Jeff McLane | Tyreke Evans a phantom in his own backyard

"Where's Tyreke?"

That questioned slowly whispered its way down the bleachers at the Fellowship House of Conshohocken on Monday evening.

Tyreke Evans' all-star outfit, Team Final, was a no-show for the influential Albert C. Donofrio Classic, and the Philadelphia basketball community seemed hardly surprised.

For a blue-chip, can't-miss, has-to-be-mentioned-in-the-same-breath-as-Kobe-Rasheed-Dajaun-and-Jameer local boy, Evans almost doesn't register with the common Philly sports fan.

Around these parts it's almost, "Who's Tyreke?"

Of course, when you play your high school ball for American Christian, a small prep school in Aston, Delaware County, you're as likely to be embraced locally as the carpetbagger prospects American Christian now lures to its program.

But Evans, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, is a Chester native, born and still raised. Doesn't he deserve the built-in support system that playing for a Lower Merion, Simon Gratz, Camden and Chester usually affords?

According to Reggie Evans, Tyreke's older brother and guardian, that's just one small drawback in the overall, big picture. And the Evans picture is big - national and global big.

"Tyreke has always been bigger nationally than he is locally," said Reggie. "You can't believe some of the crazy fan mail he gets from places like Iowa or as far as the West coast."

At the Adidas European Superstar Camp held last August in Berlin, Germany, Evans was not only one of the top attractions on the court, according to his brother, he was rock-star mobbed off it.

And still, even at his doctor's office, Reggie will overhear random banter about Tyreke - nicknamed "Too Easy" for the relative ease in which he scores - the Chester kid destined for the NBA.

"They don't know who I am," Reggie said. "I'll overhear them talking about Tyreke after he's been in Sports Illustrated or on ESPN. And they'll say, 'And this kid's from around here.' "

But, Reggie concedes, there is a certain faction of the Philly basketball establishment that will always hold the Evanses accountable for their lack of local love. The Donofrio incident was a prime example.

Team Final is a Nike-sponsored AAU team created last spring for Tyreke, to be run by Reggie. It entered the 47-year-old Donofrio as first-time members, advancing all the way to Monday's semifinals. For the many who cramped themselves into the cozy Fellowship House, it was an excellent opportunity to see Tyreke match up against his local peers.

Because Tyreke has played varsity basketball since the seventh grade - thus using his allotted four years of eligibility - PIAA schools stopped scheduling American Christian last season. Next season, there will be hardly any traditional schools available to play the Eagles, as the Catholic League joins the PIAA fold.

Still, it's no skin off American Christian's Reebok-outfitted backs. It plays a national, traveling schedule, against the likes of other prep schools and assorted independents such as Virginia's Oak Hill Academy.

So when Donofrio director Jim Sheedy received an e-mail late Sunday night explaining that Team Final had to withdraw from the tournament, he was irate. Not only did he have to replace a team, he lost his main drawing card.

"So we can't buy a few more balls and equipment," Sheedy said then of the Fellowship House. "But to me the Donofrio's bigger than that. Try telling [Episcopal Academy products] Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson that it's not. They played right after the McDonald's All-America [game]. Wayne cried when they lost in the final."

According to Reggie, he actually has little to do with the day-to-day running of Team Final. A manager at a communications company, he wasn't even at any of the Donofrio games.

But, he explained, the team - already short because many of its members were playing for other teams during this tournament - couldn't proceed because it was down to only four players. Two had quit because the tournament was either too rough (Reggie's version) or they were tired of watching Evans shoot (many others' version).

"You get the good with the bad," said Reggie. "Tyreke played four games up there. If it were up to Tyreke he would play anywhere, anytime. But Tyreke can't play with three guys and a wheelchair."

And so, the questions mounted and will continue to mount as hoopheads waiting to see the next big thing play "Where's Tyreke?" over the next year.

The bigger question, though, may be one of ownership.

Because Evans, who could not be reached for comment, was spawned from an impassioned hoops area, he'll always be tagged as "ours." Just as Kobe Bryant, Rasheed Wallace, Dajuan Wagner and Jameer Nelson - all Donofrio alums - will always be ours, for good or bad.

Understandably, it's Reggie Evans' job - as his "brother's protector" - to keep those clamoring for a piece at arm's length.

Unfortunately, the arm extends from coast to coast and not at home.