JayVaughn Pinkston, a 6-6 combo forward from Brooklyn Bishop Loughlin considered the top prospect in New York City, will announce at 3 p.m. Wednesday at his school.

The Daily News reported on its Website Tuesday that sources indicated Pinkston would announce for Tennessee, but New Heights athletic director Kimani Young said, “Nobody confirmed that.”

Pinkston is expected to announce from among Villanova, Tennessee, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Marquette.

If Pinkston picks Tennessee, it could well have an impact on what Tobias Harris says at his announcement Thursday on ESPNU since both play the same position.

“There’s no way they’re going to the same school,” said a Division 1 assistant coach recruiting one of the players.

Torrel Harris, Tobias’ dad, said it would be Tobias’ decision, but that the two players could potentially coexist on the same team.

“They’re two different players,” Torrel said. “JayVaughn is a power forward and Tobias, he can do it all. I think if he [Pinkston] did go there [Tennessee], they’ll both play a lot.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the 6-8 Harris, a senior at Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, had finished up his final visit — to Georgia Tech.

“We had a great visit,” Torrel said. “Coach [Paul] Hewitt is a great teacher, a lot of teaching. In the practices, his players go really hard. He’s got a great group of guys, high-character players on the team. They get a lot of guys to the NBA. A lot of one-and-dones, two-and-dones.

“We met with the president of the school, met with the academic advisors. Just watched a lot of practices and films.”

Torrel said the family would spend the next several days picking a school from among Syracuse, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Louisville, Maryland and Georgia Tech.

Conventional wisdom says Harris will pick from among Syracuse, Tennessee, Louisville and West Virginia.

If Pinkston chooses Tennessee Wednesday, we may know a little more about where Harris ends up.

“That’s not my decision,” Torrel said. “That’s Tobias’ decision. We haven’t talked about that.”

TERRENCE JONES LIKELY TO SIGN LATE

Linda Mashia-Jones, the mother of five-star forward Terrence Jones, said her son will likely wait until the spring to sign.

“It’s looking that way,” she said Tuesday. “I can’t say for sure unless he has a breakout tomorrow [Wednesday] and calls me and tells me he’s ready to make a decision.”

She added: “He’s still waiting. He still wants to wait.”

A 6-foot-8 forward from Portland (Ore.) Jefferson, Jones and his mother visited UCLA two weeks ago. He is considering UCLA, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and Kentucky.

The early signing period runs Nov. 11-18.

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JayVaughn Pinkston, a 6-foot-6 forward from Bishop Loughlin considered the top prospect in the Big Apple, hasn’t picked a school yet and may or may not sign late.

“We cannot say definitively,” New Heights athletic director Kimani Young said Wednesday morning. “There’s still a possibility that he commits early.

“He’s still going through the recruiting process even as of this week to figure out if he’s decided 100 percent where he wants to go to.”

Pinkston, who recently led New Heights to the is8 championship by scoring a combined 59 points in the semis and finals, will choose from among Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Tennessee and Marquette.

Villanova appears to be the leader for his services.

“He’s thinking about it,” Young said of the recruiting process. “He’s not taking any more visits.”

***Doron Lamb, a 6-4 shooting guard from Queens who plays for Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, appears as if he will wait until the spring signing period. He has visited Oklahoma, Kansas and Kentucky and will visit UConn Nov. 15-16. He may also visit Arizona, but likely not until after the early signing period ends Nov. 18.

Pinkston and Lamb are among a group of elite 2010 prospects who may not sign until the spring. Guards Josh Selby and Brandon Knight and forwards Roscoe Smith, C.J. Leslie and Terrence Jones also may sign in the spring.

Selby will visit Indiana Nov. 14, while Knight will hit Florida Nov. 13. Leslie is also planning a visit to Florida, but no date has yet been set.

While that group may wait, several elite area players are poised to sign early.

***Tobias Harris, a 6-8 forward from Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, says he will announce on Nov. 19.

