**Click the Video Player at right for the video interview with Ashton Pankey**

NEW YORK — Ashton Pankey is headed to the ACC.

After taking official visits to Maryland two weeks ago and Houston this past weekend, Pankey announced his college choice Monday in the SNY television studio.

“I’ll be attending the University of Maryland,” said the 6-foot-9, 225-pound Pankey, a Bronx native.

“I felt comfortable with the coaches. Coach [Gary] Williams is a great coach. The players, I got along with them really well. And my mom enjoyed it, too, and she thinks it would be a good place for me to attend.”

Pankey chose Maryland over offers from Houston, Rice, Drexel and Hofstra. He said he plans to sign his Letter of Intent Tuesday at St. Anthony.

A strong power forward who can knock down a short jumper, Pankey hopes to develop his face-up game at the next level.

“I can knock down a short-corner jump shot, play that four spot, be an inside presence that they’ve been lacking for the past few years. And I think I can contribute right away if I work hard,” Pankey said.

New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski described Pankey as a rebounding machine.

“You can certainly shoot to much, you can dribble too much, you can even pass to much,” Konchalski said. “But nobody has ever been taken out of game where the coach says, ‘Sit next to me, you’re rebounding too much.’

“He’s a significant retriever. The best thing he does is he goes after the ball.”

Maryland also has an offer out to Long Island forward Tobias Harris, who visited the campus this past weekend.

Does Pankey think Harris might join him with the Terps?

“I don’t really know where he’s focused on right now,” Pankey said.

Pankey is the fourth St. Anthony senior to commit Division 1, following Devon Collier (Oregon State), Derrick Williams and Elijah Carter (St. Bonaventure).

St. Patrick, which features Duke-bound guard Kyrie Irving and superstar junior Michael Gilchrist, will be the favorite to repeat as New Jersey Tournament of Champions this year, but Pankey says not to count out the Friars.

“Definitely, I think we can have another undefeated season,” Pankey said, referring to the 2007-08 campaign in which the Friars went 32-0. “There’s a lot of St. Anthony pride over there and we want to contribute and have a breakout season.”

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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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One of the bonuses of being a professional journalist is that you sometimes get advance copies of movies or books for review purposes.

On Wednesday I received a Fedex delivery containing the film, “The Street Stops Here,” which documents Bob Hurley’s 2007-08 St. Anthony Friars, who went a perfect 32-0 en route to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title and won a national-record 25th state championship.

I watched it Thursday in the privacy of my living room and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this film, and not just because I appear on camera (for about a split second) during a locker room scene in which Coach Hurley is yelling at his players.

This film is the perfect video complement to Adrian Wojnarowski’s wonderful book, “The Miracle of St. Anthony.”

If you are any kind of basketball fan, or any fan of human drama in general, run, don’t walk, to see this movie.

Directed by Kevin Shaw and produced by TeamWorks Media, it is playing as part of the New Jersey Film Festival on Sunday, Nov. 1 and Friday Nov. 6 — both at 7 p.m. at Rutgers University Scott Hall #123, 43 College Ave., New Brunswick, N.J.

Word is Coach Bob Hurley and his wife, Chris, and St. Benedict’s Coach Dan Hurley will be on hand Sunday night. (Knowing what a big Yankees fan Bob is, he’ll probably head straight to a radio or TV to catch up on Game 4 after the film is over.)

From a purely basketball standpoint, this film involves a virtual Who’s Who of contemporary basketball personalities.

**Consider that the undefeated 07-08 team featured seven current Division 1 players: Mike Rosario (Rutgers), Travon Woodall (Pittsburgh), Dominic Cheek (Villanova), Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas), Jio Fontan and Alberto Estwick (Fordham) and A.J. Rogers (St. Joseph’s).

**There are interviews with North Carolina Coach Roy Williams and Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

**Former St. Anthony players such as Jerry Walker (who starred at Seton Hall) and Rashon Burno (who serves as an executive producer) also appear in the film.

