Personally, I’m in the former category. I think Lance is in a perfect spot at Cincinnati. He’s surrounded by a tough coach (Mick Cronin), experienced players who also want to win (Deonta Vaughn, Yancy Gates) and he’s out of the fishbowl of New York City.

The 6-foot-5 Brooklyn native was voted the Big East preseason Rookie of the Year.

He also impressed observers Saturday in his first scrimmage when he dropped 22 points in 25 minutes, leading the Red team to a 50-43 victory over the Black team, according to Bill Koch of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“The guy can play offense,” Cronin told Koch. “He’s got a lot of natural, God-given ability. I think our style of play will help Lance.”

Stephenson was joined on the Red team by Vaughn, Gates, Cashmere Wright and Biggie McClain.

“The good part about it for Lance,” Cronin told Koch, “is that he doesn’t have to carry our team. He’s got a lot of other players around him.”

As reported previously, Cincinnati is still awaiting word from the NCAA as to Lance’s eligibility vis-a-vis his amateurism issues.

SELBY CUTS BAYLOR

Matt Scott at TheShiver.com reports that Josh Selby has eliminated Baylor from his list of schools, bringing his list down to five schools.

The 6-3, 180 combo  guard out of Lake Baltimore (Md.) Clifton has already visited Kansas unofficially. He plans to see Syracuse, Miami, Indiana and Kentucky and his mother will announce a visit schedule this week.

FREE THROWS

6-8 forward Terrence Jones of Oregon is visiting Kentucky now and will return Friday, according to an email his mother, Linda, sent to TheShiver.com. He visits Oregon on Saturday. Jones is also considering Washington, UCLA, and Oklahoma…Djim Bandoumel, a 6-8 center for Monroe (N.Y.) College, has committed to Idaho, according to assistant coach Brock Erickson.

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Doron Lamb,

Lamb, 6-foot-4 combo guard from Queens, N.Y., who plays at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, tripped to Kansas for “Late Night in the Phog” with his father, Calvin. Lamb was hosted by former St. Anthony guard Tyshawn Taylor.

“The highlight [of the visit] was when I walked out with the others [recruits]and the crowd was cheering and gave us a standing ovation. I’ve never had anything like that happen to me,” Lamb told Gary Bedore of the Lawrence Journal-World & News.

“It was a cool visit. I liked meeting the players, coaches and seeing the campus. Coach [Bill] Self is cool. He’s real. He tells you the truth.”

Calvin said he had never seen anything like “Late Night” before.

“It was nice,” Calvin said by phone.”That was something special. I’ve never seen that before.”

Lamb has now visited Oklahoma and Kansas and will visit Kentucky next weekend. He recently told me those three schools were at the top of his list.

Arizona, UConn and St. John’s are also involved but no visits are yet set.

“No, I don’t think so but he’s going to take his visits,” Calvin said. “I really can’t say. That’s really up to him. It’s what he wants. He just tells me and I tell the schools.”

The 6-2 Selby out of Lake Baltimore (Md.) Clifton decommitted from Tennessee and recently cut his list to six schools: Kansas, Baylor, Indiana, Syracuse, Miami and Kentucky. He plans to visit all of the schools, but dates are not yet set.

“Josh was able to spend time with coach Bill Self during his visit and his host was Sherron Collins. What stood out most was the fan support and atmosphere. Josh really enjoyed the visit,” Selby’s mom, Maeshon Witherspoon, told Rivals.com.

Witherspoon has said Selby won’t sign until the spring.

Barnes, 6-8 senior from Ames (Iowa) High ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2010, also made the trip to Kansas. He told Rivals on Sunday he was not yet ready to comment on his visit.

Barnes is due to visit Duke this coming weekend, UCLA Oct. 30 and Iowa State Nov. 6. He is also considering North Carolina and Oklahoma.

Royce Woolridge, a 6-3 shooting guard from Phoenix, Az., who committed to Kansas as a sophomore, also enjoyed his time on campus.