Harris has visited Syracuse, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville and West Virginia and will visit Maryland (Nov. 13-14) and Georgia Tech (Nov. 16-17) due up in the next week.

“When we finish all the visits, Tobias will decide,” Torrel Harris, his father, said recently. “Right now all of them are equal. Every one is better and better.”

***J.J. Moore, a 6-5 wing from Brentwood, N.Y., who plays at South Kent (Conn.), could announce at any time. He will choose from among Pittsburgh, Louisville and St. John’s.

**Russell Smith, a 6-2 shooting guard from The Bronx who also plays at South Kent, will visit Louisville this weekend and is expected to sign with the Cardinals once he receives a formal scholarship offer.

“They love him,” Russell Smith Sr. said. “That’s a good thing. Rick [Pitino's] been following him for a while, watching him play. They said they definitely want him.”

***Rod Odom, a 6-8 wing from Long Island who plays at Concord (Mass.) Middlesex, will sign with Vanderbilt Wednesday. He initially committed to Arizona and then changed his plans.

***Fuquan Edwin, a 6-6 wing from Paterson (N.J.) Catholic, signed with Seton Hall Tuesday night and faxed in his papers Wednesday morning.

**Rutgers recruit Austin Carroll says he will sign Thursday. Was too busy Wednesday with classes and road game 3 hours away.

**Ashton Pankey, a 6-9, 225-pound forward from New York who plays at St. Anthony, will visit Houston this weekend and will then decide between Houston and Maryland, which he visited last weekend.

“He really liked Maryland and I know he wants to be able to compare Maryland to another school,” St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley said.

“He’ll make a decision right after his visit,” Young added.

**Three other St. Anthony players have already committed and are expected to sign early: Devon Collier (Oregon State), Derrick Williams (Richmond) and Eli Carter (St. Bonaventure).

Hurley said the school likely will host a signing event for all four players next Tuesday.

**St. Patrick senior guard Kyrie Irving  signed Wednesday with Duke and his teammate, Derrick Gordon, chose Western Kentucky.

**St. Benedict’s senior guard Aaron Brown will sign with Temple Wednesday, while his 6-8 teammate Gil Biruta will visit Rutgers this weekend.

**As first reported here, Rice senior guard Shane Southwell has committed to Kansas State and will sign Wednesday.

“I just received my papers,” he wrote by text.

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“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).

“We thought it would be better if we just totally rescheduled it,” Lisa said of the Florida visit.

Leslie had in-home visits with Kentucky, Maryland, Seton Hall, Arizona State, Georgetown, N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Florida International and Oregon.

He plans to take four more officials — including one to Florida — but all four likely won’t happen this fall. Lisa said the family wasn’t sure which schools would get the three remaining visits.

“As of right now, we don’t know which other three schools he’s going to visit,” she said. “We’ve been so busy with the recruiting and everything that we haven’t had enough time to sit down and complete the schedule.”

Lisa said North Carolina was supposed to come for an in-home visit, but cancelled because they decided instead to focus on Harrison Barnes, the nation’s No. 2 recruit.

“Roy [Williams] must feel pretty comfortable with Barnes because Coach [Steve] Robinson called us and they were saying they didn’t want to hinder C.J.’’s recruiting by putting us on hold to see whether Harrison Barnes was going to take the scholarship,” she said.

“Coach Williams told C.J. he really wanted him, he just wishes he has one more scholarship. That was the turnaround with North Carolina.”

The 6-6 Barnes is due to announce this week and is considering North Carolina, Duke, UCLA, Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa State.

As for Leslie, Lisa said he enjoyed his official to Kentucky but hasn’t proclaimed the ‘Cats his leader.

“He said when he went down there for the visit he really enjoyed it,” Lisa said of Kentucky. “He never said that that was his favorite school.

“He’s still saying that he’s open. I wouldn’t say that that was his favorite school.”

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Kyrie Irving made it official on ESPNU Thursday night, putting on a blue Duke baseball hat and announcing his intention to play for the Blue Devils.

