The GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational returned to its roots this year, but the three-day event provided glimpses of the future as some of the best high school basketball players in the country played.

The 36th annual tournament was played in front of capacity crowds at Broughton's historic and newly refurbished Holliday Gymnasium.

The gym was sold out for many of the games.

There were far fewer national teams than in recent years, but in-state teams like Raleigh Word of God, Ravenscroft and Kinston helped keep the talent level high.

The most talked about player was Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft point guard Larry Drew, a University of North Carolina recruit.

Everybody in the gym seemed to have an opinion on his future contributions to the Tar Heels.

Drew plays on a team with a half dozen players with the potential to play on the Division I level, and he is more concerned with running the offense than scoring.

He can shoot, but prefers to keep everyone involved in the offense and concentrates on defense.

"He can dominate a game without scoring a lot," Taft coach Derrick Taylor said.

He looked very solid on his cross country trip.

Jonathan Wall, who repeated his sophomore year at Word of God after earning all-conference honors at Garner as a sophomore, showed why he is ranked among the best junior basketball players in the country.

He is a 6-foot-4 streaking point guard who can shoot, jump, pass, defend and handles the ball so well that he can make defenders fall down trying to keep up with him.

He showed why he is being recruited on a national level. He probably was the most impressive player in the field.

Word of God sophomore C.J. Leslie also solidified his stature on the national level. He committed to N.C. State after his freshman year at Holly Springs High and transferred to Word of God for this season.

Leslie seemed to thrive in the tournament atmosphere. He was flying high and dunking with the best of them. Once on a fast break, he took a pass off the backboard and slammed it.

Kinston senior guard Donovan Ingram showed his shooting ability during the tournament, but teammate Reggie Bullock generated a buzz among the field of national recruiting writers in town for the Invitational.

Bullock is 6-5 and has the ability to shoot from the perimeter or penetrate.

Bullock also is being recruited nationally.

"The big job for Reggie is to take the shovel with both hands and get to work in the classroom," Kinston coach Wells Gulledge said. "If he gets that work done, he can just about pick any school he wants."

Ravenscroft's 6-9 1/2 Ryan Kelly doesn't have any academic problems and is continuing to attract more and more national attention.

He started for the Ravens as a 6-5 freshman and last year as a 6-7 sophomore.

In addition to growing, he also has improved a tremendous amount.

Ravens coach Kevin Billerman said Kelly spends half of his time in skills sessions with perimeter players and half with post players.

"He is multi-dimensional," Billerman said.

Kelly said he is hearing from lots of schools, but he isn't in a hurry to push his recruitment along. He wants to get to know the coaches and their programs.

The Invitational included the top four leading scorers in the area, led by Durham Jordan's Justin Watts and Northern Durham's Hunter McClintuck.

Watts did not shoot well from the perimeter in a tournament-opening 69-48 loss to Taft. He finished with 25 points, primarily on dunks -- some spectacular.

McClintuck was outstanding, even though Northern Durham coach Matt Hunt said McClintuck didn't shoot as well as normal.

McClintuck had never played at Broughton's Holliday Gymnasium before, and he soaked up the atmosphere at a gym where the lobby is like a hall of fame display.

Pete Maravich was one of his heroes when he began playing basketball and he loved the chance to play on the same floor that Maravich did.

Of course, the players seemed as happy and having as much fun in Holliday as they ever did at N.C. State's Reynolds Coliseum, the tournament's home since 1995.

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