“Late Night was awesome,” Woolridge told Bedore. “The fans are crazy. It was so loud in there it’s ridiculous. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

DERRICK WILLIAMS TO RICHMOND

St. Anthony combo forward Derrick Williams has given a verbal commitment to Richmond.

“I like the strong academic points of the school,” Williams said by phone. “I like the atmosphere of the campus. I love the campus, the way it looks. They’ve been recruiting me the hardest. They’ve been to every open gym and every AAU game I’ve had. I love the players. I feel as soon as I come in I can make an impact to the team.”

The 6-foot-7, 245-pound Williams chose Richmond over St. Bonaventure, St. Joe’s, Penn State, Fordham and Hofstra. Tennessee, Missouri and Rutgers also showed interest.

“They showed him a lot of love, from the beginning when they first saw him. We went to Richmond’s Elite Camp for half a day [this summer]. They saw him and right away offered him. They said, ‘We want this guy,’” said Eric Harrield, Williams’ AAU coach with Sports University.

“They were at every one of his games all summer. No matter where we were, they were there.”

ST. ANTHONY UPDATES

St. Anthony senior forward Devon Collier enjoyed his weekend visit to Providence and is slated to visit St. John’s on Thursday for the Red Storm Tip-Off and Seton Hall Oct. 30.

“He really enjoyed his visit,” Harrield said. “He’s torn right now. He liked his visit at Oregon State and he liked the visit at Providence.”

Added New Heights coach Adam Berkowitz: “He wants to do all his visits and then look at everything at the same time. He had two good visits. He’s just going to try to keep an open mind for all the visits.”

St. Anthony guard Eli Carter visited Robert Morris this weekend and “really enjoyed himself,” Harrield said.

“He got to watch practice and was really surprised by the talent level they have.”

He will decide between Robert Morris and St. Bonaventure.

FREE THROWS

Fletcher Larson, a 6-8 forward from Jamestown (N.Y.) High, verbally committed to Youngstown State over Akron, Toledo, Butler and St. Bonaventure…St. Peter’s Prep 6-7 senior forward Ronald Roberts visited St. Joe’s this past weekend and will hit St. John’s next weekend…Brewster Academy wing Austin Carroll is considering Harvard and Rutgers…The Metro Classic takes place Sunday at Christ the King High School. The games will feature the New York City All-Stars against the Suburban All-Stars. Girls game at 2, boys at 4.

(Photos courtesy Rivals, Daily News)

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After decommitting from Tennessee, Selby is looking at Baylor, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami and Syracuse.

“Yes, we are going to visit those schools,” Maeshon Witherspoon, Selby’s mother, wrote in a text.

Selby will visit Kansas this coming weekend for “Late Night in the Phog.”

“He will take an unofficial visit to KU for Midnight Madness,” Witherspoon said.

The visits will be unofficial because Selby has yet to take his SAT or ACT.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY LANDS PHILLY TRIO

Former Villanova assistant Patrick Chambers has scored with a trio of recruits from Philly Friends’ Central.

Boston University got commitments from 6-7 PF power forward Dom Morris, 6-4 G Travis Robinson and 5-8 point guard H.J. Gaskins.

“We decided all together,” Gaskins told Alex Schwartz of Northstar Basketball. “Trav, Dom, and I are family. There is no question about that. It’s beyond basketball. It just so happens we’re brothers both on and off the court.” 

Robinson told Schwartz:  “I loved the team and the facilities, and most of all, BU is a great academic school and can attend with two of my current teammates who are pretty much my brothers.”

Morris, who averaged 12 points and eight rebounds last year, was being recruited by Siena, Providence, Penn State and La Salle. Robinson averaged 12.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.0 blocks per game and also considered Robert Morris. Gaskins considered Harvard, according to Schwartz.