A senior at Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, Irving chose Duke over Texas A&M and Kentucky, both of which he took official visits to. He canceled visits to Georgia Tech and Seton Hall after deciding to announce.

“I”m pleased to announce that I will be committing to Duke University,” he said. “I will be a Blue Devil next year.”

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Irving is the No. 4 point guard in the Class of 2010 and the No. 9 overall player, according to Rivals.com.

He joins 6-8 power forward Josh Hairston of Spotslvania, Va., and 6-2 point guard Tyler Thornton of Washington, D.C., in Duke’s 2010 recruiting haul.

Irving said his “relationship with [Coach Mike Krzyzewski] and the whole entire coaching staff” was key to his decision.

“I have a great relationship with everybody, the players, everybody,” he said. “When I went on my official visit [Sept. 25] it felt like home and it’s the place for me.”

Irving’s friend Harrison Barnes, a 6-6 wing from Ames (Iowa) High ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2010, reportedly began his visit to Duke Thursday and it has been no secret that the two would love to play together.

“I’ll let the Duke coaching staff handle that,” Irving said. “Harrison’s like a big brother to me. We talk all the time, but mainly it’s not about Duke. He’s his own man and he’s going to make his own decision and whatever decision he makes I’m going to be happy for him.”

Barnes is also considering North Carolina, Oklahoma, UCLA, Kansas and Iowa State.

As for Irving, Duke desperately needed a quality point guard going forward and they got their man.

“Kyrie Irving, when it’s all said and done, he will arguably be as good as any guard who’s played in New Jersey,” St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle told me last season. “Any guard. Ever. Ever. DaJuan Wagner, Bobby Hurley, Shaheen Holloway. You’re talking about a guy who’s a great shooter, a great finisher. He’s going to be as good as anybody who’s played in New Jersey.”

One Big East assistant said without pausing: “He’s a pro.”

Tom Konchalski, the longtime New York recruiting analyst, said Irving could potentially follow in the footsteps of Jersey point guards Bobby Hurley and Jason Williams in leading Duke to a national title.

“I think he would probably be Mike Krzyzewski’s best point guard since Jason Williams,” Konchalski said.

(Photos courtesy Irving Family & AP)

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The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Irving is the No. 4 point guard in the Class of 2010 and the No. 9 overall player, according to Rivals.com.

“He’s definitely going to Duke and if he doesn’t announce it tomorrow [Wednesday] he’ll probably announce it Thursday,” said one Division 1 assistant coach involved in Irving’s recruitment.

“He has committed. I heard that from [a Duke assistant],” said a second coach who recruited Irving.

A third source close to yet another assistant coach recruiting Irving confirmed that he had committed to the Blue Devils.

“He told me it’s a done deal,” the source said.

Phone messages left for Kyrie and Drederick Irving were not immediately returned Tuesday night.

But Kyrie posted this on his Twitter feed after I initially wrote this blog: “I don’t know what’s going on with all these supposed sources but I have not commited to Duke.”

Irving took his first official to Duke the weekend of Sept. 25 and saw the Blue Devils beat N.C. Central 49-14 in football and watched as last year’s basketball team was honored for winning the 2009 ACC title.

He was greeted with numerous signs around campus heralding his arrival.

“Duke official was great! I enjoyed every single second…everything there fits me and is right for me…you never know what will happen,” Irving said then on his Twitter feed.

His father also indicated that Duke was his favorite.

“It is very appealing what they offer,” Drederick told me last month.

“It’s a great academic institution that offers great athletics. You get the best of both worlds. That reflects what I represent and what Kyrie represents but we’re still trying to be objective about it because there are still other elite schools that offer that academic excellence.”

After eliminating Indiana from the process, Irving still took officials to Texas A&M Oct. 9 and to Kentucky this past weekend for Big Blue Madness.

Irving visited Kentucky with St. Patrick teammate Michael Gilchrist, as well as Long Island stars Tobias Harris and Achraf Yacoubou. By all accounts, Irving enjoyed the visit to the school where his Godfather, Rod Strickland, serves as an assistant to John Calipari. 