**The storylines of both Bobby and Dan Hurley figure prominently in the film. Bobby is seen raising thoroughbred horses in Florida, while Dan laughs at the fact that he’s now coaching just 10 miles from his father at St. Benedict’s Prep.

“We’re not going to play St. Benedict’s because my wife won’t let us do it,” Bob cracks at one point.

**There is video footage of both Kobe Bryant and Lance Stephenson playing against St. Anthony in high school (Bryant in a real game, Lance in a scrimmage.) Bob Hurley also tells a group of Jersey City youngsters that LeBron James, in Jersey to face the Nets, has sent them 200 basketballs.

**One of my favorite scenes involves St. Anthony blowing out Neptune in Jersey City and the Neptune coach giving Hurley some kind of smirk after an incident involving Rosario.

“Take a look at the score, pal,” Hurley bellows at the opposing coach.

But this film is about more than just basketball. Much more.

It is about how one man, through sheer stubborness, persistence and hard work, has literally altered the lives of dozens of young men at a small, under-funded Catholic school in Jersey City.

“You’re supposed to be attempting to gain an education right now, not to turn you into the next guy that plays in the NBA,” Hurley bellows at his all-star team at one point.

He later tells the camera: “One out of every 32,000 high school athletes becomes a professional athlete so if you think you’re 6-foot tall son is going to become a pro, you’re not operating with a full deck.”

The film gets up-close and personal with Woodall, Rosario, Cheek and Fontan.

Woodall, now a sophomore at Pitt, talks about his mom’s drug use and the fact that she has HIV. He eventually moves in with Fontan and his father, Jorge Fontan, in Paterson and calls Jorge his “father.”

Having spent many days with these guys during high school, I can attest to what a difference Jorge made in their lives.

Rosario is the third “brother” in that family, having moved out of the Jersey City projects seeking a better life.

“I see myself in the NBA, playing for the Lakers or the Suns, with a wife, two kids and a big house,” Rosario says. “I see everything.”

And he has one man, one legendary coach, to thank for that.

(Photo courtesy NY Times)

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NEW YORK – During his senior season at St. Anthony in Jersey City, Mike Rosario played 32 basketball games and didn’t lose a single one.

During his final year at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, Gregory Echenique won 24 of the 25 games in which he played.

After going a combined 56-1 for coaches Bob and Dan Hurley, respectively, the young stars arrived as freshmen at Rutgers.

Read the full story here.

For more from the players at Big East media day, click the Video Player at right.

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NEWARK

“When Reggie Redding comes back [from suspension], that gives us an option of really having four experienced guards on the floor,” Wright said at the Garden State Coaches Clinic at St. Benedict’s Prep, where he was joined as a speaker for some 500 coaches by Hubie Brown, Jeff Van Gundy, Arizona coach Sean Miller, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and Temple coach Fran Dunphy.

Wright would like to put Redding, senior guard Scottie Reynolds and sophomores Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes, who starred at St. Ben’s, out on the court with a big man.

Wright also has a couple of talented freshmen guards in McDonald’s All-Americans Maalik Wayns of Philly Roman Catholic and Dominic Cheek of St. Anthony.

“If our bigs are good enough, Antonio Pena and Mouph [Yarou] and Maurice Sutton, if they can play with those four [older guards], it would be nice,” Wright said. “I think we have some good options with [Duke transfer] Taylor King and Isaiah Armwood [in the frontcourt].“

Other than Pena, a redshirt junior from Brooklyn, none of those guys have any experience with the ‘Cats.

Yarou is a 6-10, 250-pound shot-blocker originally from Benin in West Africa who played last year at Montrose Christian alongside the 6-7 Armwood.

Villanova hasn’t had a legitimate shot-blocking option in recent memory, so Yarou could really change the nature of the team.

“We’re going to need him,” Wright said. “Even if he’s not good enough, we’re going to need him.”

After going to the Final Four and losing to eventual national champion North Carolina, Villanova should be the preseason No. 1 or 2 team in the Big East, with West Virginia being the other favorite.

