We don’t know which program because Barnes is keeping his cards very close to the vest.

Barnes, ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2010 by Rivals and out of Ames (Iowa) High, will announce from among Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma, UCLA and hometown Iowa State.

The smart money says it’s either Duke or North Carolina.

“I would say I’ve just scratched the surface of how deep that lies,” Barnes told the Des Moines Register in reference to the hatred between those two Tobacco Road programs. “I kind of expected it would be that way, because they’re two of the top programs in the country and they’re only miles apart.”

The 6-foot-6 Barnes has connections to both schools, He and Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick guard Kyrie Irving are very tight, with Irving referring to Barnes as his “big brother” when he recently announced for Duke.

“I’ll let the Duke coaching staff handle that,” Irving told ESPNU. “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 also has a friendship with North Carolina commit Kendall Marshall and visited the Carolina campus the weekend they had their alumni game featuring none other than Michael Jordan.

Fun,” the 6-foot-6 Barnes wrote in a text after that visit. “The atmosphere. The past and present were all together and it was fun to think of being part of a tradition like that.”

Brian McLawhorn, publisher of Devils Illustrated.com, told the Des Moines Register there might be an epic meltdown if Barnes picks North Carolina over Duke.

“That would be an end-of-the-world scenario,” McLawhorn said.

The potential end-of-the-world is only a few hours away now… 

BIG VISITS ON TAP

Several of the highest profile players in the Class of 2010 will take visits this weekend as a prelude to likely signing n the spring:

**Lake Baltimore (Md.) Clifton guard Josh Selby visits Indiana. He is also looking at Kentucky, Kansas, Miami and Syracuse.

“We’re going to sign late, because it’s only fair to give every school that he’s interested in an opportunity,” Selby’s mother, Maeshon Witherspooon, told USA Today. “We’re going to visit Indiana this week, and we’re working on setting a date to visit Kentucky and Syracuse.”

**Oak Hill (Va.) shooting guard Doron Lamb will visit UConn this weekend (Saturday-Monday) and will likely sign late. He has visited Kansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma and may still visit Arizona.

**Brandon Knight, the nation’s No. 1 prospect out of Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest, will visit Florida this  weekend. He has been to Kentucky, Kansas and UConn and appears to be signing late.

**Dix Hills (NY) Half Hollow Hills West forward Tobias Harris heads to Maryland today and Georgia Tech next week. He has already seen Syracuse, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville and West Virginia. His father says he will sign Nov. 18 and announce Nov. 19.

BEYOND THE X’S AND O’S CLINIC

The Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair, N.J. will host a clinic called “Beyond the X’s and O’s” on Nov. 20 from 8:30-noon. The speakers include former Nets coach Butch Beard, Rutgers men’s coach Fred Hill, Montclair State coach Ted Fiore and Seton Hall women’s coach Phyllis Mangina. All coaches will receive four hours of professional in-service credit. For more info contact David Kaplan at david.yogi@montclair.edu

(Photo courtesy AP)

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Tobias Harris, a 6-8 forward from Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, is on an official to Louisville with his father.

Since arriving, Harris has Tweeted that he was “Hanging with the team” and “watched the team practice.”

Harris has already visited Syracuse, Tennessee and Kentucky and still plans to visit West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Maryland before announcing.

Louisville is making serious inroads in New York. As first reported here, Russell Smith of South Kent (Conn.) is leaning toward committing to the Cardinals and his South Kent teammate J.J. Moore is down to Louisville, Pittsburgh and St. John’s.

***

Brandon Knight, the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2010 out of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Pine Crest took an official to Kansas for the weekend.

His father, Efrem, told Shay Wildeboor of Jayhawkslant.com that Brandon enjoyed the visit and that he planned to visit Florida Nov. 13-15.

“Brandon was able to do quite a bit during his visit this weekend. We all had a great time. It was a great experience for us,” Efren told Jayhawkslant.com. “The school is a great school. Kansas is a great place, and Brandon really liked his visit.”

Knight has previously visited Kentucky and UConn. He’s also considering Miami and Syracuse.

***

Josh Selby, a senior guard out of Lake Baltimore (Md.) Clifton, will visit Indiana Oct. 14, according to a report by Jerry Meyer of Rivals.

Selby previously visited Kansas for “Late Night in the Phog” and is also considering Syracuse, Kentucky and Miami.

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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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After decommitting from Tennessee, Selby is looking at Baylor, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami and Syracuse.

“Yes, we are going to visit those schools,” Maeshon Witherspoon, Selby’s mother, wrote in a text.

Selby will visit Kansas this coming weekend for “Late Night in the Phog.”

“He will take an unofficial visit to KU for Midnight Madness,” Witherspoon said.

