By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

Early on, Glenn Young probably had more of an inkling than most people on just how far out of hand this whole LeBron James sideshow would one day careen.

For 19 years, Young has run the Iolani Prep Basketball Classic, a popular Christmas vacation gathering of some of the best high school teams and players in the nation at the cozy Iolani School gym.

But not until last year, when he inquired about the availability of St. Vincent-St. Mary High of Akron, Ohio, and its young star, had Young figured he'd heard it all.

Sure, they would consider coming, Young was told: But it will cost you $10,000.

Oh, and that's $10,000 a day for four or five days.

For that, you could get the Lakers or a tournament full of marquee college teams. Considering that the Classic is something of a goodwill event that does not make money, requiring the gate receipts and the generous assistance of an anonymous Iolani alumnus to subsidize the visitors' local expenses, Young's decision wasn't a tough one.

More troubling would be the inevitable thoughts about where that kind of money was going. "I didn't ask," Young said. "And, I didn't want to know, either."

While James didn't make it to Honolulu, somebody must have struck a deal somewhere else, because he and the anything-goes traveling circus that has hitched itself to his retro shirttails have made it to California, New Jersey and other points. Not all in the same Hummer, though.

That James and his team have been playing something of a semi-pro barnstorming schedule shouldn't be much of a surprise since they left the realms of both high school sports and reason behind sometime ago.

James is no longer an innocent. But you look at the amount of money being showered over the 18-year-old and the number of out-stretched palms grabbing at the loose change, and there shouldn't be any wonder why he saw no problem in accepting the $845 in jerseys that have put his high school eligibility at risk. Or that he might be puzzled by the ensuing fuss.

With shoe companies lining up to cash in on him as the next mega-star, and who knows how many people pimping his talents across four time zones, why shouldn't James reason that as long as they are going to the bank on him, he might as well get his, too?

With ESPN making him bigger than life and agents and coaches all too willing to kiss his diamond jewelry, perspective was an early casualty in James' career.