He was slated to visit Georgia Tech this coming weekend and Seton Hall Oct. 30. Obviously, if he announces this week those visits would be off.

Even before the Kentucky visit, Irving told Dime Magazine he was leaning toward Duke.

“I guess you could say that I’m leaning toward Duke,” he said. “I’m just not ready to commit. It was my first visit and of course I’m really high on them and like I said I have that feeling, but I think it’s only smart to compare it to something.”

He added: “Well, I’ve got that feeling with Duke, but I want to go on a few more visits to compare it all. I’m not ready to commit yet. I just want to make sure everything is right. Duke and Indiana were my top two schools, and Duke is up there, but I like the other schools too.”

Kevin Boyle, Irving’s coach at St. Patrick, told me last year that Irving could end up being the best guard ever to come out of New Jersey. That’s high praise considering that group includes Bobby Hurley, Dajuan Wagner and Jason Williams, among others. Boyle indicated in August that Duke and Indiana were the favorites but then Indiana was surprisingly eliminated during the process.

“I would not be surprised if he went to Duke,” Boyle said. “Any time you’re being recruited hard by the guy who’s the current and last Olympic coach [Mike Krzyzewski], it’s going to definitely be a concern for any [other] school when Duke’s recruiting you.”

Tom Konchalski, the longtime New York recruiting analyst, said Irving could potentially follow in the footsteps of Jersey point guards Hurley and Williams in leading Duke to a national title.

“I think he would probably be Mike Krzyzewski’s best point guard since Jason Williams,” Konchalski said.

(Photos courtesy Irving Family & Duke Athletics)

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They’ll be taking in the show at Kentucky.

“I’m excited, it should be good,” said Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West forward Tobias Harris, who leaves Friday for Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness.”

“I heard it’s a really great atmosphere at the Midnight Madness so it should be fun.”

Some 24,000 Kentucky fans are expected at the event and tickets were reportedly selling Thursday for an average of $177.59 on eBay.

Led by first-year coach John Calipari, Kentucky is loaded with talent and could make a Final Four run.

The 6-foot-8 Harris will be joined on the Kentucky trip by fellow senior Kyrie Irving, a point guard at Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick; Michael Gilchrist, a 6-7 junior wing from St. Pat’s considered the top high school player in the nation; and Achraf Yacoubou, a top junior recruit and Harris’ former teammate at Long Island Lutheran.

“Those are cool guys so it should be good,” Harris said.

“I played with Ach and I played with Kyrie and Mike at the LeBron James Camp.  Mike was on my team at LeBron. We’ve got a lot of talent in the metropolitan area and all of us down there should be fun.”

The non-New York contingent headed to Kentucky includes junior forward Quincy Miller of Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Kentucky-bound senior Stacey Poole, Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla. Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God forward C.J. Leslie wasn’t able to make it.

“Once you see Madness, you see what Kentucky has to offer,” Kentucky center Patrick Patterson told the Herald-Leader. “You commit right off the bat.”

While the New York/New Jersey flavor will be strong at Kentucky, Kansas will host an elite group that includes Queens, N.Y. native Doron Lamb, a senior shooting guard at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy pictured at left.

The 6-4 Lamb has visited Oklahoma and plans to visit Kentucky or UConn next weekend.

“It’s a three-way tie out of Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma,” he told me earlier this week.

Also headed to Kansas for “Late Night in the Phog” are senior guards Harrison Barnes and Josh Selby and junior guards Bradley Beal and Josiah Turner.

Other New York-area players on the road this weekend include Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony senior forward Devon Collier, who is currently on an official to Providence, and Long Island native J.J. Moore of South Kent (Conn.), who is slated to visit Louisville.

The 6-8 Collier visited Oregon State last weekend and plans to hit St. John’s next weekend and Seton Hall Oct. 30.

The 6-5 Moore will visit Florida Oct. 23 and is also considering St. John’s and Pitt.