The visits will be unofficial because Selby has yet to take his SAT or ACT.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY LANDS PHILLY TRIO

Former Villanova assistant Patrick Chambers has scored with a trio of recruits from Philly Friends’ Central.

Boston University got commitments from 6-7 PF power forward Dom Morris, 6-4 G Travis Robinson and 5-8 point guard H.J. Gaskins.

“We decided all together,” Gaskins told Alex Schwartz of Northstar Basketball. “Trav, Dom, and I are family. There is no question about that. It’s beyond basketball. It just so happens we’re brothers both on and off the court.” 

Robinson told Schwartz:  “I loved the team and the facilities, and most of all, BU is a great academic school and can attend with two of my current teammates who are pretty much my brothers.”

Morris, who averaged 12 points and eight rebounds last year, was being recruited by Siena, Providence, Penn State and La Salle. Robinson averaged 12.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.0 blocks per game and also considered Robert Morris. Gaskins considered Harvard, according to Schwartz.

FREE THROWS (UPDATED)

Kentucky will host a Who’s Who of talented recruits on Friday for Big Blue Madness: Kyrie Irving, Tobias Harris, C.J. Leslie, Michael Gilchrist, Achraf Yacoubou and Quincy Miller…Oak Hill guard Doron Lamb will visit Kansas this weekend for “Late Night in the Phog” and will then visit Kentucky the following weekend, according to Oak Hill coach Steve Smith…Tallahassee Community College forward Marvell Waithe will visit Rutgers this weekend for the Pitt-Rutgers football game and is then expected to decide between Rutgers and Arkansas, which he visited last weekend…Plainfield (NJ) guard Tyrone Johnson sprained his MCL in a football game and got an MRI on Monday, according to his AAU coach, Derrick Bobbitt…

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Great story here on Rumeal Robinson with this dandy:

[Rumeal Robinson] made more than $5 million in NBA salary alone, but blew much of it on a strip club habit that would have made Pacman Jones blush. “He would go on binges of two whole weeks where he spent $20,000 a night at a strip club,” Donald Barrows says. “Not only that, but he’d also have a bunch of the strippers come back to his place, get buck-naked, and clean his house for $500 or $1,000 each.”

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Angel Nunez

“I spoke to [Kentucky assistant] Orlando [Antigua] and I’m supposed to be going down there,” Nunez said by phone. “Chances are, yes.”

Eric Martinez, Nunez’s mentor, said nothing was definite and plans still had to be worked out.

The 6-foot-7 Nunez, a New York native, is a junior wing at the Winchendon (Mass.) School. He has offers from Louisville, Arizona, UConn, Rutgers, St. John’s, West Virginia, Arkansas, Indiana and Virginia. He is the No. 11 small forward in the Class of 2011.

Kentucky has interest, but has yet to offer. Nunez said Kentucky coach John Calipari or one of his assistants was planning to come to Winchendon next week.

“I don’t have a real favorite,” Nunez said.

Other high-profile recruits headed to Kentucky that weekend include C.J. Leslie, Tobias Harris, Kyrie Irving, Quincy Miller, Marquis Teague, Achraf Yacoubou and others.

JONES STILL CONSIDERING KANSAS

Terrence Jones is still considering Kansas, despite rumors to the contrary.

“He still wants them on the list,” his mother, Linda Mashia-Jones, said. “We haven’t set up an official visit with them but he still wants to consider them.

The 6-8, 220-pound Jones out of Portland (Ore.) Jefferson is also considering UCLA, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Washington, Arizona and Oregon.

KNIGHT AXES DUKE FROM LIST

Jerry Meyer of Rivals reports that Brandon Knight, the No. 1 recruit in the nation, has crossed Duke off his list. Perhaps Knight expects Kyrie Irving to commit there and is planning ahead.

Knight has visited Kentucky and UConn and told Meyer he may visit Kansas at a time other than Oct. 16.

Syracuse may also get an official, said Knight, who has been limited because of a stress fracture.

HUBERT VISITING MARYLAND, ANDERSON HITTING MIAMI

Desmond Hubert, a 6-11, 185-pound junior center from New Egpyt (N.J.), will take an unofficial to Maryland this weekend. Hubert is the No. 7 center in the Class of 2011…As reported earlier, Paterson Catholic sophomore guard Kyle Anderson will visit Miami this weekend.

Anderson, Seton Hall Prep junior guard Sterling Gibbs and St. Patrick wing Michael Gilchrist, the consensus No. 1 player in the Class of 2011, will attend a fall mini-camp on Oct. 9-11 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. They are preparing for the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship.

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Josh Selby

Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Miami, Indiana and Baylor remain in contention for the 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard from Baltimore Lake Clifton who decommitted from Tennessee over the summer.

UConn, which hosted Selby on his first official visit after he decommitted, did not make the cut. Neither did Texas, Oregon or Florida State, which all had in-homes.