FREE THROWS (UPDATED)

Kentucky will host a Who’s Who of talented recruits on Friday for Big Blue Madness: Kyrie Irving, Tobias Harris, C.J. Leslie, Michael Gilchrist, Achraf Yacoubou and Quincy Miller…Oak Hill guard Doron Lamb will visit Kansas this weekend for “Late Night in the Phog” and will then visit Kentucky the following weekend, according to Oak Hill coach Steve Smith…Tallahassee Community College forward Marvell Waithe will visit Rutgers this weekend for the Pitt-Rutgers football game and is then expected to decide between Rutgers and Arkansas, which he visited last weekend…Plainfield (NJ) guard Tyrone Johnson sprained his MCL in a football game and got an MRI on Monday, according to his AAU coach, Derrick Bobbitt…

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Great story here on Rumeal Robinson with this dandy:

[Rumeal Robinson] made more than $5 million in NBA salary alone, but blew much of it on a strip club habit that would have made Pacman Jones blush. “He would go on binges of two whole weeks where he spent $20,000 a night at a strip club,” Donald Barrows says. “Not only that, but he’d also have a bunch of the strippers come back to his place, get buck-naked, and clean his house for $500 or $1,000 each.”

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Josh Selby

Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Miami, Indiana and Baylor remain in contention for the 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard from Baltimore Lake Clifton who decommitted from Tennessee over the summer.

UConn, which hosted Selby on his first official visit after he decommitted, did not make the cut. Neither did Texas, Oregon or Florida State, which all had in-homes.

“We sat down as a family and discussed all the schools that were recruiting Josh,” Maeshon Witherspoon, Selby’s mother, wrote in a text. “We evaulated every school in depth and composed a list of schools we wanted to further explore.

“We feel as a family we would like to thank all the schools for taking the time to get to know Josh and his family. Every one of these schools has something special to offer any of these young men. The staffs have been great and we think we have selected the ones who fit Josh the best.

“We wish all these schools well. We know now here comes the hard part.”

Witherspoon previously said she and Josh plan to follow all of the teams they’re considering through the season and see how they progress before making a decision.

“We’re going to sit back and see how most of the teams’ seasons play out,” she said.

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The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Selby out of Baltimore (Md.) Lake Clifton will get an in-home visit from Indiana Sept. 22.

“That’s correct,” said his mother, Maeshon Witherspoon. “They’re coming in for an in-home visit.”

Witherspoon has known Indiana assistant Roshown McLeod for several years.

Selby, who this summer decommitted from Tennessee, will host Miami Sept. 21, Indiana Sept. 22, Syracuse Sept. 23 and Kentucky Sept. 24.

UConn, Kansas, Baylor, Oregon, Texas and Florida State have already come for in-home visits. Selby has also visited UConn unofficially.

Witherspoon said Texas and Tennessee are no longer in the mix for Selby, the Co-MVP on the losing team at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 event last month in New York.

“Schools that we’re not considering anymore are Texas and Tennessee,” she said.

After the Kentucky visit, the family will begin to cut the list.

“That’s the end of the in-home visits,” Witherspoon said.

“Now the hard part comes. We’re going to have to weed out the schools that we’re not going to look at. I don’t know if I can cut it down to five but I’m going to try go cut it down as much as possible.”

Witherspoon said she and Josh plan to follow all of the teams they’re considering through the season and see how they progress before making a decision.

“We’re going to sit back and see how most of the teams’ seasons play out,” she said.

RIVERS VISITING DUKE

Austin Rivers, considered by some the best guard in the nation, is visiting Duke unofficially this weekend, even though he’s committed to Florida.

“He’s going to Florida, there’s no doubt about that. He’s committed there, he’s a Florida kid,” Doc Rivers, Austin’s dad and the Celtics coach, told me last month in New York.

“I just thought he should look [at other schools] just to make sure that’s where he wants to go, but that’s where he wants to go.”

