Mike Poole, a 6-foot-5, 175-pound wing from St. Benedict’s Prep, has been offered a scholarship by new Rutgers head coach Mike Rice and will visit the campus Wednesday and Thursday.

Rice will also host Notre Dame Prep players Cleveland Melvin and Antoine Myers this week.

“[Poole] will take an unofficial to Rutgers [Wednesday] and then he will be visiting Boston College and Seton Hall,” said Nate Blue, Poole’s mentor.

Blue said no official visit was necessary because “we know what Rutgers has to offer.” (more…)

INDIANAPOLIS – The men’s college basketball season is officially over, but the Coaching Carousel is running wild. Here are the highlights:

**Former Clemson coach Oliver Purnell (pictured) has agreed to a seven-year deal to take over DePaul. The Blue Demons have gone 1-35 in Big East play over the last two years.

**Steve Donahue is moving to Boston College from Cornell. Donahue, who did not immediately answer a text message, will be introduced at a Wednesday news conference.

**Tony Chiles will join Steve Lavin’s staff at St. John’s, a Drexel official confirmed to me.

**Manhattan coach Barry “Slice” Rohrssen told Lavin he would not join the staff, a source said.

**Dan Hurley will be introduced as the new Wagner coach at a Wednesday presser. St. Benedict’s Prep now begins a search to replace him. That is a highly coveted job and headmaster Father Edwin Leahy is already being overwhelmed by college assistants and high school coaches looking to succeed Hurley.

**Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim was named the Naismith Coach of the Year by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club.

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Hofstra has moved quickly to hire former Providence coach Tim Welsh as its new coach.

The former Providence and Iona coach replaces Tom Pecora, who last week took the Fordham job.

Welsh, a former SNY analyst, will get a five year deal and will be introduced Thursday at a press conference.

“We have hired Tim Welsh as our new coach,” a Hofstra source said.

Welsh spent 10 years at Providence but was fired after the Friars went 15-16 in 2007-08, with starting point guard Sharaud Curry limited to one game because of injury. (more…)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Coaching Carousel continues to move and St. John’s continues to search for a coach.

Numerous reports indicate that Boston College coach Al Skinner, a Malverne, N.Y. native, met Friday with St. John’s AD Chris Monasch at the Queens school.

Against this backdrop, Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg agreed to a two-year extension, meaning he is not a candidate for the St. John’s job.

“I am excited to be afforded the opportunity to continue to build the basketball program at Virginia Tech,” Greenberg said. “What makes Virginia Tech so special is the people and their passion for the University. My family has embraced all that the University stands for and I feel this is where I belong.” (more…)

Point guard Bryon Allen of Upper Marlboro, Md. is looking at four schools for next year.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Allen is considering Siena, Oregon, Boston College and Providence.

“I’m signing in April,” Allen said Sunday by phone, referring to the NCAA late signing period.

Allen initially committed to West Virginia but lost his scholarship opportunity when Joe Mazzulla was granted a medical redshirt. Mazzulla will be back with the Mountaineers in 2010-11.

Allen spent two years at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy but is spending his senior season playing for Jere Quinn at St. Thomas More in Oakdale, Conn. Allen said he chose St. Thomas More because the New England schools play in a league with a shot clock. (more…)

Tyrone Johnson, the 6-foot-2, 170-pound junior point guard from Plainfield (N.J.) High, has long been a target of the Georgetown Hoyas.

Coach John Thompson III’s staff was among the first teams involved with the powerful and skilled floor general.

But it wasn’t until last week that the Hoyas actually offered him a scholarship.

“They’ve been on him for a while. JT3 made it official this week,” Derrick Bobbitt, Johnson’s AAU coach, said Saturday.

The No. 46 prospect in the Class of 2011 according to Rivals, Johnson also holds offers from Rutgers, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech and interest from Kentucky, Villanova, West Virginia, UConn, Indiana, Virginia, Temple and UNLV. (more…)

Rod Odom is headed West.

“I am an Arizona Wildcat,” the 6-foot-8, 210-pound Odom, a senior from Long Island who plays at Concord (Mass.) Middlesex, said by text.

Reach by phone a little after 6 p.m., Odom said he made the decision “about 10 minutes ago.”

Odom chose Arizona over Vanderbilt, West Virginia and Boston College. He is ranked No. 88 overall in the Class of 2010 and No. 19 among small forwards.

“I was real close to going to Vanderbilt last night but I’ve been talking it over with my mom and my dad and we made that decision,” Odom said. (more…)

Rod Odom took his final official visit to Boston College this weekend and is now set to decide among four schools.

The 6-foot-8, 195-pound Odom out of Concord (Mass.) Middlesex says he will choose one of the following four schools: Arizona, Boston College, Vanderbilt or West Virginia.

“I’m pretty much done taking visits,” Odom said Sunday afternoon. “I’m just looking to talk things over with my family the next couple of days.”

Odom, a Long Island native, says there is no favorite.

“I wouldn’t say there’s any favorite,” he said. “Every school has real good things to offer. At this point they’re all pretty much even.” (more…)

Trevor Releford, a 6-foot, 180-pound point guard from Shawnee Mission (KS) Bishop Miege, committed to Alabama Friday over Oklahoma.

“Yes. I liked the campus, the players and the coaches,” he said by phone.

Releford, the younger brother of Kansas guard Travis Releford, previously said he likes Alabama because of his relationship with new head coach Anthony Grant.

“Alabama is the top because they’ve been there the longest,” Releford said. “I talk to coach a lot and I was his first guy. He started recruiting me.”

ODOM ENJOYING ARIZONA VISIT

Rod Odom, the 6-8 wing from Concord (Mass.) Middlesex, is enjoying his visit to Arizona this weekend, his first official.

“We are still in the midst of the visit,” Rod Odom Sr. said by phone Saturday. “Everything is going fantastic. Rod loves Arizona, he loves the ‘Cats.”

After the Arizona visit, Odom will take an official to Harvard next weekend and then  Boston College Oct. 3. (more…)

Rod Odom, the 6-foot-8 wing from Concord (Mass.) Middlesex, is on his way to Arizona this weekend for his first official visit.

“I’m in the airport waiting to go,” Odom, the No. 19 small forward in the Class of 2010, said Friday morning.

After the Arizona visit, Odom will take an official to Harvard next weekend and then  Boston College Oct. 3.

Odom is also considering Vanderbilt, West Virginia and Georgia Tech but has yet to plan official visits to those schools. He has visited every school except Arizona unofficially.

“I don’t really have a favorite right now,” Odom said. “I’ll probably have one after this visit because this [Arizona] is the only school I haven’t been to.” (more…)