UNION, N.J.

Joseph, a 6-foot-3 senior guard from Findlay (Nev.) Prep ranked No. 3 among point guards in 2010, was not at the game but he is considering both UConn and Villanova, along with Texas, Minnesota and UNLV.

“[I'm just gonna commit] whenever I feel 100 percent. . . . I am not sure if I am gonna pick out of the [full list of] five. I have no set time,” Joseph told Alex Schwartz of Rivals.com while playing this past weekend at the Primetime Shootout in Trenton, N.J.

Also at the Primetime was Joseph’s friend and fellow Canadian, Myck Kabongo, a junior guard at St. Benedict’s Prep.

Kabongo said he and Tristan Thompson talk to Joseph “every day” about following them to Texas. The 6-8 Thompson, Joseph’s Findlay Prep teammate, has signed with Texas for 2010 and Kabongo is verbally committed for 2011.

“Every day, every day,” Kabongo said Friday night after dropping 20 points, 12 assists, 5 steals and 5 rebounds in an 82-38 rout of Lakewood at Kean College. “But obviously he’s going to do what’s best for him. That’s what we want. We wouldn’t tell him to come to Texas if it wasn’t best for him. Obviously we know each others’ games well, me, ‘T’ and C.J., so just playing with each other it’s just chemistry right away.”

Both Thompson and Joseph were recently named McDonald’s All-Americans for the March 31 game in Columbus, Ohio.

“Obviously, I want to play with C.J.,” Kabongo added. “We want to play with great players, McDonald’s All-Americans. He’s one of the first Canadians to ever play in the game. When you have someone like that that’s very talented, obviously you want to play with him.”

The three Canadians all played for Ro Russell’s Grassroots Canada club. Thompson and Kabongo were teammates at St. Benedict’s before Thompson was dismissed from the team last year and then transferred to Findlay Prep. Findlay head coach Michael Peck checked with Joseph first before admitting Thompson.

“We played AAU together so that’s all we always talk about, just playing together,” Kabongo said.

Joseph has said he doesn’t have a favorite at this point, and that’s what Kabongo believes as well.

“I don’t think so,” Kabongo said. “He’s just enjoying the process and he’s really taking his time. As soon as he feels 100 percent he told me that’s what he’s gonna do [decide]. Right now he doesn’t have a favorite.”

GILCHRIST, PINKSTON VISIT NOVA

PHILADELPHIA — Uncommitted junior Michael Gilchrist of Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick and Villanova-bound senior forward JayVaughn Pinkston of Bishop Loughlin both attended the UConn-Villanova game.

The 6-foot-7 Gilchrist was named co-MVP Friday night when St. Patrick lost to Oak Hill Academy, 79-78, at the PrimeTime Shootout at Kean College. He and Duke-bound guard Kyrie Irving of St. Pat’s both scored 28 points in the loss.

Gilchrist declined to speak with the media after the game, telling reporters, “I’m good.”

Villanova and Kentucky lead for Gilchrist, the No. 1 junior in the nation.

Pinkston was recently named a McDonald’s All-American and is the first player from his high school ever named to the game.

The Wildcats currently feature five former McDonald’s All-American: Scottie Reynolds, Corey Stokes, Taylor King, Dominic Cheek and Maalik Wayns.

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High school basketball has been mimicking the pro game for years, but the latest example may be a bit more troubling than a concern about too-much, too-soon.

Top-level players not only are transferring schools, but they are doing it during the season. And since there is not a national governing body to oversee the moves – not to mention determine eligibility – there often is turmoil on both ends of the moves, especially when a player goes back to a public school after time at a high-profile institution.

Read the full story here.

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Along with Fuquan Edwin, Jayon James and Jermaine Peart, Thomas was a member of a quartet that was supposed to have “Next.”

The group was supposed to challenge St. Anthony and St. Patrick for supremacy in the New Jersey Non-Public B bracket…and ultimately the state.

But a funny thing happened on the way to inevitability.

Shaq’s uncle, Tim Thomas, now with the Dallas Mavericks, pulled the 6-foot-6 Thomas out of Paterson Catholic in 2008 and that set in motion a chain of events that has led Shaq where he is now.

