David Laury, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound power forward from West Orange, N.J., has verbally committed to Iona beginning in 2010.

Iona beat out Houston and TCU for Laury, who had initially signed a National of Letter  to Western Kentucky. Because he already signed one NLI, Laury just made a verbal commitment to Iona.

“Yes, I did [Sunday],” Laury said by phone. “I liked the coaching staff. They’ve been recruiting me for a long time and I got a good relationship with all the coaches there, especially [assistant] Coach Shaheen [Holloway].”

Laury is currently playing for Ocean Academy out of Deal, N.J., where he is taking an SAT Prep class. Ocean coach Mike Rodgers said St. John’s and Providence were among the other schools interested in Laury because of his skill-set.

“He’s a legit four who can play the three and the two,” Rodgers said. “He’s very skilled. He’s a strong reobunder, great passer. He shoots it very, very well from deep. He has a tremendous basketball IQ.

“He would’ve been recruited by everyone in the country.”

Laury said he has a 2.31 GPA and needs a 2.35. He may opt to re-take the SAT.

Laury, 19, spent a week and a half at Western Kentucky over the summer but returned home because he wasn’t comfortable there. 

“It wasn’t the place for me and it was honestly too far from home for me,” he said.

Now he joins an Iona squad that has done a tremendous job of recruiting the New York/New Jersey area.

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The 6-foot-4, 175-pound Lamb told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com  that he’s “still open”, but that Kentucky “is at the top.”

He recently took an unofficial to Lexington.

“It was a great experience,” Lamb, the No. 5 point guard in the Class of 2010, said at the Paul Pierce Skills Academy in Boston. “The fans go crazy. I hung out with the coaching staff, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, and got to see the practice facility.”

Lamb has also visited Louisville and told Jeff he’s also considering Kansas, Oklahoma, Marquette and UConn.

MCFADDEN TO IONA

Mike McFadden, a 6-8, 225-pound four man from Newark Technology, has verbally committed to Iona.

Iona beat out Penn State, New Orleans, Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, Cleveland State, Tulane and Rhode Island.

“Yeah,” McFadden said. “I wanted to stay close to home and that was a good fit for me. They have a good education and I like the way their program is.”

McFadden is fully qualified.

“I should be able to play,” he said.

He becomes the fourth player in Iona’s recruiting class, joining Chris Pelcher, Rashard McGill and Ben Mockford.

“I have a good relationship with [assistant] coach [Orlando] Antigua and [Rod] Strickland,” the 6-foot-5 Lamb told Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier Journal. “Coach [John] Calipari called me, and we talked a long time. He’s a good guy; they’ll be in my final five for sure.

“They make pros, and that’s what I want to be.”

Lamb left Bishop Loughlin before last season and now plays at Oak Hill Academy. He is ranked the No. 5 shooting guard in the Class of 2010.

Rivals lists him as holding offers from Arizona, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Pitt, Rutgers, St. John’s and Xavier.

NBA TOP 100 CAMP AWARDS

North Carolina commit Kendall Marshall was named MVP of the NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Va. Mike Gilchrist of Elizabeth (N.J.) St.  Patrick was named Most Outstanding Prospect. The Rockets went 7-0 and won the camp title.

FAB MELO GETTING RAVE REVIEWS

Fab Melo, the 7-foot, 260-pound center from Brazil, is drawing rave reviews.

Melo, who plays for Weston (Fla.) Sagemont Upper School, made the All-Star Game at the Top 100 Camp. He told Demling his list now consists of: Louisville, Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Syracuse and Connecticut.

“I think he has gotten better and better,” Brick Oettinger of Prep Stars Recruiting Handbook told Demling. “He looks a lot more comfortable. He’s better than where we have him ranked.”

SMITH TO ANNOUNCE IN AUGUST

Russ Smith said on his Facebook page that he will likely commit in August.

“Imma prolly commit in like late august so stay tunned”

Smith, a 5-foot-10 guard from New York City who will play next year at South Kent (Conn.), lists DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Iona, South Carolina, USC, Providence and Tennessee among his suitors.

FREE THROWS

Former Seton Hall guard Paul Gause was drafted as a defensive back by the Las Vegas franchise of the fledgling United Football league, as was former Boston College LB Brian Toal, who played at Don Bosco Prep. JP Pelzman of the Bergen Record first reported the news….Epiphanny Prince’s decision to leave Rutgers to play professionally in Europe may not have been so smart after all, according to this piece on SI.com.

(Photos courtesy Rivals, Courier Journal)

Lance Stephenson

The Panthers will meet the Playaz sophomores in Sunday’s final at 11.

