SUPERSTAR BASKETBALL CAMP : STAR SEARCH ’90 : West Coast’s Best High School Players Elbow for Position in the Spotlight at Superstar Basketball Camp in Santa Barbara

A group of about 500 high school basketball players and coaches are doing their best to scream and yell loud enough to get the thunder meter inside the Events Center at UC Santa Barbara to reach 100.

Never mind that the thunderous roar is being recorded at 11 p.m. on a Wednesday.

At the recently completed Superstar Camp, basketball was on everyone’s mind around the clock. Camp founder Max Shapiro said he averaged less than five hours of sleep a night during the five-day camp.

On Wednesday night, the annual slam dunk contest produced several standing ovations. The traditional ritual allowed participants to dazzle the crowd with an array of dunks.

Rick Famuyiwa of St. Bernard High received the evening’s top score of 99 on the thunder meter when he successfully leaped over two players squatted on the court on his way to a flying one-handed dunk.

The acrobatic move caught the attention of college coaches, who had gathered in the upper bleachers throughout the week to watch the action.

The purpose of the camp has been the same since its inception in 1974: To allow the best high school players in the West to see how they stack up against each other. Superstar was the first camp of its kind in California and remains one of the area’s best known.

“I’ve been to a lot of camps over the years and this one really gets the best of the crop,” said Jim Brovelli, coach at the University of San Francisco. “The players are treated well here and there are no gimmicks. Everyone just gets a chance to play and show what they can do.”

While many summer camps are open to anyone, Superstar is by invitation only. Shapiro, whose San Francisco-based company Sports-world sponsors the camp, works with coaches and scouts to decide whom to invite. The majority of this year’s 288 participants are from California, but top players from as far as Hawaii and Colorado attended. Martin King of Georgetown Prep in Rockville, Md., also made the trip.

The price tag of $435, which doesn’t include transportation costs, didn’t seem to affect anyone. Shapiro said he had to turn away 60 players. “We’ve gotten bigger every year,” he said.

A list of the camp’s alumni, including NBA standouts Bill Cartwright, Bill Laimbeer, Kiki Vandeweghe and Fat Lever, and the fact that about 150 college coaches show up is usually enough to persuade most prep players to attend.

“This is the only camp I’m attending this summer,” said Famuyiwa, who will be a senior guard for the Vikings this season. “I was here last year and I know it’s a good one. I’m here to improve my stock with the recruiters.”

Superstar provides very little time for practice or instruction. Most of the time spent on the court is reserved for playing games. The camp is broken down into 32 teams with nine players each, and there is a minimum of two games a day. When there is a break, most players can be found shooting baskets on an available court.

“This camp is really a measuring stick,” said Superstar director Rick Everleth, who coaches at La Jolla High. “A lot of players are stars at small schools, so this gives them a chance to see how they stack up against players from big schools. This camp draws many top players, so it helps a lot of guys put everything in proper perspective.

“Many find out here if they’re college material or not.”

Superstar began receiving more attention from college coaches in 1983 when the NCAA adopted the early signing period, which allowed high school players to sign letters of intent in November.

Under NCAA guidelines, college coaches are allowed to evaluate players from July 5 to 31 this year. While coaches cannot have direct contact with potential recruits, players are aware of their presence. Mike Montgomery of Stanford and Carroll Williams of Santa Clara were among the coaches who made the trip to Santa Barbara.

Many coaches had flown in from Princeton, N.J., where the prestigious Nike Camp was being held. The Nike Camp draws the top 120 seniors from across the country and almost all earn a Division I scholarship.

But what makes Superstar special is that most of its participants are fighting for basketball survival. There is plenty of opportunities for a player to prove what he can do and an outstanding performance can vault an unknown into the spotlight.

Nearly all of the college coaches had lists full of names.

“I normally have an idea before I get here of who I want to look at,” Brovelli said. “But there are always some surprises. There’s always a sleeper in the bunch. You have to keep all of your options open because you never know which players are going to be interested in your program. They can really surprise you sometimes.

“There isn’t much time to watch these guys, so you really have to stay on top of it and follow through all of your leads.”

Brovelli signed seven players to scholarships last year and two of them, including his son Mike, attended Superstar.

Coaches are not allowed to discuss names of potential recruits, but Paul Perkins of South Pasadena and David Harbour of Camarillo were two of the big surprises at the camp.

Perkins, a 6-6 forward/center, and Harbour, a 6-3 guard, generally were regarded as talented players who needed work on the fundamentals. They showed they could score and play defense at Superstar and were selected among the top 15 players at the camp.

Highly regarded recruits Tyus Edney of Long Beach Poly and Juaquin Hawkins of Lynwood also made the top 15.

Many underclassmen also attended the camp to polish their game and give the coaches an early glimpse of their talents. Juniors Deshaun Battle of Cajon and Brandon Titus of Gahr were among the top 15.

Since as many as 10 indoor courts were being utilized simultaneously, it was difficult to keep up with all of the action. When players were not shooting baskets, they were either eating, sleeping or being shuffled to classrooms for academic counseling.

Johnny Lorigo, head of counseling services for the Oakland Unified School District, has been lecturing to Superstar players for the past 12 years. One of his main objectives is to educate campers on the hazards of recruiting.

“I let them know when coaches can talk with them and what’s legal and what’s not,” Lorigo said. “I give them sets of questions to ask and tell them what to look for when they make their visitations. I don’t want them to have any major surprises when they get to college.”

Lorigo also discusses academic standards players are required to meet to avoid Proposition 48. Players took a sample Scholastic Aptitude Test and the results will be mailed to their homes so they can see where they need to improve.

Orlando Woolridge of the Lakers also made an appearance, talking with players about the hazards of drug and alcohol abuse.

But basketball has priority at Superstar, and the players spend most of their time on the court. Helping keep order is a large staff of high school coaches and counselors.

The coaches, many of whom have been attending the camp for years, like Mike LeDuc of Glendora and Bill Odell of Millikan, are assigned two teams. Shapiro said there is a waiting list of 20 coaches who want to work at the camp.

Counselors are college players who help the high school coaches on the court and maintain order in the dormitories. The most popular counselor among the players was Alex Austin, who attended Arizona State and recently signed with Houston Rockets. He often was found playing a game of one-on-one with a daring challenger.

The coaches and counselors get together at the end of camp and evaluate all of the players. Each player receives an evaluation card that rates his skills on offense, defense and ball handling.

A round-robin tournament is held on the final day to determine a team champion. But which team comes out victorious is less important than which individuals come out winners.

For those who didn’t shine, their hope is for a second chance to prove their value by attending another camp or by playing in a high-profile summer league.

Those who did make an impression cross their fingers and hope the college coaches start calling. And then it’s back to the basketball court.