For Lincoln Northeast graduate Dol Kutey, Saturday's inaugural Kansas-Nebraska Border Battle all-star basketball game is one more chance for him to sell his skills to a Division I college coach.

The 6-foot-6 first-team Class A all-stater has not made a college choice yet, even though he'll start classes in about two months. He's strongly leaning toward Northeast Community College in Norfolk, although he says Iowa Central is still in the running.

Kutey, who is academically eligible for NCAA Division I, said he never got any scholarship offers worth jumping at. That's why he's going the junior college route, at least for now.

"I'm kind of marketing myself right now," said Kutey, who averaged 16.7 points and 11 rebounds per game last season for the Rockets. "Hopefully there will be somebody there looking for a player, and I can make an impression on them."

While Kutey was mostly an inside player at Northeast, he's been honing his outside shooting and ballhandling skills this summer in a bid to become a small forward or shooting guard in college. He's lifting weights in the mornings and playing pick-up games at nights.

With post players like Super-Stater Jarrell Crayton of Bellevue East on the team, Kutey hopes to be able to play more on the perimeter Saturday. First-team Super-Stater and 6-5 Nebraska-Kearney recruit Drew Sankey of Lincoln East will also have that luxury. He'll be a small forward for the Lopers.

Sankey, Kutey and Lincoln High's Pete Uhing are the three Lincoln players on the Nebraska squad.

Sankey's been playing on a UNK team in the Omaha college league this summer, "and that's given me a taste of what to expect this next year," he said. "It's very good competition, probably the toughest I've ever played against."

The boys and girls all-star games, slated for 5 and 7 p.m., will be played at the new Hartman Arena in Park City, Kan., just north of Wichita.

The Nebraska girls team is led by Lincoln Southeast Super-Stater and North Carolina State recruit Marissa Kastanek and Bellevue West Super-Stater Emily Hauder. Other Division I recruits playing for Nebraska are Millard North's Melissa McFarland (Colorado), Perkins County's Sara Wilson (Wyoming) and Bellevue East's Merceedes Morgan (Northern Iowa).

Kansas-Nebraska Border Battle

Nebraska boys: Jake Hamburger, Hastings St. Cecilia; Taylor Stormberg, Omaha Creighton Prep; Dol Kutey, Lincoln Northeast; Brett Potter, Omaha Creighton Prep; Isiah Gandy, Boys Town; Greg Smith, Ralston; Pete Uhing, Lincoln High; Evan Kucera, Waverly; Jarrell Crayton, Bellevue East; Denver Klaus, Bennington; Drew Sankey, Lincoln East; Trent Miller, Gretna. Coaches: Josh Luedtke, Creighton Prep; Bill Heard, Ralston.

Nebraska girls: Melissa MacFarlane, Millard North; Abbey Schueth, Ewing; Paige Frauendorfer, Humphrey; Sara Wilson, Perkins County; Emily Hauder, Bellevue West; Nicole Rauner, Wayne; Sara Reeves, Bishop Neumann; Kelsey Hansen, Bennington; Shelby Beaudette, Bancroft-Rosalie; Marissa Kastanek, Lincoln Southeast; Mercedees Morgan, Bellevue East; Anne Martin, Waverly. Coaches: Jeff Ritz, Millard North; Rick Ahrens, Bishop Neumann.

Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.