TEANECK, N.J. -- Who's the next LeBron James?

There isn't one in the class of 2004.

Still, there are possibly 10 players who are considering being the next Kendrick Perkins or Travis Outlaw -- talented enough to get drafted in the first round out of high school, regardless of their readiness to play in the NBA in a year.

Remember the names Dwight Howard, Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Shaun Livingston, Josh Smith and Robert Swift. These high-level recruits are six of at least 10 legitimate candidates who could spurn college for the enticement of the NBA draft.

	Rick Pitino had his eyes on top prospect Sebastian Telfair during the ABCD camp.

But college coaches aren't going to back off from recruiting them, especially if they have the chance to find another Carmelo Anthony, who could lead them to the national title in just one season.

"You could get a Carmelo Anthony who immediately takes you to the promised land or get a Dajuan Wagner who makes your team better but doesn't take you to the promised land,'' said Louisville coach Rick Pitino of Anthony's national title as compared to Wagner's postseason NIT title.

Telfair, a 6-foot point guard out of Brooklyn Lincoln High, is said to be leaning toward Louisville if he opts to go to school instead of trying to be the first traditional point guard (in size) to make the jump. But he won't sign until April 2004, while he considers his options. Pitino was courtside at every Telfair game at the ABCD adidas camp in New Jersey.

"When you look at the guys in the NBA, it's hard to be patient,'' said Telfair. "They've got the good life. Their mother has a house. They're eating good. That's the only thing that's tempting.''

Telfair has the hype to make the jump. He has been in photo shoots with James and, like his classmates, has competed against high school players who were in this year's draft or are already in the NBA.

"I'll bet you at this camp last year, a couple of guys beat Travis Outlaw's butt,'' said Sonny Vaccaro, adidas director of grassroots basketball. Outlaw, a forward from Starkville, Miss., spurned Mississippi State after signing with the Bulldogs. He received a promise that he wouldn't drop below Portland at No. 23 in the first round and was taken by the Blazers.

"In this kind of (camp) setting it happens all of the time,'' Vaccaro said of players competing against potential pros. "That's what feeds them and why they think they're just as good. All of the kids were shocked that Travis went. They all thought, 'I'm as good as Travis.' ''

But these players took notes on draft night. They saw that a record five high school players were selected. Only one, James Lang out of Birmingham, was drafted in the second round. Only one player who originally declared, Charlie Villanueva, withdrew and went to Connecticut.

"I learned that if you play hard, the sky's limit,'' said Dwight Howard, a 6-11 center out of Atlanta's Southwest Christian High who could turn out to be the top player in the class of 2004. Vaccaro is convinced that Howard would be a lottery pick in 2004.

"I saw LeBron and the rest of the high school players who went to the NBA played hard and now they've got a job in the NBA,'' Howard said.

Jefferson, a 6-foot-8 power forward from Prentiss, Miss., who committed to Arkansas, said the draft showed that hard work means he could be "one of the guys next year getting drafted.''

Daniel Gibson, a 6-3 point guard from Houston Jones High who committed to Texas, said seeing five high school players drafted causes some to think "I can be there -- right now.''

But the perception that it's almost too easy isn't as convincing to everyone in the class.

"It goes to show that a lot of guys are jumping to the draft based on talent and what they hear,'' said 6-6 point guard Shaun Livingston out of Peoria Central (Ill.) High. Livingston has the size that could be enticing to the league but is leaning toward looking at Illinois, Arizona, Duke or North Carolina. "But a lot of those are false investigations. I never thought a few of them would go (in the first round), but they did.''

Josh Smith, a 6-9 forward from Powder Springs, Ga., who will attend Oak Hill Academy (Va.) next year and committed to Indiana last week, said players are getting more confident about making the jump to the league. But, he cautioned, that some are going to get their heart broken like Lenny Cooke, the New York City-hyped playground star who didn't get drafted in 2002 after declaring out of high school.

Cooke has become the poster child for poor decisions. He thought he was a lottery pick, but didn't get drafted and ended up in the USBL. Vaccaro showed an ESPN/ESPN.com story on Cooke during camp this week in New Jersey, hoping to convince the players that any of them could be the next Lenny more than a future LeBron.

"No one thinks of themselves as being the bumbling, stumbling idiot,'' Vaccaro said. "They only see them getting drafted early and making money. That's what you're hearing about. They think they're going to be successful.''

The elite players all say they know who to trust and won't listen to the wrong people. Yet, they have to dodge almost daily calls or face-to-face confrontations from runners for agents or so-called friends, and even distant relatives all looking for a kickback.

"That's real scary to me,'' Smith said about being the next Cooke. "They got bad information. I don't listen to other people and listen to the right ones and not my homeboys.''

But who should these players listen to for sound advice over the next nine months?

