July was sweet for Honeycutt

When Tyler Honeycutt finished the whirlwind July evaluation period and walked through the doors of his Sylmar, Calif., home, he dropped his bags and crashed.

He crashed hard. The 6-foot-8, 185-pound from Sylmar High said he was ready to rest his busy legs.

"My first night when I got home, I think I slept in until three o'clock in the afternoon or something," Honeycutt said. "It was my first night at home in a month."

The fast-rising wing was understandably spent. He and his Pump 'N Run teammates, like every other grassroots star, spent July bouncing from city to city, hotel room to hotel room and 12-passenger vans and rental cars for a good month.

Oh, and Honeycutt was doing work on the hardwood, too.

"I think I did pretty good," Honeycutt said. "Everyone played good together. Everyone played their part. We just lost the games when we ran out of gas…I wanted to help where I could. I wanted to be there on the help side, blocking shots and rebounding. Then I wanted to knock down the open shot when I could and pass to everybody."

Honeycutt's ascension started in the spring and he ended the summer strong in Las Vegas and in Los Angeles. He's a big wing that can do different things at different positions. Honeycutt's length and versatility has made him a hot prospect by several different teams.

"I think that is why a lot of people like me because I'm so big and I can do a little bit of everything," Honeycutt said. "I want to do a little bit of everything. I want to be able to do my part. I want to improve my on the ball defense. I want to get better in everything.

"After the spring, there seemed to be a big hype about me. I knew that I had to keep playing good so it just wasn't hype. That kind of keeps you more in focus so you watch what you do best…My high school coach told me to keep working at your game because there is a lot of hype out there about you and that people are saying you are the biggest thing in the valley since Jordan Farmar."

That's good company to be with. Honeycutt's recruitment is going down the same route the former SoCal stud went down. Honeycutt has gone from a mid-major must-get to a high-major priority for a couple of Pac-10 schools and a pair of NCAA tournament regulars.

UCLA, USC, Memphis and Texas are his final four schools, Honeycutt says. He unofficially visited UCLA and USC last week. Trips to the other two have yet to be planned, he says.

"My [Slymar assistant coach Shawn Bankhead] played for Tim Floyd [at Iowa State] so they caught up on a lot of stuff," Honeycutt said of his time with the Trojans. "They have good chemistry together. They both told me about each other so that was cool.

"UCLA was a good trip. I sat down and talked to the athletic advisor. I asked a lot of questions. Both of my high school coaches spoke to them and I think everyone got along really well. Then we watched a film and just did a lot of talking."

Both California schools have offered scholarships while Memphis and Texas have not tendered a free ride.

"I want to find a place with playing time. The area matters but not really. I like living in California but it's not going to matter for me," Honeycutt said. "The style of play is going to be something that I look at because I want to go somewhere that I can showcase my talent. Playing for coaches that I like is going to be big. My high school coach now is great. We have great chemistry so that is something that I want to find."

A place with a good bed wouldn't hurt either.