Findlay Prep players Nedeljko Golubovic (left) from Serbia, Wouter Van der Eng (center) from Holland and Brice Massamba of Sweden play in an informal workout last week at Warren-Walker School. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

They have a coaching staff. They have players. They have uniforms and a nickname. They have a home court and they almost have a schedule.

Things are falling into place quickly for the Findlay College Preparatory Pilots, who will begin basketball practice Tuesday for the start of their inaugural season Nov. 20.

Despite not having had an official practice, the program, launched this year with $1 million in backing by local auto magnate Cliff Findlay, has created national buzz.

Some area coaches speculated the program would be a safe haven for players with troubled academic backgrounds. But there were also fears Findlay Prep would raid local high schools and strip the cupboard bare for Southern Nevada Class 4A programs.

But none of that has taken place. Coach Scott Beeten hand-picked 10 players not only for their basketball skills, but also their ability to handle the academic workload at Warren-Walker Upper School in Henderson, where Pilot players attend class. Beeten said he passed on several high-profile players because he questioned their classroom ability.

O.J. Mayo and Billy Walker, two of the biggest national names in high school basketball, reportedly had interest in Findlay Prep but neither made it to Las Vegas.

Instead, Beeten's players are from all over the world -- from Serbia and Sweden, from Cameroon and Puerto Rico, Holland and Lithuania -- all with one goal in mind. They all hope to be recipients of a Division I college basketball scholarship someday.

"I'll be very disappointed if all of our kids don't go to college," Beeten said. "We're dealing with good kids. We're running this like a college basketball program."

For the players, all of whom are on full scholarship (tuition at Warren-Walker runs about $14,000 a year), this new experience has them excited and worried at the same time.

"We all have to adjust," said Wouter Van der Eng, a 6-foot-9-inch junior center from Holland. "We're all used to bigger schools. In most of my classes, there's only eight or nine kids. So you get a lot of attention."

Deividas Dulkys, a 6-4 junior swingman from Lithuania, said even though he and his teammates might be talented basketball players, they aren't getting preferential treatment in the classroom.

"We don't get special favors," he said. "I'm still trying to read English better. But I feel like I'm doing well. I'll get better."

Beeten's players appear to be well-spoken, polite and friendly. They address visitors as "Sir" and look a questioner in the eye when giving an answer.

"It's a privilege to be part of this," said Hamid Ford, a junior point guard from Los Angeles and one of two American-born players on the roster (Rodney Haddix of Georgetown, Ky., is the other). "But it's definitely out of my comfort zone. It's so different than anything I've ever been through.

"I never saw myself going to prep school. But when my AAU coach talked to Coach Beeten and I saw what it was they were looking to do, I knew I wanted to be part of this."

Beeten, a college assistant coach for 11 years at Pennsylvania, George Washington and California, had built and maintained basketball contacts throughout the world. He said he wanted to be careful about who he invited to play on Findlay Prep's first team.

"I knew there would be a lot of skepticism about what we're doing," Beeten said. "I can tell you as long as we're here, this isn't going to be a meat market. We're not going to take bad kids.

"This is a three-sided marriage between Warren-Walker, Cliff and the coaching staff. If we're not all on the same page, it's not going to succeed."

The 10 players live together in a five-bedroom house two blocks from school and are supervised by assistant coach Todd Simon and his wife, Kati, a middle school teacher. The players are up at 6 a.m., in class by 7, have a mandatory daily study hall before practice, then have a second tutorial session at the house with Kati Simon after dinner.

The Pilots' schedule is being finalized, but they will play between 22 and 26 games, including five against Nevada schools. Bishop Gorman, Valley, Durango, Palo Verde and Silverado have agreed to play Findlay Prep.

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association last week gave its blessing to the program, provided the principals of the competing schools give the NIAA a letter acknowledging that they are playing a team that was essentially recruited.

Findlay Prep also agreed not to have any local players on its roster and is not eligible to compete for a Nevada state championship. The players use Warren-Walker, a Class 1A school, strictly for their education and as a place to practice and play home games.

"I saw this as a chance to build it the right way," said Beeten, 59, who last coached at Albany in 2001 as head coach of the Division I Great Danes. "Being able to create something special makes this different."