LAS VEGAS — Hello from Vegas, where the entire college basketball world is hanging out this week. Saw a bunch of kids today, including several who are interested in Memphis. I’ll give some quick-hitter thoughts and will have some more in-depth articles in the paper later in the week and toward the weekend.

- If I were drafting out of the 2009 class, Renardo Sidney would probably be my first pick. His talent is just off-the-charts. He’s a big man who likes to play around the basket, which is rare these days, but he can also do some other things. Sidney, who is originally from Jackson, Miss., but now lives in Los Angeles, has been criticized for being out of shape but his AAU team likes to get up and down the floor and he seems to be OK. His conditioning will need to improve, granted, but I think he’s a dominant big guy. He and his father both told me that Memphis is definitely on his list and WILL get a visit. So there’s some news for you.

- John Wall is really breathtaking. For the first 10 minutes I watched him Wednesday night, he didn’t do much. But after that, he was unstoppable. I’m not sure how well he shoots it from the outside because he didn’t need to. Like Derrick Rose, Wall has that extra gear and just blows by people. He’s not quite the athlete Rose is, but he plays a simpler, more straightforward game and doesn’t try to make hard plays.

- I watched Nolan Dennis for a half. He’s already committed to the Tigers. Dennis looks like he’ll be a nice piece to the puzzle, but I didn’t really get to see a fair representation of him. He was playing with a migrane headache, which made him sick. Despite not feeling well, he made a few little plays that showed some toughness, even though he lacks physical strength. He’s got an interesting, herky-jerky game.

- Christian Watford impresses me less every time I see him. He doesn’t seem to me to ever play hard, and his defense is lacking severely. I’m not the only one who thinks he might be a bit overrated - in fact, several coaches I talked to today feel the same way - so we’ll see how that develops over the summer.

- Derrick Favors is not the best player in the class of 2009, but he’s very good. The 6-9 forward lacks some skill, but he is a good rebounder and runs the floor.

- The guy to watch off the Atlanta-based team with Favors and Watford is Terrance Shannon. You won’t find him high in the national rankings (Rivals has him at 126), but I wouldn’t be surprised if he moves up. Either way, the Tiger coaches are watching him closely this week and don’t be surprised if they get heavily involved in this one. Shannon is a high-energy guy whose motor runs at all times. He’s a 6-7 forward who is thick enough to play the 4 position and plays kind of a junkyard dog-style game.

- I watched the Abdul Gaddy-Avery Bradley team from Washington. Gaddy is a good point guard, but Bradley is the man off that team. He’s an absolute assassin. He plays an aggressive game, and I think he’s undoubtedly a top-10, maybe top-5 player in this recruiting class. He said he was definitely interested in Memphis and would visit.