On Monday night, he will face his old teammates when his NIA Prep team meets Paterson Catholic — No. 6 in the USA Today’s Super 25 and No. 9 in the PrepNation.com poll — in the Freedom Fighters Hoop Challenge at Paterson Eastside.

“There’s not really a lot of emotions and stuff,” Thomas said Sunday night by phone. “I’m just trying to go out there and play my regular game and play basketball. At the end of the day it’s still a regular game. I’m going to go out there and play my game and the best team wins.”

Cougars coach Damon Wright, whose team is ranked in the USA Today poll for the first time since the 1993-94 season, when the 6-10 Tim Thomas (pictured courtesy NBA.com) was the star, admitted it will be somewhat strange seeing Shaq on the other side.

“The PC family has always supported Shaq but [Monday] will be different. We are looking forward to playing well, winning tomorrow, shaking Shaq’s hand and getting prepared for the next game,” he said.

Since leaving PC in October 2008, Thomas has attended three different schools in two states.

He first landed at Montclair High School because he lives there with his grandmother, Dorothy Thomas. But because he would have had to sit a year before playing basketball, he transferred to Beckley (West Va.) Mountain State.

But that experiment ended after last season and Thomas landed at NIA Prep in Newark, where Thomas, originally a member of the Class of 2010, is now a member of the Class of 2011.

“It was a tough transition going to different schools, meeting different coaches, different lifestyles, but I think I adjusted pretty well,” Thomas said.

NIA features eight potential Division 1 players and has enjoyed success this year, winning the Battle of the Bay prep school tournament in Tampa, Fla. Dec. 18-20.

“I think it’s an upcoming program, especially next year,” Thomas said. “We definitely like the program and the workouts.”

One of the main reasons Tim Thomas pulled his son out of PC was because he was worried about his academics.

“That’s really my main focus with Shaq, getting him on pace where he has to be education-wise and letting the basketball take care of itself,” Tim told me in 2008.

After some academic struggles at his previous stops, Shaq says he’s finally getting some one-on-one attention at NIA.

“It’s a school for kids that mess up in school and had bad grades,” he said.

“It’s definitely helping me because at other schools like Mountain State I could do work by myself but sometimes I needed help with it. Here everything is one-on-one. I can get help one-on-one, so it’s helping me a lot academically.”

On the court, Thomas starts at small forward and is averaging 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

Rudy King, the former Bishop Loughlin head coach who is now a head coach and recruiting coordinator at NIA Prep, said Thomas, has a bright future.

“Shaq Thomas is one of the most talented small forwards in the country and is getting better and better,” King said. “He can shoot the ball, handle the rock and fly like a bird around the rim and has the ability to  defend guards and bigs.

“Right now we’re working on his overall body development and getting him to become more fundamental to expand his game to new levels.

“Next season he will be a national treasure that all the heavyweights will inquire about. He talks about playing in the big time conferences in the nation and we always tell him it takes true dedication on and off the court to make the transition mentally, not just depending on his natural talent.”

Thomas was once on the brink of committing to Syracuse, but Tim Thomas told him to hold off until his academics were in order.

Shaq now says his recruiting is wide open and he looks forward to impressing the coaches next summer on the AAU circuit.

He says he’s still in touch with his former PC teammates. Edwin has signed with Seton Hall. James has committed to Fordham. Trevor Clemmings will play football at Pittsburgh.

“I’m still cool with them to this day,” Thomas said. “We’re still all cool, we’re good friends.”

When he looks at all the success Paterson Catholic is enjoying this year, does he regret leaving?

“Yeah, but no,” he said. “Everything happened for a reason. It was meant to be. Everything happened for a reason.”

HITTIN’ THE LINKS:

**Great story by Kevin Armstrong in the NY Times about St. Pat’s guard Kevin Boyle, who doubles as a stand-up comic.

(Photo courtesy NBE Basketball)

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Ross enrolled in classes Monday and will be eligible to play alongside Syracuse commit Dion Waiters Friday.

“We’re going to confirm that he does go to Burlington Life Center. We’re not giving any comments right now,” said Mark Rowe of the NBA Hoops AAU program.

Rowe said they wanted to give Ross a few weeks to acclimate to life in New Jersey before he did any interviews.