The 6-3, 175-pound junior out of Winter Haven (Fla.)  committed to Florida as a high school freshman.

Still, New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski thinks Rivers’ commitment was premature.

“Kids commit way too early,” Tom said last month. “With Austin Rivers, even though he says he’s still committed, his father wants him to visit Duke, North Carolina, UConn and UCLA.

“He said he’s still committed but his father wants him to take some more visits. When a kid’s a sophomore, he doesn’t know what he wants for lunch, no less where he wants to go to school. It just underscores the folly of kids committing so early.

“To me committing is like being pregnant. Either you are you aren’t.”

ROSCOE SMITH UPDATE

UConn head coach Jim Calhoun will visit Oak Hill forward Roscoe Smith at school today and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski comes for a home visit with the family Sept. 22.

(Photos courtesy Rivals, Maxpreps)

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NEW YORK – By now the video highlights of Josh Selby’s dunk on Kendall Marshall are all over the Internet.

The one where the 6-foot-1, 180-pound Selby takes off in transition, cocks back his right hand and throws it down on Marshall’s head, drawing thunderous applause from the 1,800 fans inside the Gauchos Gym in the Bronx.

Read the full story here.

***Also, 6-10 Turkish forward Enes Kanter of Findlay (Nev.) Prep has 50-60 schools interested, including Kentucky, Kansas, UConn, UCLA, USC, Ohio State, etc. Also check Rivals for story by me later on.

It was a late night last night working on these…but still got to watch the Yankees sock the Sox and take my daughter bike-riding and to the playground today.

Headed out to Rutgers football practice later today…the fun never stops.

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NEW YORK –

Leslie, a 6-foot-8 small forward out of Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Academy, listed North Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and Maryland as the schools recruiting him the hardest.

“I haven’t made [any] dates” to visit yet,” said Leslie, the No. 14 player in the Class of 2010.

“I’ve been to UNC a couple of times because they’re right in my back yard. I haven’t been to Florida or Kentucky yet,” he said.

Asked if he had a favorite, Leslie said, “No, I don’t.”

What kind of player will he be?

“A lot of energy,” he said. “Somebody that can push the ball, can do a little bit of everything.”

SELBY WIDE OPEN

The 6-foot-1 Selby, out of Baltimore (Md.) Lake Clifton, recently decommitted from Tennessee and his mother says about 15 schools are in the mix.

UConn, Syracuse, Texas, Oregon, Kentucky and Kansas are among those in contention.

Selby, the No. 4 prospect in the Class of 2010, visited UConn recently and enjoyed it.

“The UConn visit went very well,” he said. “We met Coach [Jim] Calhoun, he was a great guy. The assistant coaches were great. The players that I met were very cool, so my visit up there was very good.”

What about Kentucky?

“Kentucky is just like any other school,” he said. “They’re recruiting me and I’m looking at them. I’m looking at them the same way I’m looking at other schools. There’s no difference because it’s Kentucky and Coach [John] Calipari. NOthing went on [with William Wesley], so it’s no different.”

Selby and his mother are finalizing a schedule for other in-home and official visits after the Boost Mobile.

“There’s no schools really sticking out,” Selby said. “Every school is on the same level. I”m wide open and giving everybody a chance.”

SMITH TO CUT LIST

Roscoe Smith, a 6-7 SF out of Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, also has a long list.

He mentioned UConn, Duke, Florida, Kentucky and LSU and said he planned to take several unofficials before school starts.

Smith’s Rivals page lists a slew of other offers as well: Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Georgetown, Tennessee, Texas, Florida and Florida STate, among others.

“After Friday I will be making some unofficial visits,” he said. “I’m going to pick out the school that I’m going to commit to going on the middle of my Oak Hill season.”

He said he transferred to Oak Hill to improve and prepare for college.

“I just wanted to be around great players,” he said. ”I think me going to Oak Hill will step my game up more and get me ready for college life.