HURLEY TALKS SIDIKI JOHNSON

Sidiki Johnson picked a good first day to arrive at St. Benedict’s, what with Wright and company in the building and 500 college and high school coaches on hand.

Johnson, a junior who committed to Arizona this summer will move into the dorms as of Sunday night to begin his new life at the Newark school.

The 6-9 Johnson transferred from St. Raymond’s in The Bronx and could become one of the featured players for Gray Bees head coach Dan Hurley, whose team perennially challenges for the prep national championship.

“He’s a skilled kid,” Hurley said of Johnson. “It will be nice to coach a kid who on his way into the school is talking about his work ethic on and off the court, a kid with a nice personality. And he’s got big goals. A school like this, we push guys hard.

“His life’s going to become studying and developing on the court. He’s got lofty goals in the sport and we’re going to push him hard on and off the court and I think he’s the type of kid who do well here.”

Johnson joins a group that includes Texas-bound senior point guard Myck Kabongo, uncommitted senior guard Aaron Brown, who lists Penn, Harvard, Temple, Boston University and Rice as his final five, and uncommitted 6-8 senior forward Gil Biruta, who is hearing from Seton Hall, Northwestern, Washington, Creighton and others.

“We’ve got a really competitive team,” Hurley said.

FREE THROWS

Seton Hall assistant Dermon Player was headed to watch 6-8 St. Anthony senior forward Devon Collier during an open gym Friday afternoon. Collier will have an in-home visit in the Bronx Monday with Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez and Player. Oregon State head coach Craig Robinson, Barack Obama’s brother-in-law, comes in for Collier on Friday. Maryland, Rutgers, St. John’s and Providence are also involved. Gonzalez will also meet with Bishop Loughlin senior forward Jayvaughn Pinkston on Tuesday. Pinkston is considering Seton Hall, St. John’s, Villanova, Marquette and Tennessee, with Villanova leading at this point…St. Patrick junior wing Michael Gilchrist spent two days on the Rutgers campus last weekend, hitting the football game against Florida International, spending the night on campus and returning Sunday to run with the players. Rutgers assistant Jimmy Carr is working very hard on Gilchrist, who is said to favor Kentucky and Villanova…Oklahoma and Texas Christian are among the schools challenging Seton Hall for 6-8 St. Patrick senior forward Julian Washburn, son of the troubled former NBA star Chris Washburn…A source says Cory Joseph, the talented point guard out of Findlay (Nev. ) Prep, could come down to UConn and ‘Nova when all is said and done.

(Photos courtesy Villanova athletics and Rivals)

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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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J.J. Moore

The 6-foot-5 senior wing from Long Island visited Providence last week and will hit Pittsburgh on Tuesday and potentially St. John’s on Thursday.

“I think J.J. was really impressed with the new coach [at Providence, Keno Davis] and what they’re trying to build over there and he’s also impressed with the financial investment that the school and community has invested into making the program top notch,” said Hunt Bresky, Moore’s advisor who is making the trips with him.

“He was really pleasantly surprised by the whole experience. He wasn’t as familiar with Providence as some of the other programs.”

They will travel to Pitt Tuesday and then potentially St. John’s before likely attending the Marquette Elite Camp later this month. (St. John’s is also expecting a visit from JayVaughn Pinkston this week.)

“We’re going to be scheduling a few more,” Bresky said. “We’re probably going to do something this week at St. John’s.”

Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel is also anxious to bring in Moore, who will play at South Kent (Conn.) for his senior year.

“Oklahoma has been reaching out to me and I haven’t been able to speak to them yet,” Bresky said. “They’re anxious to see if there’s a way J can come out there but I’m not sure if we can make that happen given the school year coming up.”

UConn, Syracuse, Louisville, Rutgers and Seton Hall are also interested.

Moore attended Rutgers elite camp earlier this summer and “he loved it,” New York Panthers coach Gary Charles said. “He said, ‘I love Rutgers.’”

