Former University of Georgia guard D.A. Layne has played around the world —- from Spain to China —- but it all comes back to Cobb County's Wheeler High School.

"It is a feeling of family," said Layne, who averaged 15.9 points per game in three seasons as a Bulldog before entering the NBA Draft in 2001. "When you come into the Wildcat program, you are a Wildcat for life. We are a big family, and we are led by a great father figure in coach [Doug] Lipscomb."

So consider the 7:30 p.m. game Friday at Doug Lipscomb Gymnasium as something of a family reunion. Layne has spent his summer organizing a Wheeler alumni basketball game, assembling a roster that would be the envy of last year's Miami Heat team.

The game has been billed as the Top 24 Wildcat Dynasty Basketball Competition. Admission is $5, and all proceeds will go to the school's athletics association.

"I was just speaking with one of my friends, and we just came up with the idea," Layne said. "We just really need to bring everyone back together and try to have a game."

The contest promises to be impressive, given the caliber of players who have come through a program that won state titles in 1994, 2002, 2003 and 2005.

Besides Layne, players include Sacramento's Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Charlotte's Jermareo Davidson, Cleveland's J.J. Hickson and Missouri guard J.T. Tiller. Mike Santos, the point guard on Wheeler's first state title team in 1994, also will be in uniform. They will entertain what is expected to be a full house.

For Layne, it's been a labor of love, and the rest of the "family" has been happy to chip in.

"I thought it was going to be tough to get everyone on the same page, but it was really easy," he said. "Everybody jumped on board, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be."

Lipscomb is why so many former players want to return to the school and give back to the program, Layne said.

"Coach is like a father figure for all of us," he said. "He teaches you life lessons and teaches you to become a man. All the guys love coach, and they love what he stands for. He graduates his kids, and they go on to play [in] college. We all are still very close to him.

"Wheeler High School as a whole cares about all their kids, and it is just a great situation over there," Layne said.

The game could be something of a coming-out party for Abdur-Rahim, who was sidelined most of last season with knee problems that limited his play to just six games in his 12th NBA season.

Layne, who married last year and is in the process of starting a sports representative agency called In the Layne Sports, looks forward to showing that he still has game.

"I think I can get up and down with the guys a little bit," he said with a laugh. "I usually play anyway about two or three times a week. I try to stay in a little bit of shape. I will have a little extra energy for this because there is going to be a lot of trash talking."

Ah, the trash talking. If only all the players were miked so that the crowd would be able to listen in. Layne has split the teams up, claiming with a laugh not to have stacked his squad too much, and he expects the competitive juices will be flowing.

"The first two quarters are going to be a lot of fun, but I think in the third and fourth quarters it is going to get a little serious," Layne said. "It is going to be fun, and I'm just glad that we could give something back to the school."