After his stellar play at the recent King James Shooting Stars, Tobias Harris is picking up a lot of interest.

Harris, a 6-foot-7 sophomore shooting guard from Dix Hills (NY) Half Hollow Hills West, received interest from DePaul, Marquette, Ohio State, Virginia, Wake Forest and Baylor.

A slew of schools have already offered Harris, with Rutgers being the first. UConn, Maryland, Arizona, Virginia Tech and Indiana previously offered, according to Torrel Harris, Tobias’s father and coach of his Unique All-Stars AAU club.

“He is just playing and keeping an open mind, but he really likes (Rutgers assistant) Craig Carter and Coach (Fred) Hill of Rutgers,” Torrel said. “He believes they are very sincere and caring coaches beyond basketball.”

Harris dropped in 52 points in a game this February and has more than 1,000 career points already.

“He’s a shooting guard, which is amazing because he’s 6-7,” said Half Hollows coach Bill MItaritonna. “This is his third year playing for me because he played varsity as an 8th-grader. We brought him up midway through the season. He was the sixth man, he had a lot of big shots.”

“He led the team in scoring as a freshman and averages 31 this year.”

Harris was 6-1 as an eighth-grader and has grown six inches in two and a half years. His coach projects that he’ll end up at 6-10.

“He’s just a baby. He hasn’t even hit the weight room yet, MItaritonna said. “It’s been amazing, this kid is all legs.”

Harris’ previous career-high was 39 in December, and Mitaritonna said he “could’ve left him in for more. He was just feeling it.”

The young man has also trained with former NBA star George “Ice Man” Gervin because his father is friends with Gervin.

“His shot is as pure as I’ve seen a kid shoot,” Mitaritonna said. “He needs to work on his quickness. He’s got that Gervin-like movement. He’s smooth. He uses his body well to get his shot open. He’s able to make a move off the dribble and get his shot off with relative ease.”

Michael Beasley got a taste of life in New York City Monday night when he appeared at the premiere of a basketball film at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Now the question is, Is Beasley headed to the Knicks in the upcoming NBA Draft?

“I love it,” the 6-foot-10 Beasley said of New York when asked if he would like to play for the Knicks. “New York is a great city.”

When Bobbito Garcia, the famed announcer at Rucker Park in Harlem, added “If the check is right…,” Beasley chimed in with, “I’m there.”

Beasley, an All-American forward out of Kansas State, averaged 26.2 points and 12.4 rebounds per game in his only season on campus. He holds 30 school records, multiple Big 12 marks and six NCAA single-season bests for 2007-08

He is likely to be the No. 1 or 2 pick in June’s NBA Draft, with Memphis guard Derrick Rose the other possible No. 1 pick. The Knicks have a shot at the top pick after finishing with one of the worst records in the NBA. The NBA Draft Lottery is May 20 and the draft is June 26.

Lottery picks get three-year guaranteed contracts, and the No. 1 overall pick will receive $4,019,000 his first season; $4,320,400 the second; and $4,621,800 the third. The No. 2 pick gets $3,595,800 that first season.

Beasley and Garcia appeared at a showing of “Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot,” a documentary produced and directed by Adam Yauch, a former member of the Beastie Boys.

The film stars several prep and college players, including future NBA lottery picks Beasley, Donte Greene, Kevin Love and Jerryd Bayless, as well as Brooklyn Lincoln star Lance Stephenson, Memphis commit Tyreke Evans, Arizona-bound guard Brandon Jennings and Duke freshman Kyle Singler.

“The idea was to cover eight guys and then use five of them in the film,” Yauch said. “But everyone was interesting so we ended up using all eight of them.”

The film profiles the eight players as they prepare for the 2006 Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic at Harlem’s famed Rucker Park. It documents many of the negative aspects of elite level prep hoops, ranging from the absurd practice of ranking of fifth- and sixth-graders to the creeping influence of sneaker companies on young men.

“The film isn’t showing it’s all bad that they’re getting this much publicity,” Yauch said. “We’re just showing different opinions that people around the game have.”

Former Rutgers guard Justin Sofman visited Monmouth on Friday and thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

“We spent a lot of time on campus and met all the players,” said Steve Sofman, Justin’s father. “We spent some great time with the coaches learning what’s in store for the program and their future, and also got a full tour of the campus, which is a beautiful campus. Justin thorougly enjoyed the visit.”

