and some of the finest prep track stars in the state are expected to compete.

The discus competition, featuring Capistrano Valley’s Brian Blutreich, who recently broke the state record with a throw of 210 feet 8 inches, will begin at 4 p.m. The rest of the field events will start at 5:30, with the running events set to get under way at 6:30.

The meet traditionally showcases some of the area’s finest athletes.

One of the best is Henry Thomas, who anchored Hawthorne’s 1,600-meter relay team to a victory over Dallas Roosevelt in the Texas Relays last Saturday. The time of 3:07.40 was an all-time national schoolboy best, breaking the mark of 3:08.84 set by Berkeley in 1981. Thomas’ split for 400 meters was 44.5.

After Michael Graham, Michael Marsh and Kelly had opened a lead, Thomas outsprinted Roosevelt’s Roy Martin to the tape and silenced a crowd of about 18,000.

Thomas, who is expected to sign with UCLA Wednesday, false-started in the 100-meters at Texas and didn’t get a chance to go head to head with Martin.

“The starter held him way to long, and Heny just rolled out too soon,” Hawthorne Coach Kye Courtney said.

One athlete not expected to compete at Arcadia is high jumper Ken Burke of Westlake, the defending state champion, who injured his sciatic nerve earlier this season.

Prep Notes In ceremonies last Tuesday night at The Times, Crenshaw basketball Coach Willie West, who guided the Cougars to a state championship, was named Central City Coach of the Year, and his star guard, Stephen Thompson, was named Player of the Year. . . . San Gabriel’s Cathy Watlet, who averaged 19.8 points and 11.9 rebounds, has verbally committed to Nevada Las Vegas. . . . Richard A. Ready, an offensive line coach at Miami of Ohio, has been named football coach at St. Paul, replacing Jim Walker, who resigned earlier this year.