Braziller: My early start to the live recruiting period

2:00 AM, July 7, 2011 ι By ZACH BRAZILLER

READING, Pa. -- I had July 6 – the first day of the live recruiting period – marked down on my calendar for weeks. I couldn’t wait to get out of the city for once, reconnect with college coaches and see how the area’s many prospects have developed since the end of the high school season.

But when it came, I wasn’t nearly as excited. That’s because to get the entire day at Hoop Group’s Elite Session at Albright College, I had to rise at 5 a.m. and me being, well, me I didn’t get to bed until 3 a.m. since I was busy preparing for the week on the road.

To anybody who knows me, that’s like asking a failing student to ace the SATs. Remarkably, in the upset of the year, I actually dragged myself out of bed by 5 a.m., past my snoring girlfriend, fed my smelly and fat cat Tia and met up with St. Peter’s College assistant Marlon Guild at the PATH station in Journal Square in New Jersey.

By 9 a.m., we were in Reading and the wild month had began. As I skimmed through my packet – a tip of the cap to the Hoop Group for the free copies – my head began spinning.

There were so many city guys here and such little time. Without hestitation, I began the busy month.

I made quick work, watching Cardozo’s Jermaine Lawrence thrive in the paint and the perimeter along Lincoln’s Shaquille Davis at 10 a.m., catching up with Xaverian sharp-shooter Brian Bernardi shortly thereafter and former Hofstra commit Malik Nichols, Boys & Girls teammate Mike Taylor and Lincoln guard Ian Vasquez at noon.

After a quick lunch, it was back to more basketball, following former Rice standout Melvin Johnson, Xaverian’s Dillon Burns and Bernardi and Cardinal Hayes forward Amadou Sidibe. Before checking into my hotel, I caught another glimpse of Lawrence throwing down some more dunks and hitting 3-pointers and spoke with St. Patrick point guard DaShawn Suber of The Bronx.

I will be analyzing the top city guys here in the days to come as there is a large and impressive crop. At first glance, Johnson and Lawrence would seem to have a great chance to make the top 20 all-star game, if not win MVP of the entire camp. But that depends on how they fair on Thursday.

I used the night session to eat, rest and write – not in that order. It was an eventual first day of the live recruiting period. I caught up with some coaches, met some new ones and watched a ton of basketball. If the rest of the month is anything like the first day, I’m in for a tiresome – yet wildly entertaining – couple of weeks.

zbraziller@nypost.com