Stephenson, who did not speak with reporters about his college plans, added 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers. He was 10-of-11 from the stripe.

Hofstra-bound guard Chaz Williams scored 10 of his 18 points in the third quarter for the Panthers. He added five rebounds.

Arizona-bound guard Kevin Parrom tallied 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting  and added 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.

Pitt commit Lamar Patterson tallied eight points for the Panthers.

Pitt-bound big man Dante Taylor (unexplained absence) and Villanova commit Maalik Wayns (knee) did not play for the Panthers.

Jayvaughn Pinkston, a 6-5 junior out of Bishop Loughlin, led all scorers with 30 points on 11-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, 10 rebounds and 3 assists for New Heights.  He picked up his fourth foul with 6:23 left, though. Pinkston, who has indicated he may not return to Loughlin under its new coach next year, was 5-of-11 from the stripe.

Hakeem Harris of Blair added 15 points for New Heights. St. Anthony junior forward Devon Collier battled foul trouble and finished with 5 points and 6 rebounds for New Heights.

In the first semifinal, the Playaz beat RISE 69-66.

St. Peter’s Prep guard Myles Davis tallied 23 points fro the winners and Paterson Catholic guard Myles Mack tallied 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting.

6-8  PC big man Derrick Randall added 10 points, 9 rebounds and 8 blocks. Kyle Anderson had 2 points and 10 rebounds for the Playaz.

6-8 N.C. State-bound big man Richard Howell did not play for RISE, but 6-2 senior shooting guard Isiah Stokley scored a game-high 19 points

THOMAS TO VISIT IONA

Quintrell Thomas will visit Iona on Monday. the 6-8 Thomas, who is leaving Kansas after one season, is also considering Siena, St. Joe’s and UNLV.

His AAU coach, Derrick Bobbitt, said he wouldn’t announce until after Memorial Day.

The 6-foot-8 Thomas is transferring from Kansas and hopes to have a decision made by mid-May.

He visited St. Joe’s last weekend, heads to UNLV this weekend and then goes to Siena the following weekend.

UNLV was near the top of his list the first time around and appears to be this time as well. He has spoken with head coach Lon Kruger and assistant Lew Hill, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

“As soon as I announced I was transferring, one of my [high school] coaches told me they wanted to get in contact with me,” Thomas told the newspaper.

“It’s a very real option,” he said.

Thomas spent one year at Kansas in which he averaged 1.5 points and 2.0 rebounds. Next year he would be playing behind fellow sophomores Markieff and Marcus Morris, returning big man Cole Aldrich and probably incoming freshman Thomas Robinson as well.

MCGILL, MOCKFORD TO IONA

Iona coach Kevin Willard signed 6-foot-5, 205-pound shooting guard Rashard McGill of Massanutten Military Academy on Wednesday.

McGill is a versatile wing player capable of playing multiple positions for the Gaels.   His shooting and scoring ability make him a viable option at two guard while his size and strength will also allow him to see action at the forward position.  Massanutten’s leading scorer in 2008-09, McGill averaged 17.8 points per game in his post graduate year with the Colonels.   His top output was a 46-point performance including 6-for-9 from behind the arc.   At East Gadsden (Fla.) High in 2008 McGill led his team to a 21-2 record and averaged 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Iona also signed Ben Mockford, a 6-2 shooting guard from Shoreham-by-Sea, England who played at Apex Academies in Pennsauken, NJ.

“We are very excited to have Ben join our basketball family at Iona,” said Willard.  “As a very talented shooter with the ability to create his own shot, Ben will be a welcomed addition to our offense.”

Mockford, 19, played for Apex’ Red squad last season after graduating from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA in 2008.  He averaged 31.5 points and six assists while shooting nearly 50 percent from behind the arc in his post graduate year with Apex.

McGill and Mockford will join Chris Pelcher (Albany, NY / Albany Academy) in Maroon & Gold this fall.  Red shirt freshmen Keon Williams of Hackensack, NJ and Kyle Smyth out of Don Bosco Prep join the three signees in the squad’s class of 2013

CHANEY TAKING VISITS

Florida transfer Allan Chaney of Baltimore will visit St. Joe’s this weekend and has several other visits lined up.

“He hasn’t taken any visits yet,” said Chaney’s travel team coach, Calvin Bunkley. “I think he’s going to St. Joe’s tomorrow [Thursday]. In the following two weeks he’s going to visit Virginia Tech, Temple and Providence. I think he’s choosing between Xavier, Seton Hall or Rutgers for his final visit.”

The 6-8, 220-pound Chaney was rated the No. 27 power forward in the Class of 2008 and will have to sit out a year after transferring.