The 6-foot-4 Sofman previously visited Albany and plans to see Iona, Marist and Fairleigh Dickison next week.

A former Herald News All-Area pick from West Milford, Sofman decided to leave Rutgers after his freshman season and will have to sit out the 2008-09 season as per NCAA transfer regulations.

“We hope to have a decision by May 10,” Steve Sofman said.

Teams from New York and New Jersey dominated the action this past weekend at the Hoop Group Jam Fest in Providence, winning the Gold and Silver brackets in both the U-17 and U-16 events.

**Despite playing without superstar Lance Stephenson, the Juice All-Stars won the U-17 Gold bracket, 69-61, over the Bingo All-Stars. Vincent Council led Juice with 16 points. Two other Lincoln stars, Devon McMillan and James Padgett also play for Juice. Stephenson, who appeared Monday night at the Tribecca Film Festival premiere of Adam Yauch’s new film, “Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot,” will make a guest appearance this weekend with Derrick Favors and the Atlantic Celtics when he visits Kansas for the Jayhawk Invitational.

**New Heights 2010, another New York program, won the U-17 Silver bracket despite playing up a year. That New Heights team features Bishop Loughlin star Jayvaughn Pinkston as well as the two players who recently transferred to Bob Hurley’s legendary St. Anthony program in Jersey City: Devon Collier and Ashton Pankey. New Heights beat Team Underrated, 71-70, behind a game-high 21 points from Collier and 19 from Harold McBride. Pankey did not play in the final.

**The Paterson Playaz represented New Jersey by taking the U16 Gold title with a 73-54 victory over the New England Playaz. Ryan Rhoomes, a 6-7 big man from Middletown, N.Y. led the Playaz with 16 points while Paterson Catholic sophomore Fuquan Edwin talled 14 points and 6 rebounds. The Playaz are loaded with talent and also feature Edwin’s teammates from Paterson Catholic’s Passaic County championship team, 6-6 T.J. Clemmings, 6-5 Jayon James, 6-3 Jermaine Peart and 6-5 Shaq Thomas. Edwin and Clemmings each hold offers from Rutgers and Seton Hall, while the others hold various offers. The Playaz also feature 6-2 sophomore Cameron Ayers of Germantown (Pa.) Academy, 5-11 junior Michael Celestin of Lenape (NJ) and 6-2 sophomore guard Isaiah Epps, who recently picked up a scholarship offer from Maryland coach Gary Williams.

**Team NJABC won the U-16 Silver bracket and features numerous New Jersey players, including Marcus Kennedy, a sophomore at St. Patrick of Elizabeth.

(Photos courtesy Maurice Wingate & Jay Gomes)

Tyshawn Taylor is going from one national champion to another.

The 6-foot-3 guard who played for a St. Anthony High School team that went 32-0 and won a mythical high school national championship under head coach Bob Hurley has given an oral commitment to Kansas, which won the NCAA championship under head coach Bill Self.

“I think the visit was pretty much the deciding factor,” Taylor said of his visit to campus last week. “The atmosphere as far as basketball was unbelievable. It was beautiful there. The campus was beautiful. The players are cool. Coach Self is a great coach. It was just unbelievable.”

“When it comes down to it, it’s a highly unusual situation when you play on a national championship team in high school and go to  a school that wins a national championship that year,” Hurley added. “That’s unique, I think.”

A first-team All-State selection who averaged 10 points during the regular season and 15 in the Tournament of Champions, Taylor initially committted to Marquette but asked for his release when coach Tom Crean left for Indiana and was replaced by Buzz Williams.

He ultimately chose Kansas over Georgia Tech, which had recruited him the first time around.

“I had known last night that I was going to narrow it down to Georgia Tech and Kansas and I let Coach (Paul) Hewitt know how I was feeling,” Taylor said. “I told him, ‘I’m kind of like fighting between you and Kansas.’ And I called him and told him I was going to sleep on it. When I woke up this morning I decided that (Kansas was) what I want to do. I called coach Hurley and he gave me his blessing.”

Taylor becomes the fourth Kansas recruit in this class with ties to New Jersey. St. Patrick of Elizabeth forward Quintrell Thomas and twins Marcus and Markieff Morris of Apex Academy in Pennsauken all committed before Kansas won the NCAA title over Memphis. The Jayhawks will also get an unofficial visit this weekend from Brooklyn Lincoln star Lance Stephenson.

“That’s cool,” Taylor said of the fellow Jersey recruits. “It’s great. It ‘ll be cool to play with those guys.”

