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take in the action. Wall was a talent judge, and in-between signing autographs, chop- ping it up with players and snapping pic- tures, the 6-4 guard was taking notes. Of the 100 invited players, only 35 were going to be invited back to the second Washing- ton, D.C., Red Bull Midnight Run session, and it was up to Wall to decide who would make the return trip. Downing Red Bulls like they were a part of his summertime diet, the Wizards' point guard went from court to court to check in on who was showing out. I trailed him like a stray dog, jotting notes every few minutes whenever he'd see a nice dish or a slick dribble move and proclaim he'd found a keeper. It might've been late on a Saturday night, but Wall was definitely enjoying himself. "I like him. He's playing bully ball, posting up," Wall noted about former Manhattan forward Christian Jackson. "You gotta cock that back next time! With your left!" he yelled after Dele Ojo put down an explosive fast-break finish. "He don't like to miss," he pointed out about Allmond, the man who once set a Rupp Arena record by hitting 11 triples in a game against Wall and Kentucky. "His shots don't even hit rim." At a few points, Wall even got so hyped they almost had to stop the game. Virginia Beach's Ralph Hegamin Jr. was dominating at times, and even though he likens his game to Carmelo Anthony, He- gamin Jr. made three or four passes out of the post that drew oohs and aahs from the crowd. When Wall saw him play, he cuffed his hands and shouted out in the middle of the game for the 6-8 forward's name. "I had a lot of respect for the guys out here," Hegamin Jr. said, "which in turn made me play better because I wanted to turn my game up with the crowd that's here." There was also a vertical leap test, and Wall even tried that. With jeans on, he touched 11 feet and two inches. One of the other players hit 11-6, the highest point available. That was Myles Holley, who spent parts of the evening defying the laws of physics with double-pump windmills and nasty alley-oop finishes. As for the games, a team from the famed Goodman League led the action. The group, driven by snipers like Jamal Haywood and Anthony Williams, has been playing to- gether since they were teenagers. Just last summer, they added NBA All-Star Kevin Durant to the lineup and won the Good- man League title. In their final game of the night, they were half of the best defensive matchup of the night: a double-overtime thriller where neither team could score in the final extra session. On a neighboring court, another classic was taking place, with Kelly Beidler tip- ping in an offensive rebound for the win at the buzzer. "I came in knowing that this can give me a look, somewhere," said Allmond, who played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA's D-League last year, "somehow if I keep moving into the top 35 and then the top eight. "This can make a career." While the Midnight Run launch in Wash- ington, D.C. ,was a spectacular success, before the whole tour is over, 32 of the very best from all four host cities – D.C., New York City, Boston and Chicago – will converge on the hallowed grounds of Brooklyn, New York for the finals later this year. Once there, eight players from each city will go out and represent their towns for a shot at the ultimate bragging rights. For more info on Red Bull Midnight Run, go to redbullusa.com/midnightrun. 21