“I just want to try and win a national championship for Steve Smith and other Oak Hill alumni.” 

PRESSEY HAS TOP FIVE

Phil Pressey, a 5-11, 160-pound PG from Dallas Episcopal, said his final five were UCLA, Baylor, Missouri, Arizona and LSU.

“When I get back I’ll probably visit a couple schools,” he said.

Pressey is the son of former NBA player Paul Pressey.

“He knows a lot of the coaches. He gets information about the coaches, that helps me out,” he said. “I take it as an advantage. I like it. He helps me out in whatever I do.”

TEAGUE TO VISIT KENTUCKY THIS WEEKEND

Marquis Teague, one of the top prospects in the Class of 2011, will visit Kentucky unofficially on Saturday, per Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier Journal.

“We haven’t had the opportunity to go there,” Shawn Teague, Marquis’ father, told Demling. “We want to keep our eyes open and absorb the conversation and see what it’s all about.”

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The universities that make up this list include: Baylor, Florida, Georgetown, Indiana, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and Villanova.

“I appreciate the interest that many coaches have in me but these are the schools that my family and I think would be a good fit for me” the 6-foot-9 Christmas, out of Philly Northeast Catholic, said in a statement.

“My family and I are thankful to everyone that has offered me a scholarship and participated in my recruiting. I’m looking forward to my season at ANC and playing for Coach [Kevin] Givens. I’ve played with some of the players during the summer and I had a good time. After summer is over I want to make sure that I do well and improve in class and on the court.”

Christmas excelled over the summer at the NBA Players Top 100 Camp, the Rumble in the Bronx, Amar’e Stoudemire and Lebron James Skill Camps, Nike’s Peach Jam, the Orlando Super Showcase and most recently the Adidas Nations Global, in which he played for USA’s 2011 Team coached by Frank Johnson.

Next week he will be at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 game at Rucker Park in New York.

“It’s been a process, one that we wanted to make sure that the best choices were made for Rakeem,” said Amira Hamid, Christmas’ aunt and legal guardian. “He has been receiving scholarship offers since the 8th grade. With such an overwhelming number of schools interested in him, it was important that we did our due diligence with finalizing this list.”

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The 6-foot-7 Anderson is a star on the rise at Paterson Catholic, which this past year won the Passaic (N.J.) County championship and beat St. Anthony of Jersey City in the state playoffs.

“He’s very excited, he thinks his chances of making the team are good,” Kyle Anderson Sr. said of his son, who holds offers from Pittsburgh, Georgetown and Temple and has garnered interest from Texas, Baylor, Indiana and Miami.

Gibbs is a 6-1 point considered among the best in the nation in his class. His older brother, Ashton, plays for Pitt. Gibbs told Northstar Basketball Indiana, Pitt, Seton Hall, and Rutgers have offered, yet he lists Villanova as his leader.

The team will first look to capture the gold medal at the inaugural 2009 FIBA Americas U16 Championship June 17-21 in Mendoza, Argentina, and qualify for the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship.

The invited athletes will train June 6-12 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The 12-member team that will represent the U.S. this summer will be announced prior to the USA’s June 13 departure for Argentina.

Also included on the 2009-10 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team are: Justin Anderson (Montrose Christian School, Md. / Montross, Va.); Brad Beal (Chaminade College Prep H.S. / St. Louis, Mo.); K.C. Caudill (Brea Olinda H.S. / Brea, Calif.); Angelo Chol (Herbert Hoover H.S. / San Diego, Calif.); Quinn Cook (DeMatha H.S. / Bowie, Md.); André Drummond (Capitol Preparatory Magnet School / Middletown, Conn.); Perry Ellis (Wichita Heights H.S. / Wichita, Kan.); Brandan Kearney (Southeastern H.S. / Detroit, Mich.); James McAdoo (Norfolk Christian H.S. / Norfolk, Va.); Johnny O’Bryant (Eastside H.S. / Cleveland, Miss.); Tony Parker (Miller Grove H.S. / Lithonia, Ga.); Norvel Pelle (Dominguez H.S. / Long Beach, Calif.); Chasson Randle (Rock Island H.S. / Rock Island, Ill.); L.J. Rose (Second Baptist School / Houston, Texas); Mike Shaw (De La Salle Institute / Chicago, Ill.); Marquis Teague (Pike H.S. / Indianapolis, Ind.); Adonis Thomas (Melrose H.S. / Cordova, Tenn.); Kevin Ware (Rockdale County H.S. / Conyers, Ga.); and Anthony Wroten, Jr. (Garfield H.S. / Renton, Wash.).