The 6-foot-9 Ross lists a slew of major D-1 offers on his Rivals.com page, including Baylor, Kentucky, Memphis, Mississippi State, Syracuse, Florida, N.C. State, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Life Center will be at Baruch College Monday in Jason Curry’s Big Apple Basketball Invitational.

Kanter, a 6-foot-10 Turkish citizen born in Zurich, Switzerland, is now at his third American school in the span of two months.

Kanter has surfaced at Simi Valley (Calif.) Stoneridge Prep after brief stops at Findlay (Nev.) Prep and Beckley (West Va.) Mountain State.

“He legitimately wants to be here and go to college and Stoneridge is the only option,” said an industry source with knowledge of Kanter’s situation. “He would like to get eligibility by passing the [standardized] test. He might not even play at Stoneridge.

“He could enroll in college in the spring semester.”

Kanter, 17, was named Most Valuable Player of the 2009 U18 European Championship in Metz, France.

He averaged 18.6 points and a tournament-best 16.4 rebounds in leading his team to a bronze medal.

Kanter went for 32 points and 25 rebounds in a semifinal loss to Serbia before bouncing back and going for 35 points and 19 rebounds in a 95-74 win over Lithuania in the bronze medal game.

He turned down offers to play professionally in Europe to come to the U.S.

Here, Kanter had interest from virtually every major Division 1 program in the nation during his brief time at Findlay Prep, the defending national champions.

“It’s been 50-60 schools, everybody from UCLA to USC to Arizona, Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Memphis, Florida, Ohio State, UConn, you can go right down the line,” Findlay assistant Todd Simon said in August.

Yet both Findlay and Mountain State – and a slew of colleges — have been scared off by Kanter’s professional background, which has sparked the interest of the NCAA.

Kanter grew up playing for Turkish club Fenerbahçe Ülker’s youth teams. Last fall he made his pro debut in the Turkish Basketball League and later played in the Euroleague. Still, he did not sign a contract and sources indicated he never received payment.

“I was on the roster because Semih [Erden] and Ömer [Asik] were injured,” Kanter told TrueHoop.com. “Sitting on the side, I was so nervous. I was joking with my teammates on the bench. Then Mirsad [Turkcan] got into foul problems. Coach [Bogdan Tanjevic] called my name. I was so excited. I felt like I was a roster-filler for that game, so I didn’t expect to play any minutes. I didn’t even tie my knee-pads until I sat down on the substitution chair.”

The industry source said the club had ulterior motives for putting Kanter in the games.

“Fenerbahçe, they stuck him in like eight or nine games just to screw with his eligibility because they’re ruthless,” the source said. “European clubs don’t want their kids coming him to America.”

Multiple sources said Kanter didn’t take any money for his appearances, but the NCAA prohibits players with professional backgrounds from competing on an amateur level in the U.S.

“At the end of the day, he didn’t do anything wrong,” Mountain State coach Rodney Crawford said. “He himself didn’t break any rules or break any laws. Now the NCAA, that’s up to them to decide.

“The issue was him playing professionally, which is true, but is not true.”

When word of Kanter’s background got to the U.S., it caused trouble for both Findlay and Mountain State. Opponents threatened not to play them because of Kanter’s presence on the roster.

“People cashed in on that eligibility excuse and they had an excuse to use as far as him possibly being a pro so they started backing out of games,” Crawford said. “It wouldn’t have hurt as bad, but it was a few too many.”

He added: “He wanted to be here. We wanted him here but we couldn’t get around the fact that we wouldn’t be able to play anybody.”

Now Kanter is at Stoneridge playing for first-year coach Derryck “Tank” Thornton.

“He’s in school working on his grades trying to get eligible for next year,” Thornton said Tuesday night. “He works extremely hard, extremely hard. He’s going to be awesome.”

Thornton said he was unfamiliar with Kanter’s background in Turkey but remained confident that he would play American college ball.

“I completely leave that into the hands of the NCAA,” Thornton said. “From what I’ve heard everything’s going to be fine. Anything the NCAA asks of me I’ll provide. Anything they want me to do is done.”

Those with knowledge of Kanter’s situation point out that if he truly was driven by money, he would’ve stayed in Europe and signed a big contract.