"I just deal with people that dealt with me when I was nobody, when I was low-class, I'll put it that way,'' said Jefferson. "I just deal with them -- the same people. I didn't get no new friends.''

These "friends" and "people" try to convince prep players each year that they will make millions and that they shouldn't even consider college.

"You hear people around you telling you you're going to be a lottery pick when you're only a junior or sophomore," said 7-foot center Robert Swift of Bakersfield Highland (Calif.) High, who committed to USC but could make the jump to the league. College coaches do say Swift is further advanced than Chris Kaman was at this point in high school. Kaman, a junior out of Central Michigan, went No. 6 to the Clippers in the June draft.

The pressure on these players' families is ever-increasing. LeBron James' mother spent two years trying to keep agents away while resisting temptation to buy a new house, said Vaccaro. Pete Smith, Josh's father, said he had to put up a "wall" to keep outsiders from penetrating his family circle. Dwight Howard Sr. said relatives, some with sound minds but others who are "money misers," have been coming at them.

"The parents want to find out if there's going to be a market place for their son," Vaccaro said. "They're the ones making the decision now. In the past, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant made their decisions on their own. These parents saw what happened, and they're very interested."

Howard Sr. acknowledged this is a once-in-a-lifetime situation for his family. But the Atlanta-area police officer isn't going to rush to judgment. He preaches patience, even though he knows there will be pressure to make the right decision.

"It's not going to be our welfare check out of poverty, because we're not in poverty," Howard Sr., said. "We're not running toward the decision."

Added Pete Smith: "We've been patient thus far, and two or three more years won't hurt. We've grown to be patient. There are things that we desire and there are things he (Josh Smith) desires, but those things will come in time."

While players and their families wrestle with their own decisions, college coaches have to keep recruiting these players with the chance they won't ever see them on any campus. Jefferson said he couldn't turn down the NBA if he's ready. But he probably won't be, just like first-round picks Outlaw or Perkins, who signed with Memphis and Arizona respectively, before being drafted.

"Ultimately, you have to ask yourself the question of how can you not recruit that kind of player," said Arkansas coach Stan Heath, in reference to a possible first-round draft pick straight out of high school. "You have to be there for what could happen. I would take Carmelo Anthony in a heartbeat for one season, and Jim Boeheim (of Syracuse) isn't second-guessing that decision one bit either."

	“	This is the new reality. The perception is that if you have a skill, or you're big, then it could be needed in the league. Those players picked in the first round (Outlaw, Ebi and Perkins) were all calculated risks for the NBA. ... All of these decisions are very hard to make. ”
		— Sonny Vaccaro

Memphis coach John Calipari and Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury have recovered from signing players who later opted for the league. Calipari got a commitment from Amare Stoudemire, but it was hardly a promise he couldn't break in 2002. Calipari did sign junior-college recruit Qyntel Woods the same year, who also went in the first round of the 2002 NBA draft. Perkins was signed to play for the Tigers in 2003-04 before opting for the 2003 draft.

As for Stansbury, he lost signee Jonathan Bender to the draft and, ultimately, the Indiana Pacers. Now he won't have Outlaw.

"You go out and recruit the best players," Calipari said. "If a kid says I'm going pro, then I won't recruit him. But they're telling me they want to go to college and want to go to the pros."

New UCLA coach Ben Howland said he has to take chances on elite players, even if they decide to leave for the NBA. Alabama's Mark Gottfried had Gerald Wallace for one season before he left, after Wallace nearly chose the NBA out of high school.

"You do waste time, and I imagine Arizona feels that they invested a lot (in Ebi), but those things are hard to know in the front end," Gottfried said. "The answer is to not recruit a guy, but then he could all of a sudden turn into a three-year guy for someone else."

And the reality is that college coaches aren't going to shy away from the big-time talents. Pitino will continue to recruit Telfair, even if he takes his decision down to the final days in May.

Louisville had an oral commitment from Lang, although he would have had eligibility issues. But Lang thought he was a first-round draft pick, went straight to the draft out of high school, and ended up in the second round last month. Pitino said he had a problem with Lang's decision, but couldn't argue with those made by Perkins, Outlaw or Ebi, since each were picked in the first round.

"But there are so many runners out there for agents who have no clue what they're talking about," Pitino adds. "Kids need to stay off the Internet and not listen to runners. They need to call up Stu Jackson (of the NBA) and find the right people. If they did that, they'd be fine ... but they don't."

"This is the new reality," Vaccaro said. "The perception is that if you have a skill, or you're big, then it could be needed in the league. Those players picked in the first round (Outlaw, Ebi and Perkins) were all calculated risks for the NBA. But it gives those players a chance to develop in the NBA. All of these decisions are very hard to make."

So, the elite players will wrestle with these decisions for the coming academic year, while college coaches continue to woo them -- hoping they won't choose the NBA until a year or two on campus.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.