“I think we’ve got a very talented group of guys,” said 2009-10 USA Developmental National Team head coach Don Showalter of Mid-Prairie High School (Iowa). “Everyone I’ve talked to at the major college level, the scouting services and from the kids I’ve seen personally, pretty much agrees that these are the top kids in the under 16 age group. They’re all going to be high major college players. It’ll be a great chance for them to play together and see how they stack up against the best kids in their grade.

“One of the things that we need to do from the start is make it clear that this is about building a team. We’re not playing an all-star game. We have to make sure the kids understand about how difficult the competition is going to be. It’s not like we’re going out and playing another AAU team or just another tournament. It’s a very, very high level of competition and as soon as we make the kids understand that, we’ll be better off.

HOOP SCOOP’S RANKINGS FOR 2010 AND 2011

Class of 2010 – 48 of the top 100 juniors are off the board

1-DeShaun Thomas (Ohio State)

2-Tristan Thompson (Texas)

3-Jared Sullinger (Ohio State)

4-Brandon Knight

5-Jeremy Tyler (Europe)

6-Josh Selby (Tennesseee)

7-Harrison Barnes

8-Joshua Smith

9-Kyrie Irving

10-Gary Franklin (USC)

11-Roscoe Smith

12-Ray McCallum

13-Dion Waiters (Syracuse)

14-Josh Hairston (Duke)

15-James Bell (Villanova)

16-Jereme Richmond (Illinois)

17-Tyler Lamb (UCLA)

18-JT Terrell (Wake Forest)

19-Doron Lamb

20-Kendall Marshall (North Carolina)

Class of 2011 – 11 of the top 100 have committed

1-Michael Gilchrist

2-Tony Wroten

3-LaQuinton Rosss

4-Austin Rivers (Florida)

5-Trevor Lacey

6-Wayne Blackshear

7-Aaron Ross (Arkansas)

8-Chris Coleman

9-Mike Shaw

10-James McAdoo

11-Jamal Branch

12-PJ Hairston

13-CJ Barksdale

14-Myck Kabongo (Texas)

15-Marques Teague

16-LaBryan Nash

17-Damien Leonard

18-Rakeem Christmas

19-Grandy Glaze

20-Kevin Johnson

]]> http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/05/28/anderson-gibbs-to-play-for-usa-hoops-hoop-scoops-rankings-for-2010-and-2011/feed/ 3 http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/05/12/sources-john-wall-down-to-two-fordham-releases-a-3rd-player-recruiting-notes/ http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/05/12/sources-john-wall-down-to-two-fordham-releases-a-3rd-player-recruiting-notes/#comments Tue, 12 May 2009 15:15:32 +0000 Adam Zagoria http://www.zagsblog.com/?p=16499 John Wall is down to two schools — Kentucky and Miami — according to multiple sources close to the situation.

“It’s down to the two of them, no question about it,” one source said. “It is Kentucky and Miami. The kid is leaning toward Kentucky. There is a little bit of a concern with the people closest to him that if he goes to Kentucky that they’re going to lose control.”

Said a second source at one of the schools: “That’s what we’re hearing.”

Brian Clifton, Wall’s adviser, told Luke Winn of SI.com that it was “accurate” to say that the race was between Duke, Kentucky and Miami, but my sources indicate it’s a two-horse race between Miami and Kentucky.