“If he really wanted money he wouldn’t be in the U.S.,” the source said. “He really wants to go to college.”

The source added that there is a difference between European players like Ricky Rubio, who clearly intend to play professionally, and Kanter, who do not.

“If a kid is under 18 and does not sign a pro contract and then comes to the U.S. and enrolls in a high school he should not be considered a pro,” the source said.

Crawford added that Kanter was actually a unique role model in an era when American players like Brandon Jennings and Jeremy Tyler leave the U.S. to play overseas.

“I think he will be able to play college ball,” Crawford said. ”I think he will and I think it will be great for college basketball to have a kid who’s doing the opposite of what a lot of our American guys are doing. They’re leaving and going over there to play.

“He’s coming from over there to go to school here. He’s doing it differently and setting an example for kids over here.”

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Michael Gilchrist,

The 6-foot-7 Somerdale, N.J., native, who plays for Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, also visited Villanova’s campus last year.

“What we are hoping to get out of this visit is more of the academic side,” Cindy Richardson, Gilchrist’s mother, told Keith Pompey of the Philly Inquirer earlier this week. “We already know what Michael is going to do for that program. . . . So we want to know what Villanova is going to do for Michael.

“We are going to find out how they are going to support Michael from a basketball standpoint and academic standpoint.”

Gilchrist has already taken unofficials in recent weeks to Rutgers and Michigan.

His mother told the Inquirer that he wants to take additional visits to Kentucky, UConn, Oregon, and Louisiana State before the season starts.

Gilchrist is slated to visit Kentucky for Big Blue Madness Oct. 16, but no other dates have been made public.

Many observers expect Gilchrist to ultimately sign with Kentucky or Villanova, but he says he’s open.

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

ARMY HIRES CORNELL ASSISTANT

Army named Zach Spiker as its new coach on Saturday.

An assistant under Cornell head coach Steve Donahue the past five years, Spiker helped the Big Red to upper-division finishes in the Ivy League during each of his five seasons in Ithaca, N.Y. He was instrumental in helping Cornell’s recruiting efforts the last five years, culminating in the Big Red winning consecutive Ivy League titles the past two seasons. It marked the first back-to-back league titles for Cornell in school history and the first time a team other than Pennsylvania or Princeton copped consecutive Ivy League championships.

Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com reported that Spiker was selected over Arizona State associate head coach Dedrique Taylor and St. John’s assistant Fred Quartlebaum.

“We couldn’t be more excited to name Zach Spiker as the head coach of our men’s basketball program,” U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Buster Hagenbeck said. “Zach impressed us with his high-energy level, intimate knowledge of our program and well-conceived plan to deliver a championship to the Army program.”

“We conducted a national search and spoke to a tremendous pool of candidates,” Army AD Kevin Anderson stated. “Throughout the process, one individual clearly rose to the top.”

“Zach is highly regarded by some of the most well-respected coaches in the country. He is widely recognized as one of the true young talents in the coaching profession and someone we feel is ready to lead our program to a Patriot League championship,” Anderson added.

NEW YORK’S BIGGEST SECRET

The biggest secret in New York City high school hoops is a young man named Amadou Sidibe.

The 6-7 Sidibe is a sophomore at Cardinal Hayes in The Bronx and already holds a scholarship offer from Fordham. Sidibe was on Fordham’s campus Saturday for an unofficial visit along with teammate Fidel Yacoubou, a Wings transfer and the younger brother of Long Island Lutheran guard Achraf Yacoubou.

“He’s an interesting kid. Nobody’s heard of him yet. He never played  AAU. He barely played any organized basketball,” said Hayes assistant coach Justin Simon.

“[Fordham assistant] Jared Grasso came into the gym Wednesday and offered him within like five minutes.”

Simon said Sidibe has a tremendous upside.

“He’s going to be our center this year,” Simon said.

“He’s a little raw. He has great touch. Long arms, blocks everything, great rebounder.”

Nobody knows area talent better than Grasso (pictured above left), who has established a pipeline from Jersey powers St. Anthony and Paterson Catholic to Fordham. But Yale coach James Jones is also high on Sidibe.

“Jared was the first guy to offer him,” Simon said. “But I brought him up to the Yale Elite camp and Coach Jones from Yale loved him.”

