There are NBA veterans, Big Five stars, out-of-towners sent by their agents, local guys who play professionally in Europe and on other continents - and even the occasional high school phenom.

Last Tuesday was a typical-enough morning, with three dozen players on the court. Before the five-on-five games, there was an hour of three-on-three. Winners stayed on the same court. Losers moved around or sat out.

At one end, Frank Elegar, who just finished his time as Drexel's star center, worked against Vernon Goodridge, a highly touted transfer to La Salle from Mississippi State.

At the other end, New York Knicks guard Mardy Collins teamed up with Duke guard Nolan Smith, facing Tasheed Carr of St. Joseph's and Ramone Moore of Temple, as part of a three-on-three game.

At one point, foreign pro Terquin Mott was chirping in Goodridge's ear about a missed defensive assignment as Goodridge covered Ahmad Nivins of St. Joe's.

"When you come here, you're not cuddled," said John Hardnett, the longtime Sonny Hill League coach who has run the summer workouts for more than a decade. "I remember Marc Jackson cussing out Gerald Henderson. . . . Gerald thought he was all that from Duke. But the older guys would tear you apart. The younger guys learn."

Every day, Hardnett puts out a yellow writing tablet for guys to sign in. Among the signers over the last month have been John Salmons, Hakim Warrick, Dionte Christmas, Kyle Lowry, Wayne Ellington, Tyreke Evans, Marques Green and Rodney Green.

La Salle sports information director Kale Beers said Hardnett rents the gym from the school but declined to reveal the cost.

Last month, Michael Beasley, a sure bet to be the No. 1 or 2 overall NBA draft choice out of Kansas State on Thursday, was in town for several weeks, working out with Hardnett. Beasley is a client of agent Joel Bell. He was here with another client, DeAndre Jordan. Both worked out before the daily pickup games. Jordan, who might be a mid-first-round draft choice, participated in the games, but Beasley did not. There was too much money at risk, Hardnett said.

It's becoming standard operating procedure for agents to send their clients to these kinds of sessions across the country. Asked what he was paid, Hardnett declined to say, but quipped, "Not enough to buy gas these days."

These workouts have evolved and grown since their early days at the Gustine Lake Recreation Center more than a decade back. Now, they go from April into September. Earlier in the spring, Drexel's court is used before La Salle's become available. Gola Arena is big enough to run three games at a time, and the air-conditioning works well, too.

In addition to working drills with guys and offering the highest-level local competition, Hardnett said, these workouts offer a sense of security for the pros. You have to sign in to get into the gym. Nobody is there if Hardnett doesn't want him there.

"That's hard to find these days, a place to go without getting shot or robbed or something," Hardnett said. "You've got 35 guys together and not a lot of arguing."

Dozens of Philadelphia players play professionally overseas, sometimes with connections made at these workouts.

"We've had [scouts] from Belgium, Italy, France, Greece," Hardnett said. "The scouts come here."

Hardnett figures another advantage here is that there are usually eight to 12 players who are at least 6-foot-7, so big guys get a workout. One basic rule: Fight through every screen. The pickup games are purposefully played at a fast pace, with no out-of-bounds passes off baskets.

"You take it out of the net and go," said Callistus Eziukwu, a Division II all-American last season at Grand Valley State in for the workouts. "It took me almost a whole week to adjust to that."

There is no adjustment for Collins, who has been showing up from his high school days at Simon Gratz and through his time as Temple's star point guard. Now that he has completed his second season with the Knicks, does Collins want to make a younger guy comfortable?

"No, I want to take it to him, just like when I was coming here," Collins said. "Aaron McKie and Eddie Jones and those guys always took it to me. It's fun to play against the younger guys because they come with the intensity and they want to prove themselves."

The standards of professionalism were established by guys such as Doug Overton and Rick Brunson, Hardnett said. You don't hear much trash-talking out there.

"The Big Five guys - Mark Tyndale walks in here and thinks he's all-world, until he gets cussed out by these older guys," Hardnett said of last season's co-Big Five player of the year from Temple. "You've got to bite your tongue. It's good for those young guys."

Of course, the young guys soon become old guys. Hardnett said a college player complained to him last week about how the fiercely competitive Tyndale had told him, "If you let that guy score on you again, I'm going to tell John not to let you play again."

"I'm a midrange guy," said Kenell Sanchez, now two years out of Drexel. He played professionally in Argentina and Puerto Rico last season. "I'm trying to teach the guys that are younger than me and trying to learn from guys who are older. There's nowhere else in this area you can get this. That's why I'm here every day."