Lavender soaking it all in

Brendon Lavender went Las Vegas two weeks ago and won a fortune. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard from Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona doesn't gamble either.

He struck it rich on the hardwood. The Rivals150 guard earned a handful of offers from a number of high-major schools after his stellar play with his Arizona Magic AAU team.

Arizona offered. So did Cal and Kansas.

"I was thinking that this is just the beginning," Lavender said of his play at the Las Vegas Spring Classic. "I'm hoping people realize what kind of basketball player I am. I'm getting a chance to show people that haven't had a chance to see much of me yet."

Playing at one of the best programs in the country, Lavender picked his spots to shine as a junior playing with a pair of Division I bound seniors.

"On my Mountain View team, coach loves to have set plays and we go around setting pick and rolls, he stresses defense and organization. At Mountain View, people saw me as a guy that can get assists to guys like Kendall Wallace (a UNLV signee) and Harper Kamp (a Cal signee). They really haven't seen what I can do.

"I like to pass a lot and I like to shoot it but whenever I passed it, somebody was shooting and scoring. Everyone here doesn't really know my skill. When I went to Vegas with my club ball team, I was having fun and doing what I like to do and playing my game. People didn't really know that I could shoot, I could dribble, I could defend, I could pass, all of that stuff."

All of that stuff was acknowledged with high-major offers. Earning an offer from Lute Olson is something he has thought long and hard about. The lifelong Arizona native was elated when he found out about the potential of staying home and playing in front of his friends and family.

"It was huge. It was so big. That was awesome," Lavender said of landing a scholarship from the home state Wildcats.

Lavender visited the Tucson campus last weekend, along with Drew Gordon. The visit went as well as Lavender expected.

"It went really good," he said. "It was awesome. I got to meet coach and play with the guys. It was really fun."

The visit marked first time to see the University of Arizona up close and personal. With an offer from Arizona and a quick visit, many have wondered when, not if, he would commit to the Wildcats. Lavender said he wants to take some more time before diving into a commitment.

"U of A, getting an offer from there was like a dream come true. Now, I want to be patient. I don't want to make a move that I'm going to regret," he said. "I know everything is going so good right now but anything can happen. I want to take my time. U of A is definitely at the top right now but I want to wait a little bit to see what is out there. As time goes on, see what happens."

Connecticut, Washington State, Utah and Oklahoma have all offered as well and Lavender said he anticipates them all being on the sidelines at the Kingwood Classic this weekend to see him play.

"I'm excited (for the Kingwood Classic) because this is going to be pretty good tournament, really good actually. It's going to wake us up. The competition in Houston and the competition in Vegas is totally different," he said. "I went to Houston last year but I didn't play because I was injured. I was watching some of the guys there last year. They were beasts. It was unreal. This is going to be fun. I can't wait to go and face that competition."