HONOLULU - Former Wyoming forward Richard Bozner referred to his son Clint as a "puppy" after watching the high school freshman help Villa Park (Calif.) to an easy win in the first round of the Punahou basketball tournament here Thursday.

That makes the seven Division I schools - Wyoming included - that have already shown interest in Clint Bozner the figurative children at the kennel, all hoping for a chance to bring the kid with the braces and the jump shot home.

"It's pretty neat to get a few teams looking at you," said Bozner, 14. "But I just want to keep trying to get better and you can't focus on (recruiting) right now."

When Richard Bozner was leading his Rock Springs High School team to three consecutive state championships from 1971-73, recruiting wasn't the hail storm that it is now. Playing competitive basketball year-round wasn't even an option.

"In California, we have AAU travel teams that pretty much play 11 months out of the year," said Richard Bozner, who had offers from Minnesota, Oregon and Idaho State in addition to Wyoming. "In Wyoming, I was lucky to play five or six months out of the year. That gives Clint a distinct advantage in his fundamental development."

Clint Bozner's recent physical development - he sprouted to 6-foot-4 last year and is now slightly taller than his 6-foot-6 father - coupled with some impressive performances on the AAU travel circuit, has various recruiting services buzzing about his potential. Projected as a shooting guard, Bozner is rated as one of the top prospects in the class of 2010 by several Web sites. That's one reason his father wanted him to play for head coach Kevin Reynolds at Villa Park, a 40-minute drive from the Bozner's home in Riverside County.

"He'll be a scholarship player," said Reynolds, who coached former Kansas star and NBA draft pick Eric Chenowith, as well as several other Division I players, at Villa Park. "He continually wants to get better. He's so hard on himself sometimes that he frustrates himself. He's a great shooter."

While he still has some growing to do, the 179-pound Bozner has been honing his basketball skills since second grade. From the start, it was all basketball, all the time.

"There's an old saying, 'Basketball players raise basketball players,' and that's exactly what our household is," said Richard Bozner, whose wife helps drive Clint and his 12-year old sister to practices and games. "That's all we do."

Well, that's not entirely accurate. Clint Bozner also loves hunting and fishing. He shot his first deer last year in Buffalo, where his father purchased some land.

"It's a really nice place," Clint Bozner said of the Cowboy State. "I went up there and saw (the Arena-Auditorium). "Wyoming's really, really nice. Not much traffic either."

Richard Bozner has fond memories of his playing days in Laramie, including a win over Colorado State during his senior season in which he held the Rams' leading scorer, Alan Cunningham, to 10 points.

"To beat them finally was a good feeling," he said.

Bozner, who has run a private optometry practice for the past 25 years, isn't putting any pressure on his son to consider Wyoming over the other schools, including Baylor and Yale, which are already interested in him.

"That's entirely up to him," Richard Bozner said. "I just feel blessed that they would even, at this point in time, be aware of him."

Contact sports reporter Scott Allen at (307) 266-0528 or scott.allen@casperstartribune.net