But Charles added that virtually every school in the Big East is on him.

“[UConn coach Jim] Calhoun saw him and mouthed, “I love him,’” Charles said at the Reebok All-American Camp in Philly. “Marquette told me they love him. Everyone loves him.

MARQUETTE LANDS WING

Marquette added to its 2010 recruiting haul Sunday when it landed a verbal commitment from Jamail Jones, a 6-foot-6 1/2 -inch, 205-pound guard from Stone Mountain, Ga. who will play at Monteverde (Fla.) Academy this year.

Jones joins guard Aaron Bowen of Jacksonville, Fla., and junior-college forward Monterale Clark of Milwaukee.

Jones reportedly chose Marquette over Oklahoma, Xavier and Mississippi State.

“From the first time I was on campus, I started to like it,” Jones told the Journal Sentinel. “By the second time I went up there with my parents, I had pretty much locked in that I was going to commit.”

RELEFORD CUTS LIST

Trevor Releford, a 6-foot, 180-pound point guard from Shawnee Mission (KS) Bishop Miege, told Scout.com he will likely end up at Alabama or Oklahoma, although Arizona and Tennessee are still in the mix.

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

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

Capel, the Oklahoma coach, has also worked hard to develop a relationship.

LJ Goolsby, Releford’s AAU coach, said it could come down to Alabama or Oklahoma.

“I think he likes the head coaches a lot. They’ve spent a lot of time recruiting him so far. It sounds like he’s cut it down to those two,” he said. “Arizona and Tennessee have a chance but those two sound like they are his leaders.”

Goolsby said Releford will tentatively visit Oklahoma the weekend of Sept. 11 and Alabama the following weekend.

“Right now I think they’re pretty much even,” Goolsby said. “I think he’s just wanting to get a little bit deeper into the situation and go from there.”

YACOUBOU HAS TOP 3

Achraf Yacoubou, a 6-4, 200-pound 2011 shooting guard out of Long Island Lutheran, has a slew of offers but three schools top his list.

“My top three is UConn, Villanova and Kentucky. They are showing me the most love equally,” he said Monday by phone.

He said he plans to visit Kentucky for its Midnight Madness and also plans to see UConn and Villanova again.

Yacoubou rattled off a long list that UConn, Villanova, Harvard, Xavier, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Maryland, Florida, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma and Rutgers.

I saw Yacoubou in February, when he dropped 23 points on Dominic Cheek and St. Anthony in an upset of the Friars in Bob Hurley’s gym.

In a game that also featured Tobias Harris, Devon Collier and Derrick Williams, Yacobou was the best player on the floor.

FREE THROWS

5-11 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy Point guard Khalif Toombs signed with South Carolina, according to a source. Remember the name Rob Loe. The 6-11 big man from New Zealand, who will play for Dan Barto at IMG, is getting interest from Georgia Tech, Kentucky and Pitt after initial interest from Portland, Colorado, Washington State, St. Mary’s and Valpo.

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Also, the second set of 12 players invited to the game was officially released and several New York and New Jersey players are involved:

Cory Joseph, PG, Findlay (Nev.) Prep

DaJuan Coleman, PF, Jamesville-DeWitt (N.Y.)

Dion Waters, SG, Burlington (N.J.) Life Center – SYRACUSE

Doron Lamb, SG, Oak Hill (Va.) ACademy

Joe Jackson, PG, Memphis White Station

Josh Selby, PG, Baltimore Lake Clifton

Kyrie Irving, PG, Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick

Myck Kabongo, PG, Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s – TEXAS

Perry Ellis, PF, Wichita Heights (Ks.)

Phil Pressey, PF, Dallas (Episcopal)

Terrence Jones, SF, Jefferson Portland (Ore.)

Terrence Ross, SF, Montrose Christian – MARYLAND

The first 12 players chosen were:

‘THE STREET STOPS HERE’ TO SHOW AT RUTGERS

“The Street Stops Here,” a documentary film chronicling legendary St. Anthony High School  basketball coach Bob Hurley Sr. and the journey of his team’s national record-setting 25th state championship season, has been selected to show at the New Jersey Fall 2009 Film Festival, which runs from September 4 – November 8, 2009.