Self and assistant Joe Dooley, a Jersey native, are in the Garden State today and plan to visit both Thomas and Taylor.

Taylor said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to contribute next year, something he was worried about at Marquette with its logjam of guards.

“I’m going to have to compete for minutes. They see me playing like a Russell Robinson-type of player. I can defend bigger guards. I can also handle the ball or play off the ball when Sherron Collins is at the point.”

Added Hurley: “The worst case is (Mario) Chalmers comes back (and is not drafted) and he comes in off the bench and becomes the third guard and battles whoever else is there. Or Chalmers isn’t there and he goes right in.”

Hurley sent six seniors to Division I programs this year, three to the Atlantic 10, two to the Big East, including Rutgers-bound McDonald’s All-American Mike Rosario, and now one to the Big 12.

“We just lit the candle on the cake for the kids,” Hurley said “Everybody’s going to head off and I think there all going to enjoy this.”

Devin Ebanks continued his college visitation tour last weekend when he went to Texas, but the Ebanks camp is not making any public comments on the trip, according to Lawrence McGugins, Ebanks’ AAU coach.

The 6-9 Ebanks has already been to West Virginia and will visit Rutgers this weekend and Memphis the weekend of May 9 before making his final decision.

Recent Memphis commit Tyreke Evans said he had been working hard on recruiting both Ebanks and Wesley Witherspoon to join him under John Calipari.

“After I announced I came up here and talked to Ebanks and he said he’s going to think about it and sit on it and see where he wants to go,” the 6-foot-5 Evans out of Aston (Pa.) American Christian said at the Jordan Brand Classic practices.

Rutgers is bringing in a recruiting class of Mike Rosario, Christian Morris and Pat Jackson, and possibly Greg Echenique. The Scarlet Knights are also in the hunt for 6-7 Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell (who played with RU freshman Mike Coburn at Mount Vernon but has not yet committed to RU despite an Internet report to the contrary). Asked if he thought these players could help change the perception of Rutgers, Ebanks said:

“I definitely think that Rutgers is going to be probably Top 10 in the Big East and I think they’re going to be pretty good. And other kids that see that, they’re probably going to want to go there.

“I played against Mike. He can just shoot it. Christian is just a beast down low. I’ve been with Chris since 9th grade. As long as they work hard, they’ll be all right.”

And here are some comments from recruiting analyst Tom Konchalski on Ebanks and what he’ll bring to his new college:

“Devin Ebanks is a guy who changes ends of the floor as well as anyone. That’s his greatest asset is his mobility. He’s an opportunist offensively. He runs the court really well. He has a lot of quickness and he can score. He has a knack for scoring. He can shoot the 3. He has quickness around the basket. He doesn’t move particularly well without the ball. He’s got to work a lot harder defensively. He’s made a lot of progress in the two years at St. Thomas More, learning to play harder for longer stretches and not taking plays off but he’s still got to work on his lack of focus.”

Rock Chalk Stephenson?

Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson plans to be at the University of Kansas this weekend for the Jayhawk Invitational.

Stephenson will be playing with Derrick Favors and the Atlanta Celtics travel team, and Stephenson will then stay an extra day to tour the campus. Favors and Stephenson are considered two of the best, if not the two best, players in the Class of 2009.

“Obviously those two guys playing together, those are two potential lottery picks in the future,”  said L.J. Goolsby, an assistant with the tournament. “Anytime you have those guys playing together, the entertainment factor alone should be big. That obviously is going to bring a lot of attention to the tournament. I’m sure it will bring a large crowd gathering.”

“I think for the people that’s watching it and for avid basketball fans, it ‘ll be great,” added Hulio Smith of the Atlanta Celtics. “You’re talking about the best wing prospect and the best post prospect in the 2009 Class. Lance played with us last year in Portland in the Rose City Showcase, and we were able to win a championship out there. Lance and Derrick kind of ran through the field up there. It was just phenomenal. He blended right in with my guys.”

A first-team USA Today All-American, the 6-foot-5 Stephenson recently visited UCLA while in Los Angeles for an event. He has also visited Indiana, Louisville, Arkansas and Seton Hall and plans to see Memphis, North Carolina, and Georgetown, among others.

“I’m just looking for a good college, a good coach and good players surrouding me,” Stephenson said Monday night after a showing of the Adam Yauch documentary “Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot” at the Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan. ” Yauch (below left) is a former member of the Beastie Boys.

