The 6-foot-6 Pinkston, a senior forward at Bishop Loughlin, is the top player in New York City and the No. 67-ranked player in the Class of 2010 according to Rivals.

“It was a great home visit today,” said Kimani Young, the New Heights athletic director and an adviser to Pinkston.

“[Coach Wright] talked about how Jay would fit in and what they’re doing. He talked about the success he’s had with guys from New York City, Allan Ray, Curtis Sumpter, Jason Fraser, and now with Corey Fisher and Antonio Pena.

“He talked about how at a place like Villanova it’s important how well they do academically. A kid like Curtis Sumpter was a future NBA first round pick and then had two torn ACLs. Now he’s an average player overseas but he has his Masters degree and has a  future in the finance world. You can’t say that would’ve happened at other schools.

“I think that resonated with Jay’s mother, Kerry, and that resonated with Jay.”

St. John’s, Tennessee, Marquette and Seton Hall are also actively recruiting Pinkston. Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez is due for an in-home next Tuesday (Sept. 29)  and Marquette head coach Buzz Williams comes in Sept. 30.

At this point, though, it looks like Villanova is leading for Pinkston.

KU’S TAYLOR HOSPITALIZED

Kansas sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor was hospitalized Tuesday night after a skirmish reportedly broke out between members of the school’s basketball and football teams.

The Lawrence Journal World & News reported that the incident took place in front of the Burge Union on the Kansas campus shortly after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The paper also reported that Taylor suffered a dislocated left thumb and would be out 3-4 weeks.

A nursing supervisor confirmed to the paper that Taylor, a star on Bob Hurley’s undefeated 2008 St. Anthony team, was treated and released Tuesday night at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

“We’re aware of reports of an incident and we are gathering facts as we speak,” associate athletic director Jim Marchiony told the paper Tuesday night.

RIVERS HASN’T DECOMMITTED FROM FLORIDA

Austin Rivers thoroughly enjoyed his visit to Duke over the weekend, but the 6-4 shooting guard from Winter Park (Fla.) hasn’t opted to decommit from Florida.

“There’s a lot of cool things about Duke basketball and it was a good place to see and enjoy,” Rivers told the Orlando Sentinel.

River’s older sister, Callie, is a junior volleyball player at Florida.

“I have to sit down with my family and think, but right now Florida is still my school,” Rivers said. “I still love Florida.”

POOLE TO ANNOUNCE THURSDAY

Stacey Poole, a 6-5 small forward out of Jacksonville (Fla. ) Providence School, is set to announce Thursday between Kentucky and South Carolina, according to Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier Journal.

Poole told CatsPause.com that, “Kentucky is really strong right now, hard to beat.”

ODOM TRIMS LIST

Fresh off his successful official visit to Arizona last weekend, 6-8 forward Rod Odom of Concord (Mass.) Middlesex has cut Georgia Tech from his list.

“Yes,” he said by text.

Odom will take an official to Harvard this weekend and then  Boston College Oct. 3.

Vanderbilt and West Virginia are also in the mix.

New York Panthers coach Gary Charles said of the Arizona visit: “Rod had a great visit to Arizona. They are a serious contender.”

BIRUTA HAS INTEREST

Gilvydas Biruta is a 6-8 senior forward from Lithuania now playing for Dan Hurley at St. Benedict’s Prep.

A number of schools are interested in Biruta, including Northwestern, Washington, UPenn, Auburn, Seton Hall, Davidson and Creighton.

“Those are the schools,” a St. Ben’s coach said. “He’s drawn a lot of interest over the summer. He played for the Lithuanian [U18] National Team. People love his size right now and he’s getting a lot of looks from a lot of people.”

ST. BEN’S COACHES CLINIC

Speaking of St. Ben’s, be sure to check out the star-studded coaches clinic there on Friday that features Villanova’s Jay Wright, Pitt’s Jamie Dixon, Arizona’s Sean Miller, Temple’s Fran Dunphy, and NBA coaches-turned-broadcasters Hubie Brown and Jeff Van Gundy.

Click here for more info.

(Photos courtesy Rivals, Lawrence World Journal, FIBA)

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Stephen Curry of Davidson, the North Carolina duo of Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington and UConn big man Ater Majok all declared Thursday for the draft. Curry, Lawson and Ellington are juniors, while Majok has yet to play a game at UConn.

“When I came here I thought it was going to be for four years with my teammates and my class, graduating and things like that. That’s hard to walk away from before I have to,” Curry said at his press conference.  “It took a very positive, beneficial next step for me, an opportunity for me, to give that up. It’s going to be hard to walk away from it.”