“The Street Stops Here” was selected as a finalist and will be up for numerous awards at the festival. The film is produced by Chicago-based TeamWorks Media (TWM), a sports and entertainment content company represented by Creative Artists Agency. TWM is currently seeking television distribution.

There will be two public screenings of “The Street Stops Here” during the New Jersey Film Festival’s Fall Schedule (www.njfilmfest.com). Director Kevin Shaw will attend both screenings and be available to answer questions. Screening times and locations include:
• Sunday, November 1, 7 p.m., Rutgers University, Scott Hall #123, 43 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901
• Friday, November 6, 7 p.m., Rutgers University, Scott Hall #123, 43 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901

The film is a portrait of the nation’s best high school basketball coach Bob Hurley Sr., and his career-long struggle to inspire and motivate his young and impressionable players and to help St. Anthony High School, a poor, inner-city Catholic school, keep its doors open. The film is a story about teenagers fighting their way out of underprivileged neighborhoods, armed with little more than a basketball and the hard wisdom of a fierce, demanding coach. A recent success story from Hurley’s program featured in the film, Mike Rosario, overcame adversity in the Jersey City projects and now attends Rutgers University.

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Arizona, via assistant Emanuel “Book” Richardson, recently  reached out to the 6-foot-8, 205-pound Collier.

“Arizona just gave me a call saying that they’re interested in me,” said Collier, who scored 10 points to help his New Heights AAU team beat RISE 58-52 to win the “Summer in the City” 17U event at St. John’s. “[Richardson] just said that he’s interested in me, that he’s been recruiting me since he was at Xavier. He likes my style of play, he’s going to see if I’m interested in Arizona.”

Collier also listed Villanova, Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall, UConn, Marquette, Virginia, West Virginia and Providence.

“I don’t have [any] favorites,” he said. “I’m still open.”

Collier is the No. 19 power forward in the Class of 2010, according to Rivals, but he is a versatile athlete who can play on the perimeter and face up. Even with Villanova commit Dominic Cheek on Bob Hurley’s team last season, most observers agreed that Collier was the team’s most consistent performer.

“He was probably the Friars’ best player,” recruiting expert Tom Konchalski said. “Even though Dominic Cheek was a McDonald’s All-American he was probably the Friars’ best player.

“He had a series of little injuries but when he gets back into the gym at the CERC and Bob Hurley has him for a whole year. He’s a guy who’s extremely mobile. He has some perimeter skills. He’s big enough to post inside and score inside and he has a very good feel for the game.”

Collier transferred to St. Anthony from All Hallows and then had to adjust to Hurley’s demanding ways.

“It was a little bit of an adjustment,” he said. “I had to get used to it.  I had to adjust so I could play and I did that. When you get to know everybody, you [feel] more comfortable.

“I feel like I had a good year. I carried my team good, try to be leader on the court.”

With Derrick Williams and Ashton Pankey, both D1 recruits as well, down low, Collier wants to develop his perimeter game this season.

“[I want to] be more versatile, play defense, offense, pass the ball, get my teammates involved,” he said. “Ashton and Derrick are inside so I gotta develop my perimeter skills.”

Collier said he plans to cut his list later this summer and fall and then go from there.

“I could go anywhere, it’s whatever best fits me,” he said.

FOR MORE ARIZONA NEWS:

**Read the Sean Miller interview here.

**Read about Sidiki Johnson’s commitment here.

FREE THROWS

The Danny Nee Experiment at Rutgers didn’t last long. Nee, who played high school ball with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, has left Rutgers for Towson.

“Danny brings tremendous experience and knowledge about the college game,” Towson coach Pat Kennedy said. “His passion has always been college basketball. We’ve very excited to have him here at Towson.”

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(Photos courtesy Rivals, New Heights)