The film stars several prep and college players, including Stephenson, Memphis commit Tyreke Evans, Arizona-bound guard Brandon Jennings, Duke freshman Kyle Singler and future NBA lottery picks Donte Greene, Kevin Love, Jerryd Bayless and Michael Beasley.

Stephenson will also attend the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, N.C. May 23-25.

Damion Reid
Lance Stephenson on Keith Spellman

Stephenson is a member of the adidas Nations U.S. National Team for 2009 and he will participate in workouts with that group in Los Angeles June 13-15 before heading off to Dakar, Senegal for the adidas Nations Africa Regional Camp June 18-23. St. Patrick of Elizabeth junior guard Dexter Strickland ,who has committed to North Carolina, and uncommitted junior wing  Dominic Cheek of St. Anthony of Jersey City are also on the adidas Nations team.

The whirlwind tour continues in July. Stephenson will also try out for the U.S. U18 National Team at Georgetown July 1-4.
The training camp for that event then runs from July 4-10, also at Georgetown.

“Hopefully, while we’re down there (at Georgetown), we can talk to some of the coaches,” Lance Stephenson Sr. said.

If Stephenson makes the team, he would participate in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Formosa, Argentina July 14-18. He and Strickland would also miss the LeBron James US Skills Academy, to be held in Akron, Ohio July 5-9.

Don Showalter of the USA Basketball Men’s Junior Development Committee said about 40 players, including Stephenson and Strickland, have been invited to try out for the team and that about 10 or 11 will make the squad.

Stephenson and Strickland will be competing against rising college freshman and some players who completed their freshman year of college.

“(Stephenson) is certainly as gifted as any underclassmen there,” Showalter said. “Obviously, those kids (Stephenson and Strickland) are really good and it’s going be a great experience for them playing with
older kids.” 

FOR MORE ON KANSAS

**Read about the Morris Twins and what they will bring to Kansas next season.

**Read about Tyshawn Taylor’s visit to the Kansas campus last week.

Quincy Roberts will announce his decision to attend St. John’s on Tuesday, according to a source close to the program.

Roberts, a 6-5, 175-pound shooting guard from Harrisburg, Pa., was on campus last week.

Roberts is also close friends with Karon Burton, a 5-9 guard from Chester (Pa.), so don’t be surprised if Burton picks the Johnnies as well.

St. John’s has three scholarships remaining and many holes to fill, especially after guards Mike Cavataio and Larry Wright recently announced their intention to transfer.

The decision by Roberts could not have come at a better time for St. John’s, which recently lost out on Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell, who stopped considering St. John’s at least in part because of uncertainty surrounding head coach Norm Roberts’s future.

(Photo courtesy Tornado Alley Hoops)

Ater Majok, a 6-10 forward originally from Sudan, made an oral commitment to UConn after visiting campus last week, according to the Hartford courant.

A native of the Sudan via Australia, Majok joins guards Kemba Walker of Manhtattan Rice, Scottie Haralson (Jackson, Miss.), Nate Miles (Toledo) and center Charles Okwandu of Harcum (Pa.) College in UConn’s class.

Justin Young of Rivals wrote of Majok:

“He’s a versatile and skilled 6-foot-10 forward who proved his mettle at the adidas Derby Classic. Majok makes his debut in the Rivals.com rankings as a five-star prospect and is one of the most coveted prospects in the class of 2008.”

With center Hasheem Thabeet returning for his junior season, the Huskies have only four scholarships to give. One current player would have to transfer to fit all five players on the roster.

Maryland has jumped on the Isaiah Epps bandwagon.

“He was formally offered a schollie by Gary Williams,” Plainfield coach Pete Vasil said Monday. “Both assistants are supposed to come tomorrow morning for a visit. This is the guard they’ve targeted in the Class of 2010. They’re looking for him to play major minutes.

“It’s just another opportunity. It’s a great opportunity to follow through with. He’ll eventually go see the campus and once he sees the campus, he just has to follow through on his grades and do what he has to do.”

The 6-foot-2 Epps averaged 16.5 points, 6.4 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 3.6 steals for a Tigers team that finished 18-7. He won the MVP at the Providence Jamfest this past weekend in his age bracket as the Paterson-based Playaz Basketball Club beat the New England Playaz by 40 points.

Rutgers and Seton Hall have already offered Epps, and Pittsburgh assistant Tom Herrion will come to watch Epps work out on Tuesday.