MURPHY GETTING LOOKS

Kamari Murphy, a 6-7, 195-pound junior from Bishop Ford; Dereck Millinghouse, a junior from Schenectady being recruited by Fordham assistant Steve Treffiletti; and John Baja, a sophomore from Fairfield Notre Dame, were also at Fordham today.

“I just played pickup games,” Murphy said by text.

He has a long list of suitors, including Virginia Tech, St. John’s, Hofstra, Wake Forest, Pitt, Virginia, Rutgers, Southern Illinois, Albany, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Providence, Marist and N.C. State.

“The two major schools that are showing me the most love are Providence and Virginia,” he said by text. “I’m highly interested in both.”

 RHOOMES TO PREP

6-8 Cardozo big man Ryan Rhoomes plans to spend the 2010-11 season at South Kent (Conn.), following in the footsteps of New York players Kevin Parrom, Omari Lawrence, Russell Smith, J.J. Moore and others.

 ”Yes, I am,” Rhoomes said by text.

Among schools showing interest in Rhoomes are West Virginia, St. John’s, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati and Providence.

FREE THROWS

Chase Plummer, a 6-5, 200-pound SF from St. Patrick, committed to UMBC…The New York Post has a very well done story today on the mass exodus at St. Raymond’s of the Bronx, which has lost eight D-1 caliber players in the last two years, and six this summer. The most recent to depart was 6-9 Arizona-bound junior wing Sidiki Johnson, now at St. Benedict’s of Newark. St. Ray’s coach Oliver Antigua has declined comment to various media outlets, including SNY.tv for this story I wrote last week about the mass exodus of talent from New York City.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Oct. 21 – Big East Media Day

Oct. 27 – Seton Hall Media Day

Oct. 28 – Rutgers Media Day

Nov. 3 - St. John’s Media Day

(Photos courtesy SI.com, Real Scout, US Army athletics)

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Barnes has already visited North Carolina and will also visit:

Oct. 2 – Oklahoma

Oct. 9 – UCLA

Oct. 16 – Kansas

Oct. 23 – Duke

Nov. 6 – Iowa State (unofficial)

Duke has long been considered the favorite for Barnes, but North Carolina has made up tremendous ground, especially after Barnes saw Michael Jordan at the Carolina Pro Alumni Game Sept. 4 during his visit.

“To have the greatest player to ever play the game … it kind of blows you away just trying to grasp the whole thing,” Barnes told the Charlotte News Observer.

Now he will hit Oklahoma, UCLA and Kansas before setting foot on Duke’s campus.

“In the end, I’ll do what’s best for me,” Barnes told the Charlotte News Observer.

IRVING SET FOR OFFICIAL TO DUKE

Speaking of Duke, could Barnes wind up playing there with St. Patrick point guard Kyrie Irving?

The 6-foot-2 Irving is set to depart with his father, Drederick Irving, and his uncle, Sye Dean, for an official to the Duke campus beginning Friday.

There has been speculation that Irving could verbal while on campus, but on Thursday he said by text: “I don’t think so.”

Irving is also set to visit Texas A&M (Oct. 9), Kentucky (Oct. 15), Georgia Tech (Oct. 23) and Seton Hall (Oct. 30).

Still, his father said Duke has everything a school could offer. And with Indiana now out of the picture, Duke appears to be the clear favorite.

“It is very appealing what they offer,” Drederick said

“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.”

JOHNSON, WHITTINGHAM LEAVE ST. RAY’S

St. Raymond’s continues to lose top players to other schools.

Sidiki Johnson, a 6-8 junior guard who recently committed to Arizona, has left The Bronx school to play for Dan Hurley at St. Benedict’s Prep.

“I’m getting away from home and it’s a college prep school, so I’m gonna be ready for college, it’s a wonderful school,” Johnson told GothamHoops.com.

“It will prepare me for college because I’m away from home and I’ll be playing against the best guys in the country.”

St. Benedict’s last year lost Texas-bound forward Tristan Thompson when he was booted from the team and then resurfaced at Findlay (Nev.) Prep.

Johnson could slide in and fill that position alongside guards Myck Kabongo (committed to Texas) and Aaron Brown (uncommitted).