The 6-foot-4 Wall has not publicly cut his list. Asked by text on Sunday when he might cut it, he said, “I don’t know.”

Wall is the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2009 and has long considered Baylor, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Memphis, Miami and N.C. State.

Kentucky coach John Calipari pursued both Wall and Alabama point guard Eric Bledsoe, with the idea that Wall would start at the point and Bledsoe would play 10-15 minutes as a backup. If Wall followed former Calipari guards Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans by jumping to the NBA after one season, Bledsoe would take over in 2010.

Calipari has already secured an impressive recruiting class that includes Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Darnell Dodson and Jon Hood. The addition of Wall could make the Cats a Final Four-caliber team, although the team would still need to jell together.

Clearly, Clifton has some reservations about Wall joining Bledsoe at Kentucky.

“The knee-jerk reaction, and justifiably so, would be to take a minute of pause to look further into it. Because I can’t imagine, to get a player like Eric Bledsoe, that [Kentucky] would tell him, we’re going to recruit over you immediately and not play you very much as a freshman,” Clifton told SI.com.

“There had to be some assurances made to him about being able to share the ball, that would inspire him to commit despite the possibility of John still coming there. … So we have to revisit that situation and make sure it’s going to be great to have two of the top four point guards on the roster at once.”

Clifton told SI.com he hopes to talk to Calipari and Bledsoe’s camp to see what their expectations are for next season at Kentucky.

“It’s definitely not a deal-breaker, but I’d be remiss in my duty as a guy that’s helping John and his family if we don’t explore it fully,” Clifton said.

Clifton is also clearly amenable to the idea of Wall going to play at Miami. Head coach Frank Haith has recruited New York combo guard Durand Scott, whose Rice team beat Lance Stephenson and Lincoln in the New York State Federation title game.

“And being in Miami is significant in and of itself,” Clifton told SI.com. “If you’re going to be away from home for a year, or two years, or four, there are much worse places to be.”

Still, Wall has also said he may want to stay home in North Carolina to be near his ailing mother.

COLLEGE & RECRUITING NOTES

**A third Fordham player, freshman forward Lamar Thomas of Littleton, Col., obtained his release yesterday, bringing to three the number of Rams who are leaving the program this year. Trey Blue is headed to Illinois State and Mike Moore to Hofstra. Yet somehow the program won’t let freshman point guard Jio Fontan out? How does that make any kind of sense?

**Fabricio De Melo, a 7-foot, 267-pound native of Brazil who is currently in his junior year at Sagemont High School in Weston, Fla., visited Syracuse over the weekend but didn’t commit, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Known as Fab Melo, the 7-footer has also visited Louisville and Connecticut and will visit Florida Sunday.

**Khalif Toombs, a 5-8, 150-pound jet-quick point guard out of IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. who can step out and shoot with range, will visit La Salle this weekend.

“He is our best pure point guard since Taurean Green,” IMG coach Dan Barto said. “He matched up and held his own against the Florida JUCOs and had a great showing against Johnny Lacy and KC Ross-Miller as well.”

Toombs, originally from Atlantic City, averaged 16 points, 6 assists and 2 steals per game this year.

**Jeremee Davis, a 6-2, 185-pound lead guard also from IMG, has interest from William & Mary, St. Francis (Pa.), Norfolk State and North Dakota State, Barto said.

**Various college players are training at IMG for the upcoming NBA Draft, including Pitt’s DeJuan Blair and Louisville’s Earl Clark.

“We will be adding Tashid Carr, Marcus Thornton and possibly Ricky Rubio to our pre-draft routine,” Barto said.

**No update on Quintrell Thomas. The Kansas forward is expected to announce for Siena, St. Joe’s or UNLV any day now.

**2010 guard Steve Rennard of St. Joe’s Metuchen (N.J.) committed to Penn.