Eric Bledsoe, the No. 3 point guard in the Class of 2009, arrived in Memphis Thursday for his official visit and was overwhelmed by the local media.

Bledsoe will head to Kentucky on Friday and then decide between John Calipari’s old and new programs.

“I’m just looking for the opportunity to play ball and make it to the next level,” Bledsoe, a senior at Parker (AL) High, told a crowd of reporters in an interview broadcast on MyFoxMemphis. (more…)

Renardo Sidney signed with Mississippi State on Thursday.

The 6-foot-11, 250-pound Sidney, a native of Jackson, Miss., is rated the No. 5 power forward in the Class of 2009. He verbally committed to USC in February but never signed a Letter of Intent.

“It’s good to be coming back home,” said Sidney, who averaged 23.4 points and 10.6 rebounds this past season at Los Angeles Fairfax High. “A lot of my family hasn’t been able to see me play the last three years and it will be good to be around them again. Mississippi State is a great school with a great program, and I”m coming in to help them win a national championship and build a bond with my new teammates.” (more…)

Oklahoma sophomore forward Blake Griffin, the National Player of the Year and likely No. 1 pick, is among the 103 players listed as early entry candidates for the 2009 NBA draft.

The league announced Thursday that 74 players from U.S. colleges and 29 international players had filed for early entry before the April 26 deadline. The draft is set for June 25 and players without agents must withdraw their names by June 15.

Griffin, who led the nation in double-doubles last season, announced his intention to turn pro April 7 after one year with the Sooners.

Joining Griffin on the list is the North Carolina backcourt ofpoint guard Ty Lawson and shooting guard Wayne Ellington.

Among the Big East players who declared (more…)

For 20 years I have played competitive Ultimate Frisbee, and for 20 years people have asked me if I play with dogs or on the beach.

The answers continue to be, “No” and “Sometimes.”

There’s an old expression, “When a ball dreams, it dreams it’s a Frisbee.” (more…)

Former St. Patrick of Elizabeth standout Quintrell Thomas has narrowed his choices to UNLV, St. Joe’s and Siena.

The 6-foot-8 Thomas is transferring from Kansas and hopes to have a decision made by mid-May.

He visited St. Joe’s last weekend, heads to UNLV this weekend and then goes to Siena the following weekend. (more…)

Eric Bledsoe, the No. 3 point guard in the Class of 2009, will take a step closer to making his college decision this weekend when he visits John Calipari’s old and new programs.

“He’s going to Memphis Thursday and then going to Kentucky Saturday,” said Maurice Ford, Bledsoe’s high school coach at Birmingham (AL) Parker.

Are any other schools in the mix?

“That’s it,” Ford said.

And when will Bledsoe decide?

“Probably toward the end of next week,” Ford said.

The 6-foot, 160-pound Bledsoe averaged 20.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 10.3 assists in leading Parker to the Class 5A state championship game. The (more…)

Latavious Williams, the No. 6 power forward in the nation, will announce his college choice Monday during a press conference.

Williams will choose from among Memphis, Georgetown and Kansas State, said his high school coach, Carlos Wilson.

“I’m ready to get it over with,” Williams, a 6-foot-7, 195-pound wing forward, told Jerry Meyer of Rivals.com. “Then I can get some guidance getting through the Clearinghouse.”

Memphis coach Josh Pastner recently visited with Williams, and assistant coaches from Georgetown and Kansas State have also come there, Rivals reported.

Wilson previously said that Europe might also be an option if Williams doesn’t qualify academically.

“If he didn’t qualify I’m thinking he would maybe have to look at some junior college or possibly some European situations,” Wilson said.

“I think Europe is a viable option in his mind. I really do think there’s a possibility that he would look into playing overseas if he didn’t qualify. It just depends.”

While UConn coach Jim Calhoun and his staff are left to clean up the mess they made recruiting Nate Miles, Miles is headed to the NBA.

Connecticut newspapers reported that Miles will not be prosecuted on charges of violating a restraining order against his former UConn girlfriend.

With the case behind him, Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant sites a source saying that the 6-foot-7 Miles will make himself eligible for the NBA Draft in June.

Calhoun once declared that Miles had “as much basketball ability” as any recruit he ever signed. Pretty high praise considering Ben Gordon, Ray Allen and Emeka Okafor all played for Calhoun. (more…)

Markus Kennedy, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound junior forward from Living Faith Christian Academy (N.J.), will stay home for college.

Kennedy, a Philadelphia native, chose Villanova over West Virginia and Temple during a press conference Wednesday at his school.

“I just loved the coach and the team and everything about the campus,” Kennedy said by phone. “Coach [Jay] Wright really cares about the players. He just doesn’t care about winning basketball games. He cares about their future.”

Asked how much the Wildcats’ run to the Final Four impacted his decision, Kennedy said: “Yes, it did. The way that their team is, they only have a couple of big men and for them to get to the Final Four, that says a lot.” (more…)

Jio Fontan was denied a release from Fordham during a meeting Tuesday even after promising school officials that he would not attend any Big East schools in the area.

“He was denied,” a source with direct knowledge said.

Fontan met with a Fordham official following another meeting last week that involved his family and an administrative committee.

Still, Fontan and his family are “100 percent” committed to fighting the decision and pursuing a release, the source said. (more…)