by Elton Alexander, Plain Dealer Reporter , Plain Dealer

A story in Thursday's sports section about the King City Classic misidentified Sean O'Toole. He is the head coach at St. Ignatius High School.

LeBRON JAMES KING CITY CLASSIC

The coaches' sign-in placard at the LeBron James King City Classic could probably bring a pretty penny on eBay.

Everybody who is anybody in NCAA Division I college coaching was on it, from Coach K (Duke's Mike Krzyzewski) to Coach Cal (Kentucky's John Calipari), with a Tubby Smith (Minnesota) and John Thompson III (Georgetown) thrown in.

Also on the Wolstein Center list at Cleveland State, the two most recent NCAA title game coaches - Roy Williams from champion North Carolina and Tom Izzo from Michigan State. But one coach who shook as many hands as any in the building was Isiah Thomas, former coach and general manager of the New York Knicks and the new head coach at Florida International University.

Thomas said he's getting up to speed on all things collegiate.

"It's educational," he said. "I'm learning a whole new set of rules, from the difference between state institutions and private institutions, along with learning the rules within the NCAA."

The NCAA rule book has been considered daunting by many, but Thomas said, "It's no more confusing than the [NBA's] salary cap."

One big plus for Thomas, particularly with the icons of college coaching, is the fact he has known them for years as an NBA administrator.

"I've evaluated many of their players over the years, so I have a good relationship with many of the coaches already," he said.

However, Thomas said scheduling games is an acquired taste. "I'm learning about that one," said the former Indiana Hoosier. "You know we open with Ohio State, Big Ten, so at least I know something about that."

Oops: That might be Ohio State, as head coach Thad Matta and new assistant Jeff Boals sat on the front rail and watched as 6-3 Benedictine High product Cameron Wright clearly got the better of 6-7 DeShaun Thomas in their team and one-on-one matchup in the first game of the day

"I got 'D,' " Wright said afterward. "I'm not worried about that."

Wright was once headed to OSU, but is now wide open in the recruiting process.

Among the schools he's interested in are Dayton, Wisconsin, Indiana, Notre Dame, Ohio University and Cleveland State, "and hopefully a few more after this," Wright said.

Seen: LeBron James was sitting and talking to Duke's Coach K. Don't know if that confirms that Krzyzewski will lead the 2012 Olympic team, as speculated, but it certainly confirms that James and the coach have bonded since winning the 2008 Olympic basketball gold together.

Then again, perhaps the next U.S. Olympic head coach will be former NBA coaching washout turned college coaching icon Calipari, now the head man at Kentucky. James was seen talking with Calipari as well.

Pure and simple: Euclid basketball coach Sean O'Toole is working the LeBron James Skills Academy and King City Classic for the third straight season. And for the third straight season the fundamental focus for the high school players is the same as it is for the pros.

"The big emphasis is the pick and roll," O'Toole said. "It's as old school as you can get, but it's still the toughest thing for players to defend. It still creates all the mismatches for post players, wings and point guards."

O'Toole said that even as offensive philosophies evolve from motion to triangle to whatever, the most basic offense remains the best.

"Even today, you can do everything you want off the pick and roll," he said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

ealexander@plaind.com, 216-999-4253

Copyright 2009 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.