“He’s looking to fit in with the team,” Bunkley said. “Location-wise he wants to be close to home. And he wants a coach that’s going to play inside-out. He’s  a face-up four.”

(Photos courtesy AP, Rivals, Oak Hill, Rashard McGill Facebook)

“I am very excited,” Gonzalez told the Star-Ledger at last night’s Tournament of Champions final, won by St. Patrick over Newark Science 73-57. “We finished strong this year and won seven of our last 12. I think we will be in the top six or eight teams in the Big East and a factor for the NCAA tournament. I’m excited, the sky’s the limit.”

Gonzalez, Rutgers head coach Fred Hill and Iona assistant Shaheen Holloway attended the game in part to recruit St. Patrick’s star underclassmen, junior guard Kyrie Irving and sophomore wing Michael Gilchrist.

They did not disappoint. Irving tallied 26 points, Gilchrist, who shook off an ankle injury to return recently, added 16 points and 15 boards and North Carolina-bound guard Dexter Strickland scored 14 points. George Mason-bound forward Paris Bennett scored nine points despite playing with a broken nose.

It was the fifth T of C title for coach Kevin Boyle and the Celtics and the third in the last four years.

North Carolina coach Roy Williams was also there to watch Strickland.

“The first think we look for in a recruit is if he’s going to be a great teammate, and Dexter is right there,” said Williams, whose team faces Gonzaga on Friday night in the NCAA Sweet 16 in Memphis, Tenn.

“He’s a tremendous prospect. I noticed he turned the ball over a couple times in the first half, but he shares the ball and he’s a great shooter.’”

(Photo courtesy Star-Ledger)

Before Kemba Walker ever played a game at UConn, he met with Huskies coach Jim Calhoun and made a unique request.

“He said he didn’t want to just be good, he wanted to be great,” Calhoun said recently.

“When any kid tells you that, it’s a big price tag,” Calhoun added. “It means I can get on you every day at practice. It gives me license because you say you want to be great, and I wouldn’t want you to lie to yourself, and therefore we’re going to try to get you to where you can because he does have great physical attributes.”

Read the full story here.

***As first reported here last month, Memphis sophomore guard Jeff Robinson will transfer. Robinson, who led St. Patrick of Elizabeth (NJ) to back-to-back New Jersey Tournament of Champions crowns in 2006 and ‘07, was granted his release by the University and could end up closer to home at Seton Hall or St. Joe’s. If he ends up somewhere for the upcoming semester, he could suit up in the second semester of the 2009-10 season.

The 6-foot-5 Robinson fell out of John Calipari’s rotation and did not play the last four games because of a lower back injury.

Robinson was averaging 2.1 points in 9.2 minutes. Last year he notched a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds against Siena.

***Seton Hall did not hear about Keon Lawrence’s hardship waiver today.

“I didn’t hear anything today,” said Alif Muhammad, Lawrence’s adviser.

Muhammad told me Tuesday that the 6-foot-2, 175-pound Lawrence plans to suit up this year if he gets the waiver even though Seton Hall has already played 15 games, including three in the Big East. Muhammad had previously said Lawrence would sit out this year and wait until next because Lawrence had missed the entire non-conference schedule and several Big East games. He is a junior and has two years of eligibility remaining after transferring from Missouri.

“He’s definitely going to play [if he gets the waiver],” Muhammad said.

***Kashif Pratt has officially left the Iona program for personal reasons.

“We are very disappointed to lose such a great young man from our program,” Iona coach Kevin Willard said. “However, we fully support Kashif in his decision and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

A former Rice star, Pratt first attended Seton Hall before transferring. He appeared in 14 games and averaged 6.6 points and 2.1 rebounds this year. We hear he could end up somewhere in New York City but won’t play ball at his new school.

*** 7-footer Beas Hamga is at the Marquette- Rutgers game tonight, according to his advisor, Mark Adams. Adams originally told me Hamga would attend Saturday’s Syracuse game. The 7-footer is considering Rutgers, South Carolina and Valparaiso after announcing his transfer from UNLV.

**Lance Stephenson dropped 37 points in Tuesday’s game against Boys & Girls, but the Railsplitters (7-4) lost 71-61. Mike Taylor led Boys & Girls with 19, including five 3-pointers.

“Nobody,” Lincoln coach Dwayne (Tiny) Morton told fiveborosports.com, “could make plays but Lance.”

**Former Rutgers walk-on and Wayne (NJ) Valley three-sport star Charlie Rigoglioso is thriving at D-3 Moravian and scored a career-high 23 points in the championship game of a recent tourney against Muhlenberg.

