Steve Nash held his annual Nike Skills Academy for college and prep point guards last week at Kean University and I took the opportunity to ask the two-time NBA MVP his thoughts on new Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni and current point guard Stephon Marbury.

“I think Mike’s going to be great for New York,” said Nash, who played for D’Antoni in Phoenix. ”For the Knicks and the city, this is the center of basketball in many ways. It’s such a great basketball city and the struggles the Knicks have had have been painful for the fans. I think Mike’s going to be fantastic. They’re going to play a little bit different style than they’re used to here in New York. It’s probably been a few years since they got up and down the way he’ll want them to, but he’s such a talented and intelligent coach I think he can’t help but have a great impact on the team.” (more…)

Several weeks after reports surfaced that Whie Plains senior shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick had committed to St. John’s, he is interested in Providence.

Gerard Jones, the older brother of West Virginia commit Kevin Jones and an advisor to Kilpatrick, said Kilpatrick is interested in visiting Providence, although he cannot take an unofficial visit in JUly as per NCAA regulations.

Kilpatrick is still trying to put his academic package together to see where he stands

“The guidance counselor is trying to put everything together and see where he is,” Gerard said. “He got his test scores back, he did pretty well, so we’re trying to get everything over to the (NCAA) Clearinghouse and see where he is.” (more…)

As Kevin Jones sat inside the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden for the NBA Draft last Thursday, it must have been hard for him to avoid imagining David Stern one day call his name.

“I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m just thinking about college first,” said Jones, a 6-foot-8 forward out of Mount Vernon High School who left Sunday to begin his new career at West Virginia under head coach Bob Huggins. “And then if it works out that I’m lucky enough to be here, then so be it.”

While much of the West Virginia team watched the draft on campus in Morgantown, Jones and his brother Gerard watched live and in person as West Virginia junior Joe Alexander was chosen at No. 8 by the Milwaukee Bucks.  (more…)

Dexter Strickland had looked forward to a busy summer schedule in which he would try out for the U.S. U18 team that will head to Formosa, Argentina next month.

But now Strickland, a 6-foot-3 rising senior from St. Patrick of Elizabeth who committed to North Carolina, will miss the trials with a pulled hamstring.

“I have to sit out for up to four weeks,” Strickland said in a text message.

Lance Stephenson of Brooklyn Lincoln, Dominic Cheek off St. Anthony of Jersey City, UConn-bound Kemba Walker of Rice and Virginia commit Sylven Landesberg of Queens Holy Cross will still attend the trials in Washington, D.C. July 1-3. Cheek, who dislocated a finger at the NBA Top 100 Camp, was also on Seton Hall’s campus for an unofficial on Friday.

The recent decision by former St. Raymond’s standout Omari Lawrence  to transfer to South Kent, a prep school in Connecticut, has culminated a mass exodus of talent from the New York Catholic League.

Lawrence will join his former St. Ray’s teammate and fellow rising senior Kevin Parrom at South Kent. Ashton Pankey and Devon Collier left Archbishop Molloy and All Hallows, respectively, for Bob Hurley’s storied St. Anthony program in Jersey City. And there is much speculation that Bishop Loughlin star Doron Lamb may attend Oak Hill in Mouth of Wilson, Va.

“New York’s New York,” said Gary Charles, head of the New York Panthers grassroots program and an advisor to Parrom and Lawrence. “They leave, somebody else steps up. That’s the great thing about New York.” (more…)

Donald Williams, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound senior guard at Temple Hills (Md.) Progressive Christian Academy who was being courted by St. John’s and Marquette, is now no longer involved with either school, according to his AAU coach, Tony Tate.

“He didn’t sign with St. John’s,” Tate said. “They really wanted him. Marquette never followed through on the visit. University of Houston and Marshall are still interested in him.”

Marquette recently got a commitment from 2009 JUCO guard guard Dwight Buycks, effectively ending the Williams pursuit, and just signed 7-footer Liam McMorrow, finishing up their recruiting class for this year.

Meanwhile, my man Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant reports that UConn forward Stanley Robinson will leave school for a JUCO near his home in Birmingham, Ala., but could return to the the Huskies  in the future. Also, Curtis Kelly appears headed to Kansas State.

Memphis coach John Calipari confirmed to me during Thursday’s NBA Draft that Paterson, N.J. native Hashim “Big City” Bailey would transfer to UMass.

Derek Kellogg, a former Calipari assistant, is the new head coach at UMass.

The 6-foot-10, 270-pound Bailey has played in just nine games in two years, averaging 1.1 points and 0.9 rebounds He has two blocked shots and one steal. He played his high school ball at Passaic County Tech in Wayne, N.J. and then prepped under Chris Chaney at The Patterson (N.C.) School.

Defending NCAA champion Kansas may have lost five players in Thursday’s NBA Draft, but the Jayhawks are busy reloading for the future. And they’re coming hard at the New York metropolitan area.

Kansas is recruiting four super-talented wing players from the Class of 2009, including Lance Stephenson of Brooklyn Lincoln (who is now also considering Europe and the Army); Dominic Cheek of St. Anthony in Jersey City; Xavier Henry of Oklahoma City Putnam City; and Jordan Hamilton of Dominguez. Rivals ranks Henry the No. 1 shooting guard and Hamilton the No. 1 small forward in the Class. The Jayhawks can’t take all of these guys, but if they land one it’ll mean a big score.

Stephenson, Cheek and Kansas freshman-to-be Travis Releford will all be in Washington, D.C. next week for the USA Basketball U18 team trials at the Verizon Center. Twenty-five players will compete for 12 roster spots. (more…)

Keon Lawrence, a former All-New Jersey guard from Weequahic High, is leaving Missouri and considering several Big East schools near home.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Lawrence led the Tigers with 29.2 minutes played last season as a sophomore, appearing in all 32 contests, including 20 starts. He finished as the team’s third-leading scorer with 11 points per game and a team-leading 307 field goal attempts.

“The reason why he’s leaving Missouri is he kind of wants to come home, family things and stuff,” said Lawrence’s skills trainer Mike Rodgers. “We’re going to concentrate on the Big East as far as his recruitment. We are concentrating on Villanova, Seton Hall, Rutgers and St. John’s, and moving along to looking into Providence, Pittsburgh and Marquette. We have a timetable on how we’re going to do it. I’ve had conversations with a  number of Big East coaches.”

Lawrence would sit a year as per NCAA transfer regulations and then have two years of eligibility remaining.

“This is the year you do this,” Rodgers said. “He had two very good years at Missouri. The first year he was injured with a foot injury.”

Rodgers said Lawrence had nothing against Missouri, which granted him his release Friday.

“He liked it out there and everything,” he said. “It was time to come home. He needed to be home for family situations.”