Rakeem Christmas has cut his list to five schools from eight.

Florida International, Florida, Georgetown, Oklahoma and Texas are still in the running for the No. 1 center and No. 4 overall prospect in the Class of 2011.

Baylor, Villanova, Indiana and Ohio State were cut from the old list, and Florida International, coached by Isiah Thomas, was added.

“Since our last announcement, certain schools have made a valiant effort regarding Rakeem’s recruitment. Stronger bonds have been established with a few programs and their staff. Our current list reflects that,” said Amira Hamid, Christmas’ aunt and legal guardian. “Once we know it’s right for Rakeem and once he feels 100 percent confident about the situation, everyone else will know. This process has been lengthy but we are in no rush to meet a timeline. We’re pleased with the current schools we are considering and looking forward to watching them play this season.” (more…)

By BILLY DIAMOND
Special Contributor to ZAGSBLOG.com
 
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. —  On the same night his former team set a franchise record for ineptitude, Isiah Thomas dropped his first game in the metropolitan area as a college coach.

Facing a raucous anti-Isiah crowd, Florida International dropped to 0-2 after falling, 99-70, Friday at Monmouth’s new Multipurpose Activity Center.

Thomas, the former coach and president of the Knicks, was loudly booed as he walked onto the court to take his seat on the bench and one fan held up a sign that read “FIU: Fire Isiah University.”

“I’m used to being in hostile arenas,” Thomas said, according to The Associated Press. “As an athlete and as a former ‘Bad Boy,’ every place we went to was kind of this kind of environment. So I’m used to dealing with tough environments.” (more…)

Isiah Thomas will make his college coaching debut with Florida International University on Monday night against defending NCAA champion North Carolina.

“She told me to go to work,” Thomas told FOXSports.com.

Thomas spent much of Sunday with his mother in Chicago before flying to North Carolina Sunday night, according to FoxSports.com.

FIU is also due to play Monmouth on Friday night in West Long Branch, N.J.

Read the full story here.

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C.J. Leslie is still plotting out his official visits and my not sign until the late signing period in the spring.

“He probably won’t sign until the spring. I can’t say for 100 percent sure,” Lisa Leslie, C.J.’s mom, said Saturday in a phone interview.

The 6-foot-8, 205-pound Leslie out of Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Academy is the No. 4 power forward in the nation, according to Rivals.

He took his first official visit to Kentucky Oct. 28 for the Blue/White Scrimmage and was supposed to visit Florida this weekend (Nov. 7-8), but will have to reschedule because his high school team has a scrimmage today (Saturday). (more…)

Long Island wing J.J. Moore has cut his list to three Big East schools after a weekend official visit to Louisville.

“The list is three schools: Louisville, Pittsburgh and St. John’s,” said Gary Charles, Moore’s AAU coach with the New York Panthers. Moore made the trip with Charles and Moore’s mentor, Hunt Bresky.

Charles said Moore, ranked No. 23 among small forwards in the Class of 2010, is tentatively slated to take an official to St. John’s the weekend of Oct. 30 and to Pitt the weekend of Nov. 6. (more…)

C.J. Leslie’s high school coach says Leslie has a list of about 11 schools and that there is no clear leader at this point.

“C.J. is still wide open with his recruitment. He doesn’t have a strong leader,” Raleigh (NC) Word of God coach Erasto Hatchett said Friday. “He’s still entertaining about 10 schools as of right now. He’s completed some home visits. He just had his last visit [Thursday] night with Georgetown. Seton Hall was there the night before.”

Hatchett said the 6-foot-8, 205-pound Leslie is considering Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Florida and Florida International. (more…)

Thanks to Chris Rivers and Kristen Wise of adidas, I just checked in via the Batphone with a few players from the adidas nations event in Dallas.

The U.S. 2010 team is undefeated at 3-0 with victories over USA 2011, Latin America and Africa.

Here are some quick updates on Brandon Knight, Marquis Teague and Cory Joseph.

**BRANDON KNIGHT

The top-ranked player in the Class of 2010, Knight is not playing at adidas nations, only watching, because of a broken right foot suffered at the Peach Jam.

“I’m still in a cast right now, I’m still recovering,” Knight said.

As far as colleges, Kansas, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Miami and Syracuse are all on his radar, but he hasn’t yet formulated a list.

“I don’t have a list yet, but I plan on narrowing it down soon,” Knight said. “Me and my parents haven’t really discussed it yet, but I’m sure we will sooner or later.” (more…)

Coached by Rafer Alston of the Nets, the New York Panthers won the U17 championship at the Hoop Group Summer Classic in Neptune, N.J. with an 84-63 victory over God’s Glory.

Sterling Gibbs of Seton Hall Prep, Deshaun Wiggins of Wings Academy, Winston Graham of Lee Academy and Ryan Rhoomes of Cardozo all played well for the Panthers.

Wiggins had a team-high 20 points in the final, Graham scored 18, Gibbs tallied 15 points and Armani Cotton added 12. Rhoomes added 10 points.

The Panthers played without Rod Odom (who was in Springfield) and J.J. Moore (back injury).

“It just means were still consistent,” Panthers head Gary Charles said. “Skip [Alston] came in and  did a nice job with these kids and he’s been practicing for three weeks. We’re extremely happy to be able to win the Reebok Summer Championship.” (more…)

PHILADELPHIA – The stars of the college basketball coaching world were out in force Friday at the Reebok All-American Camp at Philadelphia University.

Villanova’s Jay Wright, Kentucky’s John Calipari and Florida’s Billy Donovan were all in the stands trying to catch the eyes of some of the best high school players in the land.

But one coach stood out even among that heady company.

Read the full story here.

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PHILLY – Drove down here this morning and I’ve already eaten a Philly cheese steak at the Pour House with Dana O’Neill of ESPN.com and Brendan Quinn of Basketball Times. Quinn did the driving and did a spectacular job parallel parking in front of the restaurant, a la George Costanza in the hospital episode of “Seinfeld.”

Here are some quick notes.

***UPDATE***

**Chris Coleman, a 6-9 junior center from Durham (NC) Mt. Zion (pictured), has committed to Florida International and head coach Isiah Thomas, despite my previous post to the contrary.

“I liked that [Thomas] played in the NBA, coached in the NBA and he’s got a lot of experience and stuff,” Coleman told the NBE Basketball Report. “That is where I am trying to get, so that is why I committed.” (more…)