The son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, Stephen Curry led Division 1 in scoring at 28.6 points per game.

“As special as he has been to us, he’ll be equally special in the NBA,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. “I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have  this opportunity to coach him for these three years.”

Only five NCAA scoring leaders have been first-round draft picks dating back to 1990 and they have enjoyed varying NBA careers. Adam Morrison (3rd pick, 2006) Courtney Alexander (13th, 2000), Kurt Thomas (10th, 1995), Glenn Robinson (1st, 1994), Bo Kimble (8th, 1990).

Ellington and Lawson were both expected to jump to the NBA after the team won the NCAA championship earlier this month over Michigan State in Detroit. They are the sixth and seventh players to leave the Tar Heels early under Roy Williams.

“It’s hard to leave Carolina because of all the great memories and things you learn in college,” said Lawson, a jet-quick point guard who averaged 16.6 points and 6.6 assists. “All the fun I had with my teammates made it a hard decision to make myself available for the NBA Draft.”

Ellington, a 6-3 shooting guard out of Wynnewood, Pa., averaged 15.8 points and 2.7 assists and was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

“It was definitely a tough decision,” Ellington said. “I loved my time here at Carolina. I had a lot of fun. There’s no better way to end it [than] the way we did.”

Chad Ford of ESPN projects Lawson to go at No. 15 in the draft and Ellington at No. 24.

“I spoke to 13 different NBA teams over the past two weeks and every indication from those people is that this is a good time for the youngsters to go,” Williams said.

The 6-10, 233-pound Majok has yet to play a game at UConn. and has also yet to hire an agent, meaning he could still return to campus. He would become eligible in the second semester of next season. UConn is already losing Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien and A.J. Price to the pros.

“After meeting with my family, I have decided that it is in my best interest to enter the NBA Draft,” said Majok. “I feel it will help me to test the process and get feedback on my strengths and weaknesses. It will allow me to get a better idea of what areas in my game need improvement and make me a better player in the future. I will not be hiring an agent and I enter this process with the full intention of assessing my abilities and returning to Connecticut in 2009-10.”

“In view of the upcoming rule changes for underclassmen, this is an opportunity for Ater to see where he currently fits into what I believe will be a future in professional basketball,” said UConn head coach Jim Calhoun. “I respect that Ater understands that this decision is about more than just him and that he has, and will continue to, involve his immediate family in this process as it goes forward.”

Ford’s mock draft on ESPN looks like this:

1. PF Blake Griffin – OKlahoma

2. PG Ricky Rubio – Spain

3. C Hasheem Thabeet – UConn

4. SG James Harden – ASU

5. PF Jordan Hill – Arizona

6. SG DeMar Derozan – USC

7. SG Tyreke Evans – Memphis

8. PG Stephen Curry – Davidson

9. PG Brandon Jennings – Italy

10. PF James Johnson – Wake Forest

(Photo courtesy Davidson)

Unfortunately for Curry, many of his long-range bombs were clanking off the rim as time wound down against West Virginia in the Jimmy V Classic.

“I was pretty frustrated,” Curry said. “Those are shots I usually make. It didn’t help that it was when they were coming back in the game.”

Read the full story here.

In the 2nd game, No. 6 Texas downed No. 15 Villanova behind 26 points from AJ Abrams. Read about it here.

In Newark, Seton Hall got 25 points apiece from Eugene Harvey and Jeremy Hazell to down Cal Baptist,
92-80. Harvey scored his 1,000th career point as the Pirates improved to 7-1.

Here’s a quick update live from the Jimmy V Classic at MSG. It looks like West Virginia could be playing without two guards tonight against No. 23 Davidson. Jonnie West (left foot) is out for the year and Alex Ruoff (back spasms) did not start. Joe Mazzulla started despite a shoulder contusion along with Da’Sean Butler, Devin EBanks, John Flowers and Wellington Smith.

Pat Riley and Bob Knight are both in the house….

Here’s my story from earlier today on the return to the Garden of locals Butler, Ebanks, Kevin Jones, Darryl “Truck” Bryant and Wellington Smith.

While New York fans continue to dream of LeBron playing regularly on the Garden floor beginning in 2010, they can come see Curry much sooner.

Curry and No. 22 Davidson (6-1) will take on West Virginia (6-1) Tuesday night in the first game of the Jimmy V Classic. No. 17 Villanova (8-0) and No. 8 Texas (6-1) will match up in the second game of the doubleheader.

Read the full story here.

(Photo courtesy Davidson athletics)