CLEVELAND -- The night started with 17-year-old LeBron James making flick-of-the-wrist passes that made the NBA personnel salivate.

	LeBron James finished with 31 points on 12-for-25 shooting with 13 rebounds and six assists.

The evening ended Thursday with James tossing his sweaty wristbands into a frenzied crowd, many of whom dived for the green and gold objects like they were foul balls at Fenway Park.

"This is going up on my wall,'' said one fan, thirsty for something tangible from James. "I'm saving this, not selling it,'' said the other so-called lucky recipient of James' personal property.

The throng of fans continued to follow James out the door of Cleveland State's Convocation Center. Before he left, though, the swarm of autograph seekers nearly swallowed James' mother, Gloria, as the crowd surged toward him.

"Mom, mom, give me some popcorn,'' LeBron yelled out to his mother who couldn't get close to him.

"I can't,'' Gloria said.

"Just throw it down,'' LeBron said.

But she didn't need to toss the bag of leftover popcorn. She was able to get close enough to her son, at least this time, before he was ushered away out of the building.

This is his life as a high school senior. Imagine what it will be like when he's in New York, Denver, Cleveland, Memphis or whichever team is fortunate enough to get the top choice in June?

By the time James was done with the autographs, the NBA folks were long gone. They had seen enough of James to validate the St. Vincent-St. Mary senior point forward as the top selection in the 2003 NBA draft. Sure, the 31 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes in the Irish's 65-45 upset over top-rated Oak Hill Academy of Virginia helps his case. But it wasn't necessary to seal his draft fate.

"It was still worth it to come,'' said one Eastern Conference general manager, one of an estimated 14 teams represented.

"You could see how unselfish he was, how he handled the spotlight, handled the team, and of course, how he passed,'' said one Eastern Conference scout.

"It's hard to be critical,'' said the scout. "That's like looking for a mole on Miss America's face.''

The only blemish, if you're looking, was James' jump shot. He made only two jumpers, both 3-pointers, and missed on eight others. But he still ended up 12-for-25, with a few highlight dunks, including a windmill breakaway jam that will likely be archived for the next 10 years.

But the scouts came to see him do a bit of everything, especially pass. He found his teammates in the corners, breaking to the basket, across the court, usually without telegraphing them. He used the bounce pass backdoor. He threw the no-look pass through the lane. He skipped a pass over the zone. And he passed back out of the post for a 3-pointer.

"He's not being asked to defend yet,'' said one Eastern Conference director of scouting. "And I wouldn't worry about the shooting. He's got a nice release and he can work on that. Is he still No. 1? Who else would be?''

James said after the game he was pleased with his performance. He said he gets nervous before every game. He'll get a few butterflies. And it didn't matter this game was on national television on ESPN2. He said St. Vincent-St. Mary earned the right to get this kind of attention. Were there any deficiencies in his game?

"I wish I would have made every shot,'' James said. "But as long as we won by 20 that's all that matters. I got my teammates into the game. I'm very happy with that.''

James was characteristically cool on the podium in front of the nearly 50 media and almost a dozen television cameras. He was equally charged in front of the announced crowd of 11,523 (there were plenty of empty seats in the upper deck, though). James pumped his chest when he finally hit a few 3s late in the game. He calmed his teammates during a late timeout to ensure they weren't celebrating too early against the top high school team in the country. And he waved to the crowd to get them on their feet when the Irish were mounting a comeback.

	“	He's not being asked to defend yet. And I wouldn't worry about the shooting. He's got a nice release and he can work on that. Is he still No. 1? Who else would be? ”
		— One Eastern Conference director of scouting

James was and is able to remain so poised under enormous pressure to perform every night. This was one of 11 games to be televised, although the only one nationally (the other 10 are on pay-per-view in Ohio). This was one of nine games played outside of Akron.

Nike and adidas reps were in attendance, monitoring their potential investment. James stayed true to the team wearing the adidas shoes given to SVSM through its agreement with the company. He changed them at halftime but kept the same brand. He was the only player on either team wearing an NBA headband and NBA socks. And that's for a reason -- he's the only one going straight to the league.

The only college coach in attendance was Ohio State's Jim O'Brien, who was there to check out his signee Ivan Harris of Oak Hill Academy. O'Brien knows, like everyone else, that he had no shot to get James and never did once he became the "Next" athlete of his class.

James didn't want to talk about the NBA. He's got enough on his plate in dealing with his own celebrity and the departure from his daily life of his surrogate stepfather Eddie Jackson. Jackson was in attendance but he won't be around for long. He was sentenced this week to three years in a federal prison for a loan and mail fraud scheme. But he has six weeks to report.

"I just want to thank everyone for supporting me and my team,'' James said. "I'm really enjoying this, especially my team. I'm with my teammates from 8 a.m. to 3:15 in school and then 5:30 after practice. I'm with them more than my family.''

Does he wish he could be just left alone?

"If I wanted free time,'' James said. "I'd just quit playing basketball.''

That's not going to happen, not when James' professional career is likely less than six months away from beginning.

We caught a glimpse Thursday. So, did, everyone watching at home. So, far, he's handling and living up to the hype.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.