“We sat down as a family and discussed all the schools that were recruiting Josh,” Maeshon Witherspoon, Selby’s mother, wrote in a text. “We evaulated every school in depth and composed a list of schools we wanted to further explore.

“We feel as a family we would like to thank all the schools for taking the time to get to know Josh and his family. Every one of these schools has something special to offer any of these young men. The staffs have been great and we think we have selected the ones who fit Josh the best.

“We wish all these schools well. We know now here comes the hard part.”

Witherspoon previously said she and Josh plan to follow all of the teams they’re considering through the season and see how they progress before making a decision.

“We’re going to sit back and see how most of the teams’ seasons play out,” she said.

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From John Calipari to Mike Krzyzewski to Jim Calhoun, the biggest names in college coaching have been beating a path to the doors of some of the top high school basketball players in the New York metropolitan area.

The NCAA contact period runs from Sept. 9 until Oct. 5, so college coaches use this time to watch prospects during open gyms and to make their recruiting pitches to kids and their parents during home visits.

This is the critical period when relationships can be made or broken and future NCAA championships can be determined.

Read the full story here.

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Kyrie Irving’s final official visit will be to Seton Hall, probably the weekend of Oct. 29. The drive will be a short 10-mile trip from St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, N.J. to the Seton Hall campus in South Orange.

That means Irving’s final five schools are Duke, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech and Seton Hall.

He will visit Duke (Sept. 25), Texas A&M (Oct. 9), Kentucky (Oct. 15) Georgia Tech (Oct. 23) and then Seton Hall.

As first reported here Friday, Indiana, long considered to have a legitimate shot at the talented point guard, is out.

Now UConn is officially out, too.

“It was  a tough decision,” said Drederick Irving, Kyrie’s dad. “However, when we were allowed to only choose one [for the fifth official], we chose Seton Hall University because of the familiarity with Coach [Scott] Adubato and Coach [Bobby] Gonzalez. They’re a neighborhood school which is pretty good and an option in case Kyrie decides to stay home.”

Both Seton Hall and UConn came in for home visits last week, and Seton Hall ended up winning the mano-a-mano battle for the fifth spot.

“Connecticut was a great school, a great opportunity but we just felt a little more comfortable with Seton Hall because we’ve known them for an extended period and they’ve been pursuing us for the longest,” Drederick said.

“We would like to extend our gratitude to UConn for their diligence.”

During a UStream video Sunday night, Irving indicated he will announced in November via his Twitter account.

(Photo courtesy Irving family)

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There has been a dramatic shift in the recruitment of Kyrie Irving.

Indiana is now out of the mix and Georgia Tech will get a fourth official visit.

Irving and his family are weighing whether to take his fifth official to either Seton Hall or UConn.

“Indiana is out,” said Sye Dean, Irving’s uncle. “We respect the program. We respect Tom Crean. We feel blessed that a University of that caliber would recruit Kyrie, but sometimes in regards to this recruiting process you have to eliminate certain programs. That’s part of the process.

“It’s always a process of elimination and I think Tom Crean and their program did a wonderful job. We just felt that Indiana wasn’t the place where he could develop and that’s no disrespect to Tom Crean. Although Indiana is a great program and has great coaches, we just felt it was conducive for us to go in another direction.”

He added: “Although Kyrie will not be taking an official visit to Indiana University, as a family we have the utmost respect for the Indiana University program, its coaches and players. Unfortunately, during this arduous and lengthy recruiting process, certain perspectives and perceptions changed in what would be best for Kyrie and his future.”

Indiana had long been considered a potential favorite to land Irving, the No. 4 point guard in the nation out of Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick.

Instead, he will visit Duke (Sept. 25), Texas A&M (Oct. 9), Kentucky (Oct. 15) and Georgia Tech (Oct. 23).

That leaves one official left for Seton Hall or UConn.

“We only have one slot remaining,” said Drederick Irving, Kyrie’s dad. “We want to sit back and give ourselves a couple days to digest. We want to assess and see which schools are conducive to Kyrie’s needs and where he wants to be.”

The last two schools to come in this week for home visits were Seton Hall on Thursday and UConn on Wednesday.

Drederick said the family was impressed with both programs.

Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez and assistant Scott Adubato were in the house Thursday.

“I thogut it went extremely well,” Drederick said. “Coach Gonzalez did a great job with his presentation. It gave him the forum where he could elaborate on the athletics and the academics and how he perceived Kyrie fitting into the school setting academically and athletically.

“They’re going to pretty much put him at the point and just give him a chance to develop on the court and off the court.”

Adubato has been recruiting Irving for more than a year and that is paying off.

“Coach Adubato, he’s done a wonderful job recruiting Kyrie,” Drederick said. “We’ve developed a decent relationship over the past year and a half. He did a wonderful job in terms of how he can help Kyrie in college and the next step after that if he’s blessed to pursue another career after college.

