SUMMER BASKETBALL : Brother, O Brother: O’Bannon, O’Bannon

Expectations are high that UCLA can return to championship form with the addition of incoming freshman Charles O’Bannon to a starting lineup that already features his brother Ed.

However, the O’Bannons have not played together competitively since Ed was a senior at Artesia High and they combined to win the State Division II title in 1990. So when the Just Say No to Drugs college summer league rosters were announced, a lot of attention was given to Branca’s Pasadena Crew, which starred the O’Bannons.

For only the third time this summer, Ed and Charles were on the same court Thursday night to lead Pasadena to an easy 95-88 quarterfinal victory over DARE in the Just Say No to Drugs college tournament at Cal State Los Angeles.

The O’Bannons appeared tired from their long summer journey, but the more than 1,000 fans applauded their performance.

“It was not a great game to see us play,” said Charles, who scored 13 points. “My shot was off and Ed couldn’t get it down either.”

UCLA senior guard Shon Tarver, who played for DARE, was impressed with his teammates and said he is anxious for the start of Bruin practice Nov. 1.

“My senior year is going to be a blessing because no matter what happens I’ll be going out with a good team,” he said. “Everyone thinks they can win a championship, but I think our chances have improved with the addition of Charles.”

During his final months before college, Charles O’Bannon played at Boston Garden for a high school all-star team in the Boston Shootout. He was a counselor at the Nike Camp in Indianapolis and recently returned from the Olympic Festival in San Antonio.

Ed O’Bannon, who scored 18 points Thursday, spent most of his summer trying out and playing for the United States team in the World Games in Buffalo, N.Y. He suffered an injury to his right wrist--his non-shooting hand--and has been wearing a soft cast.

Although he looks forward to playing with his younger brother, Ed O’Bannon said he enjoyed being away from home: “I’m very excited to be playing with my brother, (but) we live different lives and we’re not always together. I need to work on my game and he needs to work on his.”

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Add college hoops--The Just Say No Classic finals will be today8 beginning with the women’s championship game at 1 p.m. and the men’s championship game at 3 p.m.

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Summer stars--The summer basketball season ended Aug. 1 with three of the biggest events of the year--the Las Vegas Slam-N-Jam tournament, the Basketball Congress International at Arizona State University and the Pump-N-Run Classic at Cal Poly Pomona.

Guard Tommie Davis of Fremont and guard Andre Miller of Verbum Dei were selected to the Pump-N-Run’s top 12 all-star team. Other California players selected were Rafer Alston of Riverside J.W. North, Tony Gonzalez of Huntington Beach, Shawn Hale of San Jose Oak Grove, and Jeremy Veal of San Dimas.

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The Fab 40--Nike plans to invite the nation’s top 40 high school prospects to a career development weekend Sept. 10-12 at the company’s Beaverton, Ore., headquarters.

The fab 40 will hear lectures on drug abuse, how to succeed as a student athlete and dealing with the media.

Toby Bailey of Loyola, Jelani Gardner of Bellflower St. John Bosco, Cameron Murray of Glendora, J.R. Henderson of Bakersfield East, Rick Price of Gardena Serra, and Miles Simon of Santa Ana Mater Dei are among the Southern California players expected to attend.

Schea Cotton, an incoming freshman at St. John Bosco, also has been invited.

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Final word--The biggest surprise of the summer camp season was forward Tremaine Fowlkes of Crenshaw. The 6-6 forward is considered one of the top three senior prospects in the state and one of the top 10 small forwards in the nation, according to camp organizer David Pump.