As for those visiting Kentucky, Irving was quoted as saying he’s “leaning” toward Duke, but also visited Texas A&M and still plans to visit Georgia Tech and Seton Hall. Meantime, Wildcats assistant Rod Strickland is Irving’s Godfather.

“You can’t discount Kentucky because I do have a relationship with coach Strickland,” Drederick Irving, Kyrie’s dad, told me last month. “I’ve known him since I was 7 and we played in the same backcourt with the Gauchos until we were 18. He’s like a brother to me. We have a profound relationship that cannot be discounted. He is Kyrie’s Godfather.”

As for Harris, he has visited Syracuse and Tennessee and still plans to visit Louisville, West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Maryland.

“This is one of the hardest decisions,” Harris said. “Each visit you go to they’ve been really good so it’s hard telling one school form the other, which one is the best fit for me.”

The 6-7 Gilchrist, considered the top high school prospect regardless of class, favors Kentucky and Villanova, according to his mother, Cindy Richardson.

Yet he has visited Michigan, Rutgers and Villanova in recent weeks and his mother says he is open to being recruited by anybody.

“I’m just having fun with my selection of colleges,” he told the Philly Inquirer. “But it’s early. I’m just starting my process.”

Yacoubou (left) is a 6-3 shooting guard who favors Kentucky, Villanova and UConn. He plans to visit Villanova next weekend for its “Hoops Mania.”

But now he’s looking forward to “Big Blue Madness.”

“I’m excited. I’m anxious to see how the team is looking and how the atmosphere is going to be, the events are going to be and curious to see how the school looks,” he said.

Yacoubou played for one year at American Christian (Pa.) with Tyreke Evans, the current NBA guard who was coached last year by Calipari at Memphis.

“I know Calipari makes pros,” Yacoubou said. “He’s won a lot of games.”

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Michael Bradley, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward/center out of Chattanooga (Tenn.) Tyner Academy, called Calhoun Tuesday night to tell him he was choosing the Huskies over Drake.

“He was excited. He was like, ‘Welcome to the family’ and stuff like that,” Bradley said Wednesday by phone.

Bradley, who owns a 3.5 GPA, visited UConn, Drake, VCU and Georgia and then narrowed it to the Huskies and Drake. He said Calhoun, who scouted him against 2012 big man Andre Drummond in Orlando last summer, told him he projects as a power forward.

“There’s a lot of stuff I like [about UConn],” he said. “Mostly because you get to compete and develop at a high level. The other thing I like is Coach Calhoun develops big men. We go against pros, great players every day.”

From Emeka Okafor to Hasheem Thabeet, UConn has produced a slew of NBA big men and Bradley would like to follow suit.

“Yes, sir,” he said.

Bradley joins 6-4 shooting guard Jeremy Lamb of Norcross (Ga.) High in UConn’s 2010 recruiting class. The Huskies are also involved with guards Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb and forward Roscoe Davis.

Bradley has only been playing ball since ninth grade and averaged 8 points last season.

“A lot of people see  his upside more than anything else,” Tyner coach Gerald Harris said. “What people see in him is what kind of what player he’s going to be. He’s a coachable kid, a real hard worker. He’s only been play basketball for about four years.”

Bradley said he wants to develop his strength and his all-around game at the next level.

“Strength, especially,” he said. “I’m mostly going to work on everything, mostly strength and blocking shots.”

“He’s got a lot of upside,” Harris said. “The kid runs the floor and has a lot of energy. He’s 6-9 and shoots the ball so that’s basically that. Jim Calhoun is going to take it upon himself to bring out all the other things.”

LAMB HAS TOP THREE

Oak Hill (Va.) guard Doron Lamb will take his second official visit this weekend to Kansas for “Late Night in the Phog.”

He previously visited Oklahoma for his first official the same weekend Harrison Barnes was there.

After the Kansas visit, Lamb says he plans to visit either Kentucky or UConn the weekend of Oct. 23.

Oak Hill coach Steve Smith had previously told me Lamb would visit Kentucky that weekend.