As for UConn, Drederick has a relationship with both head coach Jim Calhoun and assistant Andre LaFleur from his playing days at Boston University. Calhoun coached at Northeastern and LaFleur was his point guard then.

“I do have a relationship with Coach Calhoun that goes back to my playing days at BU,” Drederick said. “He was at Northeastern. I played against him for four years. We met every year in the conference championship.

“Andre LaFleur and I played together in Australia [in the pro league]. We were out there together.

“I thought it [the visit] went well. It was just an opportunity for the coaches to elaborate on the academics of the school and how Kyrie fits and where they see Kyrie fitting.”

As for Georgia Tech, Paul Hewitt made enough of an impression to warrant gaining the fourth official.

“His presentation was wonderful. He came in prepared. He talked about the academics. His approach was different relative to the other people who came in. He had a lot of factual data in front of him and we were really impressed with him.”

While all these coaches were impressive, Duke may still be the favorite here and has the advantage of having the first official visit.

“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.”

Drederick maintains that Kyrie wants to get this done in the fall and could verbally commit on one of the visits.

“If Kyrie gets that feeling and says that’s where I belong,” he said

“It’s all predicated on a feeling. You don’t get that feeling until you’re actually on campus and you’re around the players and the administration.

“That’s an integral part of the process, being around the players and observing the interaction with the coaches and the players. That says a lot.”

(Photos courtesy Connecticut Advance, NY Daily News, Zimbio)

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“We are going to take a visit a to the University of Kentucky,” said Drederick Irving, Kyrie’s dad.

Kentucky would be Irving’s fourth official visit, following Duke (Sept. 25), Indiana (Oct. 2) and Texas A&M (Oct. 9).

That would leave a fifth official visit to a group that includes Seton Hall, UConn and Georgia Tech.

The Irvings have had in-homes with Texas A&M, Indiana, Kentucky, Duke and Georgia Tech.

UConn came in for an in-home Wednesday and Seton Hall comes tonight.

After that, a decision will be made about a fifth official.

“We’re waiting to see Seton Hall tonight,”  Drederick said.

As for Kentucky, Drederick said:

“You can’t discount Kentucky because I do have a relationship with [assistant] coach [Rod] Strickland. 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.”

Drederick said all the in-homes have gone well, and that he was especially impressed with Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt, a Long Island native.

“After a while it all starts to sound the same, to be quite frank,” Drederick said of the sales pitches.

“I thought Paul Hewitt came in and did a great job. I was really impressed with his presentation and the things he had to say about the school’s academics.”

Torrel Harris, father of Long Island forward Tobias Harris, said similar things after their in-home with Hewitt.

Kyrie wants to major in journalism in college and Drederick said all the schools have emphasized that in their meetings.

“They all got a chance to address the academics of the process in terms of what Kyrie wants to pursue in college, which is journalism,” he said. “Wer’e all familiar with the athletic part of the process. These are elite programs.”

Drederick said the visit from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski made a particular impression on Kyrie.

“I know Kyrie was highly impressed with Duke,” Drederick said.

The last time Drederick had seen Coach K was at the 1988 NCAA Tournament when his Boston University team was eliminated by the Devils.

“It was kind of ironic to have him in the house because Duke finished my career. We played Duke first round of the NCAAs in 1988. They ended my career. That was the last time I saw coach K in person and now it’s kind of ironic that they’re pursing Kyrie,” he said.

“It was really an honor to have a man of his stature in the house. He’s a gold medal winner. He’s won national championships. He’s a Hall of Fame coach. To have him pursuing Kyrie is an honor and a blessing. He’s got the credentials to support the legacy he’s built over the years.”

Asked about rumors that Harrison Barnes was lobbying Kyrie to potentially play together at Duke, Drederick said:

“I can’t comment on Kyrie’s conversations with Harrison,” he said. “They have their own dialogue. I don’t know what they’re doing.”

Indiana also figures strongly in Kyrie’s recruitment, largely because of the relationship with assistant coach Roshown McLeod.

“Coach Ro has done a splendid job recruiting Kyrie, recruiting the family so I got a chance to sit down and speak with Coach [Tom] Crean and just to have discussions with him about his plans for Kyrie and how Kyrie fits in,” he said.

Asked if it would come down to Duke or Indiana, Drederick said flatly:

“I think that’s very premature at this point. We’re being open to all the schools. They’re all great schools.

“It’s all predicated on a feeling that’s elicited once you’re on campus. There are so many intangibles that we’re looking to see when we go on these visits.

“But they’re all great schools and I just think it’s a matter of finding the right school for Kyrie and he’ll know because he’ll get a gut feeling.

“And when he gets that feeling he has said that he will pull the trigger.”

(Photo courtesy Irving family)

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