“[Coach Hurley's] offense is four out and one in so I’m going to be playing on the perimeter,” Johnson told Gotham Hoops. “Wherever he needs me I’ll be there and I’m going to get better [at St. Benedict's].

“I’m on a mission to become a pro, I want to work as hard as a pro works so that I can get better and better.”

St. Ray’s coach Oliver Antigua was not immediately available for comment Thursday night.

Johnson joins fellow juniors Jose Rodriguez, a 6-foot-5 wing, and Joey DeLaRosa, a 6-11 forward, who are now playing at the Impact Basketball location in Las Vegas.

5-10 point guard Steve Whittingham has also left St. Ray’s for New Rochelle High, according to Harold McBride Sr.

McBride Sr.’s son, former St. Raymond’s point guard Harold McBride, is now attending Bradenton Prep Academy and playing for Impact Basketball in Sarasota, Fla.

“Yes, he is,” McBride Sr. said by phone.

“It was a good opportunity for my son to excel and to develop his basketball skills. He’s working and training.”

Two other former St. Ray’s players, Omari Lawrence and Kevin Parrom, left the school last fall for South Kent (Conn.)

Lawrence is now at St. John’s and Parrom is at Arizona.

“It is what it is,” McBride Sr. said. “In Harolds’s case a better opportunity presented itself somewhere else.”

(Photos courtesy Rivals, Irving family)

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The Celtics, who already feature two of the top players in the nation in senior guard Kyrie Irving and junior wing Michael Gilchrist, will officially add 6-8 brothers Julian and Chris Washburn, the sons of troubled former NBA star Chris Washburn.

“Those guys are in school today,” St. Pat’s coach Kevin Boyle said Tuesday by phone.

The brothers moved to New Jersey from Texas, where they played at Duncanville High.

Julian (pictured) is a senior wing who could step in and play right away, while Boyle said Chris, a sophomore, might need time to develop. He saw both players briefly at the Poconos Camp this summer.

“Julian looks like he would bring athleticism,” Boyle said. “He’s long, he should be able to guard and be a very good defensive player. He looks like he can get out in transition and finish. He would be a good guy following up the shots and putting the ball back in. That does give us a few more bodies of size if we ever had foul trouble.

“Chris is a big kid for a sophomore. He has a good base and is hard to move. He needs to redistribute 25 or 30 pounds. He looks like a sophomore with a lot of potential.”

Asked if either or both brothers would start, Boyle said: “”It’s way to early to tell. If somebody deserves to start, then we’ll do a North Carolina thing where we mix it up and start six or seven guys.”

Once again the Celtics will play a loaded national schedule including at least a couple on ESPN:

Jan. 18 — Findlay (Nev.) Prep, Springfield Hoophall Classic, Springfield, Mass. (ESPNU)

Jan. 23 — St. Benedict’s, Homeless Classic, Elizabeth, N.J.

Jan. 30 — Memphis (Tenn.) White Station, Brian Doherty Classic, Newark, N.J.

Feb. 6 – Taft (Calif.) or Westchester (Calif.), Nike Extravaganza, Calif.

Feb. 12 – Oak Hill (Va.), Primetime Shootout, Rutgers, ESPN2

Feb. 13 – Rice (N.Y.), Primetime Shootout, Trenton

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After initially enrolling at Findlay (Nev.) Prep, Kanter is now at Mountain State in Beckley, West Va., according to reports.

“He’s left [Findlay],” Findlay assistant Todd Simon said by text. “Some unforeseeable circumstances came up. He left on good terms. We wish him the best.”

Simon previously said 50-60 schools had reached out to him while Kanter was at Findlay.

“It’s been 50-60 schools, everybody from UCLA to USC to Arizona, Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Memphis, Florida, Ohio State, UConn, you can go right down the line,” he said.

That interest shouldn’t change now that he’s moved schools.

Rodney Crawford, the former Harmony Prep coach, is now at Mountain State, according to Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports.com

Former Mountain State coach Rob Fulford has started a new prep school called Huntington (W. Va.) Prep that features Baltimore PG Kevin Smith.

Ironically, Mountain State and Findlay will meet on Jan. 10 in the Humana Basketball Classic at Lexington (Ky.) Christian Academy.

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