“I don’t even know yet,” Doron said Tuesday night. “Kentucky or UConn next week.”

Asked if he had a leader at this point, the 6-4 Lamb said: “It’s a three-way tie out of Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma.”

Arizona and St. John’s are also recruiting Lamb and he had tentatively slated a visit to Arizona the weekend of Oct. 23, but that now seems off.

As for the Kansas visit, Lamb said he has a good relationship with the coaching staff and also knows former Jayhawk Russell Robinson.

“I  haven’t been there but I know a former player, Russell Robinson, and I know players that go there and they tell me good things about it. I’m cool with the coaching staff,” Lamb said.

As for UConn, Lamb said he might visit the Huskies in November if not on Oct. 23.

“If I don’t visit the the third week [of October] I’ll probably visit in November,” he said. 

FREE THROWS

St. Anthony forward Ashton Pankey has pushed his official to Maryland to Oct. 23 from this weekend…Vince Walden of IMG Academy said forward Dwight Powell “really enjoyed” his weekend visit to Georgia Tech. He’s also considering Harvard and Stanford. “Going to be a tough decision, though it could come as early as this weekend,” Walden wrote in a text.

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Kyrie Irving

After a weekend official to Texas A&M in which the Aggies lost to Oklahoma State 36-31 in football, Irving texted me Sunday to say, “It was good. I really enjoyed it.”

The 6-foot-2 Irving, a senior point guard at Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, said he still planned to visit Kentucky next weekend for Big Blue Madness.

“Yes,” he said.

He will be reportedly be joined on that visit by a Who’s Who of recruits including Tobias Harris, Michael Gilchrist and Achraf Yacoubou.

After Kentucky are planned visits to Georgia Tech (Oct. 23) and Seton Hall (Oct. 30).

Irving visited Duke first the weekend of Sept. 25 and then was quoted as saying he was “leaning” toward Duke.

Stay tuned tomorrow as I hope to have a further update from Kyrie.

HARRIS ENJOYS UT

Tobias Harris also took his second official this weekend to Tennessee…and ran into an unexpected visitor along the way.

“The visit to Tennessee went well,” said Torrel Harris, Tobias’ father. “We met Bernard King, who was staying at our hotel. Bernard was attending a conference and we had the opportunity to speak with him about a lot of things. It was great speaking with one of the greatest forwards who played the game.

“We talked about hard work, preparation and some of his experiences playing basketball.” 

On Saturday, Tobias and Torrel watched Tennessee rout Georgia 45-19 in football before 103,261.

“I didn’t know Tennessee had it going on like that,” Torrel said in reference to the crowd.

After that, the family met with the Dean of Business and learned about the business school requirements.

Tobias watched the basketball team run and heard head coach Bruce Pearl talk about how he developed Tyler Smith as a point-forward type of player.

“He utilized Tyler Smith that way,” Torrel said. “We  hung out with the players.”

Tennessee fans also painted a huge rock on campus with a “T Harris No. 31″ jersey and the words “The Future.”

The 6-foot-8 Harris, the No. 5 prospect in the Class of 2010 out of Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, visited Syracuse two weeks ago for his first official and will hit Kentucky for Big Blue Madness Oct. 16.

After that will come visits to Louisville, West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Maryland.

“We ‘re going to get them all before Nov. 18,” Torrel said.

(Photos courtesy Irving Family, Kelly Kline, AP)

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The 6-foot-2 Irving out of Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick still hasn’t committed to the Dukies and will head out today on his second official visit to Texas A&M.

“Getting ready for my visit at Texas a and m tmrw…let’s do it!!” Irving Tweeted this week.

The A&M connection stems from assistant coach Scott Spinelli, who played college ball at Boston U with Drederick Irving, Kyrie’s father.

After A&M, Irving is slated to visit Kentucky next weekend for Big Blue Madness, before going to Georgia Tech and Seton Hall.

