Trickery? Changing minds? One final yes-or-no look?

One other element that is brazenly on display this week in Las Vegas is the element of trickery. Not all coaches do it -- some don't have to. Actually, it's near impossible to tell when a coaching staff is modeling such behavior because obviously only they truly know.

How it works is a coach shows up at a game featuring a kid who isn't connected to the recruiting plans of that school. Fellow coaches begin to wonder. Why is Coach X here to see? Is he serious about Player Y?

Or is this a jab step -- a feint -- when the coach and his staff are really going in another direction but want to throw off would-be competitors? Maybe they have a sleeper in mind who plays the same position and want to give the impression that Player Y is their #1 target.

Hey, possibly they are there looking at a different player on display.

Now St. Mary's, Pacific, San Jose State and UC Davis have offered CA forward Josh Ritchart. A handful of PAC-10 schools are sniffing around. Rivals also lists Nevada. SCOUT has everyone already mentioned plus San Francisco and Santa Clara in the mix. Ritchart is painfully thin (something that can generally be remedied) but nicely skilled. He could break as a big-time player if and when he achieves physical maturity.

At one of the games featuring Team Superstar (Ritchart's club squad), David Carter was in the stands. This per SCOUT's Dave Telep.

So was Carter evaluating or re-evaluating Ritchart? Could it have been a make-or-break final look this week? (Ritchart scored two points and grabbed four boards) Was Carter actually checking out someone else on Team Superstar or from the opposing team? Or was he, to mix sports metaphors, throwing a curveball?

You can bet the other coaches in the gym would love to know. Of course, what were the reasons they were there? Yes, there are coaches who are friends but college basketball is a business and our sense if every single coach likes to pull a fast one if it is do-able.

All in all, it's a fascinating process.