Prep Phenom May Turn Pro Experts Praise Guard From Philadelphia Suburbs

Two roads diverge in Kobe Bryant’s future, and both are paved with hardwood.

The 6-foot-6 suburban Philadelphia high school star can choose the well-worn path and play for any college in the nation next year, or he may select the road less traveled and jump straight to pro basketball.

The senior guard-forward at Lower Merion High averages 35 points and 10 rebounds a game; won MVP honors at the elite Adidas-ABCD summer camp; and held his own in summer workouts with the Philadelphia 76ers.

His athleticism, grace and end-to-end court savvy summon up comparisons to Anfernee Hardaway or Grant Hill.

“Kobe Bryant is the most complete player in the class of 1996. What he can’t do, can’t be done,” high school recruiting guru Tom Konchalski said. “He has no weaknesses. None. Zero. Zip.”

Not many 17-year-olds can dictate their own recruiting terms to coaches the caliber of Dean Smith, Rick Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski. But Bryant has: no official campus trips and no home visits. In other words, don’t call him - he’ll have somebody call you. Maybe.

“After the season, I will let everyone know,” Bryant said following a recent game. “Right now, I don’t even know myself.”

One teammate said Bryant would go to either North Carolina or La Salle, unless he’s drafted by his hometown 76ers.

If he does take the college road, it could make all the difference to a program like La Salle, where his father, ex-Sixer Joe “Jelly Bean” Bryant is an assistant coach. Word around campus is that the jobs of coach Speedy Morris and his assistants are on the line.

Would he play a season or two with the Explorers to save his dad’s job? Both father and son say the choice is up to Kobe (pronounced KOH-bee).

“I’m looking out for Kobe’s best interests, and not my own,” said Joe Bryant, a first-round 1975 draft choice who played eight seasons in the NBA and eight more in Europe. “I’m a father first, coach second.”

There are other factors working in favor of La Salle, which has had its problems in its first season in the Atlantic Ten conference.

Bryant’s friend, 6-foot-9 Travar Johnson, has signed a letter of intent with La Salle and another friend, highly touted Donnie Carr of Roman Catholic in Philadelphia, is deciding between La Salle and St. Joseph’s.

Plus, Bryant is from a Big Five family - the Big Five being the five colleges in Philadelphia.

His father played at La Salle and met his mother Pam, a Villanova alum, at a Big Five doubleheader. Their daughter Sharia, 19, is on the volleyball team at Temple and daughter Shaya, 18, plays volleyball at La Salle.

And the Explorers, who have not been to the NCAA tournament since 1992, will need an exciting player such as Bryant if they keep playing their home games off campus. Fewer than 300 fans passed through the turnstiles for one recent game at the Civic Center.

“And don’t forget my mom’s good home cooking,” added Bryant, a polite and pleasant, muscular and mature 205-pounder. “That’s another good reason to stick around. Believe me.”

Bryant, who has scored more than 2,100 points in his career, won’t turn 18 until August and could still grow another inch or two. He is confident that he is both physically and mentally ready for the NBA.

“If I do go pro, I’ll have a lot of people in my corner, helping me to make the transition,” Bryant said. “The way I look at is, I can only get better by playing against the best.”

Four others have made the jump, with varying degrees of success: Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby in 1975, Moses Malone in 1974 and Kevin Garnett last year. All were big men; Bryant, a point guard prospect, would be the first backcourt player to bypass college.

Also, he might not be a lock for the lottery. Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan, Marcus Camby of Massachusetts, Ray Allen of Connecticut, Georgetown’s Allen Iverson and Kerry Kittles of Villanova would likely all go higher, although the cellar-dwelling Sixers might take a chance.

With the NBA’s rookie salary cap, a late first-round selection earns in the neighborhood of $2 million over three seasons. But Bryant already lives near that neighborhood, playing ball on the ritzy Main Line.

And Kobe doesn’t need basketball to go to college - he scored 1,080 on the SAT, has better than a 3.0 grade point average and speaks fluent Italian.

A strong voice against Bryant’s turning pro is Marty Blake, director of scouting for the NBA.

“He’s a very good high school basketball player - with the emphasis on high school,” Blake said. “Garnett was an exception. He was 19 and he was 6-11. Kobe’s just not ready yet.”

The November early signing period has come and gone, so Bryant now must wait until April to commit to a school. He has until mid-May to declare his eligibility for the June NBA draft, but under NCAA rules he gets 30 days to decide whether to sign with the team that drafts him. If he doesn’t, and he doesn’t sign with an agent, he loses no college eligibility.

“No matter what he decides, he’s going to have to live with it,” said Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer, whose Aces (12-3) have improved from 4-18 in Bryant’s freshman year to 26-5 and the state playoffs last season.

“It will be a tough transition, but what makes Kobe so special is that he’s a complete player,” Downer said. “He’s got unbelievable versatility, and he’s totally unselfish. His potential is unlimited.”

Sixers coach and general manager John Lucas said his team was impressed with Bryant’s level of play.

“He showed up a couple of my guys when he was working out with us last summer,” Lucas said. “He’s got all the tools to be a phenomenal player in this league, but the NBA’s not going anywhere.”

Konchalski said Bryant has the ideal combination of skills, athleticism and intangibles, but shouldn’t give up dorm life.

“I think every kid deserves the right to be 18 and go to college,” he said. “Let him play one, two or three more years of basketball without the pressures of a million-dollar paycheck and just have some fun.”

Garnett, averaging 6.2 points as a rookie with Minnesota, was recently asked what advice he would give.

“Tell Kobe to be his own man,” he replied. “Tell him that once he is in the pros, there’s no turning back. Whatever he decides, whether it’s the NBA or college, he has to put all his effort into it.”