A West Orange native, Irving sometimes practices in the Seton Hall gym and has developed a tight relationship with assistant coach Scott Adubato.

Seton Hall is the lone Big East program in the mix for Irving and is hoping to keep him local and make  him the face of the program going forward.

Still, Irving is on record saying he’s “leaning” toward Duke and a source close to the situation said he would be “surprised if he doesn’t end up going to Duke.”

“Well, I’ve got that feeling with Duke, but I want to go on a few more visits to compare it al,” Irving told DimeMag. “I’m not ready to commit yet. I just want to make sure everything is right. Duke and Indiana were my top two schools, and Duke is up there, but I like the other schools too.”

BEJARANO TO ARIZONA

One day after landing Long Island wing Rod Odom, Sean Miller secured another elite player in former Texas commit Daniel Bejarano.

“This is where I belong,” the 6-4, 200-pound Bejarano, a shooting guard out of Phoenix North High, told The Arizona Republic.

“I felt that trust,” he told the paper. “The coaches are tremendous. They joke and make you feel like you’re one of them. The home visit [last week] by Sean Miller was incredible. The rest of the coaches are great.

“I feel this is where my dad would want me to be.”

Damian Gosa, Bejarano’s father, was shot and killed over the summer.

Arizona State dropped out of contention, leaving Arizona as the best option.

He has also developed a friendship with Wildcats freshman guard Lamont “Momo” Jones of New York.

“I started a good relationship with Momo,” Bejarano told The Republic. “He was telling me, ‘I need someone to pass the ball to.’”

MORGAN TO TAKE OFFICIAL TO SETON HALL

Jesse “The Takeover” Morgan will take an official to Seton Hall this weekend and UConn next weekend.

“It’s in a nice city, nice atmosphere,” Morgan said of Seton Hall. “I just want to get to know the players and the coaches. They are cool to be around.”

Morgan said his top five schools are Seton Hall, UConn, Louisville, Rutgers and UMass.

“I’m pretty much open. I want to go where I can play,” he said.

Morgan played at Olney High in Philly before transferring to South Kent this summer after playing for Jefferson at the Reebok All-American Camp.

South Kent coach Kelvin Jefferson said Morgan was “as under-recruited as anybody in the country.”

“Jesse’s got a chance to be really good,” Jefferson said. “He’s got great presence on the floor. He can really shot the ball and he’s got good size at 6-4 or 6-5. He handles it so well and can be moved over to the point.

“He plays within himself.  He’s got a good chance to be a real good player at a high level.”

(Photos courtesy Irving Family and The ARizona Republic)

“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.

No official visits have yet been set and the list has not been cut, but Hatchett did say that a few schools have been involved for a long period of time.

“I think everyone is doing a good job,” he said. “There are some that have come in kind of late.  Florida, Kentucky, N.C. State, Arizona State, they’re being very consistent in the recruitment. Those guys have been around for a while and have been very consistent.”

He added:  “We’re going to take it one day at a time. It’s not really a heavy topic between C.J. and I. We’re focusing on getting better and trying to put ourselves in position to win a state championship.

“At some point in time that list of 10 will be cut to five, and then from five down to three and then he’ll make his decision.”

CLINIC TO END ALL CLINICS ON SATURDAY

Manhattan College will again play host to ‘The Clinic to End All Clinics’, an annual basketball coaches’ workshop orchestrated by Howard Garfinkel, the founder of Five Star basketball camp. This year’s clinic is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2009 in Draddy Gymnasium from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The event will feature sessions instructed by college basketball’s winningest coach Bob Knight (ESPN), as well as 2009 NCAA National Champion coach Roy Williams (University of North Carolina), and Leonard Hamilton (Florida State University), along with former NBA coaches Don Casey and Mike Fratello.

Schedule of Speakers

9 a.m. to 10 a.m. – Roy Williams

10:10 a.m. to 11:10 a.m. – Leonard Hamilton

11:20 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. – Bob Knight

1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. – Don Casey

3:10 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. –  Mike Fratello

4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. – Don Casey

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