(Photos courtesy Memphis Commercial Appeal and fiveborosports.com)

Kashif Pratt

Pratt, the 6-foot-4 sophomore from Rice High who transferred from Seton Hall, did not play in Sunday’s win over Fairfield and may not return to the team, according to Sean Brennan of the Daily News.

A source told Brennan that “it doesn’t look good” for his return to the team. “I don’t know what it is,” the source said.

Word on Pratt, who is averaging 6.6 points and 2 rebounds per game, is expected before Friday’s game with Canisius.

***Behind 24 points from junior guard Isaiah Epps, Plainfield beat Paterson Catholic, 73-61, marking the second year in a row Plainfield has downed the Cougars.

Epps, Anthony Baskerville (21 points) and Tyrone Johnson (16 points) combined for 61 of Plainfield’s points. Epps scored 13 in the fourth period.

“Their guards are seasoned guards and they’re good,” PC coach Damon Wright said of the Plainfield guards, who committed 2 turnovers compared with 15 for the PC guards.

Sophomore point guard Myles Mack scored 15 on 6 of 9 shooting to lead PC, Fordham-bound wing Lance Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds and Trevor Clemmings had 10. Fuquan Edwin came off the bench to score 8 points on 3 of 7 shooting.

This game featured four players who were offered by Seton Hall a year ago: Epps (pictured courtesy NJHoops.com) and the PC trio of Clemmings, Edwin and Jayon James.

Epps is also being courted by Maryland and Pitt, while Edwin and James have interest from A-10 schools like Xavier.

In the last three years at this tournament, PC has lost to Linden, St. Raymond’s of the Bronx and Plainfield, all teams with tremendous guard play.

PC leaves Friday for the Beach Ball Classic in South Carolina and plays the home team (Socastee, SC) Friday. They could play St. Patrick of Elizabeth in the second round Saturday in a possible preview of the Non-Public B playoffs.

***St. Anthony pulled out a narrow 37-36 victory over Trenton Catholic despite trailing 23-16 at the half. Villanova-bound wing Dominic Cheek finished with 14 points on 3-for-13 shooting and 7-for-8 from the line and 10 rebounds and was named MVP. Friars coach Bob Hurley was T’d up at halftime for yelling at the officials. Dondre Whitmore paced TC with 15 points.

The Friars — the defending New Jersey Tournament of Champions winners — are lacking for a true point guard and must wait 30 days to get all their transfers eligible: Derrick Williams, Ashton Pankey and Devon Collier.

So you figure we won’t really know what the true St. Anthony team is like until Feburary or so.

Still, it’s St. Patrick’s Tournament of Champions to lose. You heard it here. The Celtics are at the City of Palms, preparing for Monday night’s semifinal against Winter Park (Fla.). They will then appear Tuesday on ESPNU in either the first- or third-place game.

***Neptune rolled over Mendham 76-55 in the first game after it was tied at 32 at the half. Neptune outscored Mendham 27-9 in the third quarter. Dwayne Gutridge and Jabari Joyner scored 17 apiece for Neptune. Joyner hit four 3-pointers.

Columbia University commit Mark Cisco had 17 and 11 for Mendham.

***Seton Hall Prep beat Columbia 66-51 behind 22 points from sophomore point guard Sterling Gibbs. 6-8 senior Tony Peters had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Seton Hall Prep.

***The DePaul-Eastside game was cancelled, which is too bad because it would have given the two Passaic County powers a gauge on where they stand entering the season. Let’s face it, it’s Paterson Catholic’s county tournament to lose.

But DePaul with St. Joe’s-bound Justin Crosgile and Eastside with Robert Morris commit Karon Abraham both could reach the final if things fall their way.

ST. BENEDICT’S REACHES SEMIS AT KREUL CLASSIC

St. Benedict’s Prep is in the semifinals of the Kreul Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Here’s a writeup from our friend Ron Jandoli of St. Benedict’s. The Gray Bees are No. 3 in the USA Today Super 25.

St. Ben’s crushed St. Thomas Aquinas of Florida, 84-59, in the quarters on Saturday after beating Florida’s Cardinal Gibbons 82-52 on Friday.

Rice-bound shooting guard Tamir Jackson scored 18 of his 25 against ST. Thomas Aquinas in the opening quarter, hitting four 3-pointers.

Texas commit Tristan Thompson added 23 points and 8 rebounds, Steve Frankoski scored 12 points and Mike Poole added nine rebounds.

The Gray Bees will play Miramar (Fla.) High at 4 p.m. on Monday in the semis, with the winner to advance to Tuesday’s championship at 9 p.m. Both games can be viewed at: http://kreul.ezstream.com/index.cfm