Lance Stephenson

The 6-foot-5 Brooklyn native started and shot 2-for-10 for 7 points in Cincinnati’s season-opening come-from-behind 69-62 victory over Prairie View A&M.

He was 0-for-3 from beyond the arc while adding 4 rebounds, 2 assist and 1 turnover in 22 minutes.

“He was a nervous wreck,” Bearcats coach Mick Cronin said. “He’ll get better. I have to make sure he isn’t putting too much pressure on himself. When we were struggling, he was the one guy getting visibly more physical. You could see his frustration and his desire to win. I have to teach him how to channel that and there is no such thing as a ten point shot. He was trying to do everything himself, which is good and bad.”

The Bearcats trailed 38-30 at halftime before outscoring Prairie View 39-24 in the second half behind 12 of Deonta Vaughn’s 15 points.

Vaughn came off the bench in the second half after going 0-for-6 to start the game.

“He responded,” Cronin said of Vaughn. “Deonta is a great kid, but he has to give us better leadership. He has to make sure these guys are ready to play. Before the game when coaches aren’t in there, he has to make sure they are ready to play. Upsets happen in college basketball.”

Cincinnati made just 39 percent of its shots, while shooting 27 percent (8-for-30) from beyond the arc.

On Stephenson, Vaughn said his teammate was clearly “frustrated” in his college debut.

“That is for any freshman that comes in,” he said. “Your first couple of games is the hardest for you. I just have to talk to him and tell him how it will be for the rest of the season. He doesn’t have to force anything, and just let it come naturally.”

Cronin won’t make Stephenson available to the media until December, but hoops fans will have plenty of chances to see Lance on TV. In perusing my TV schedules, I see that both SNY and ESPN are showcasing a whole lotta Lance.

Wednesday – Toledo at Cincinnati, 7:30, SNY

Nov. 23 – Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt, 5, ESPN 2 (Maui Invitational)

Nov. 24 – Cincinnati vs. Maryland/Chaminade, 1:30/7, ESPN2

Nov. 25 – Cincinnati vs. TBD, ESPN2

Dec. 1 – Texas Southern at Cincinnati, 7:30, SNY

Dec. 19 – Lipscomb at Cincinnati, 2 p.m., SNY

WALL HITS BUZZER-BEATER

Kentucky freshman John Wall hit a pullup 15-foot buzzer beater to lead No. 5 Kentucky to a 72-70 victory over Miami (Ohio).

“When it hit the bottom of the net, it was a relief, a great feeling,” Wall said, according to The AP.

“John Wall catching it and going, I loved it,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said.

The 6-foot-4 Wall, projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, finished with 19 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Wall sat out Kentucky’s season opener against Morehead State because of amateurism issues.

FREE THROWS

Arizona freshman Kevin Parrom of New York will miss at least a month with a stress fracture in his left foot, according to the Arizona Daily Star…No. 12 UConn led by just one at the half before beating Colgate 77-63 beind Stanley Robinson’s 18 points and Kemba Walker’s 16 points, 6 assists and 5 steals. Gavin Edwards added 14 points……Kyle Singler put up 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 11 Duke to a 74-49 win over Coastal Carolina…Syracuse comes to Madison Square Garden this week for the Coaches vs. Cancer event and will play Cal in the first game Thursday night. Defending NCAA champ North Carolina meets Ohio State in the other semi. Read my feature advance on Syracuse’s zone here…Memphis added to its recruiting haul by landing 6-7 center Tarik Black of Memphis Ridgeway, the No. 47 prospect in the nation. Josh Pastner’s club now has seven incoming recruits, five of whom are ranked among the Top 70 by Rivals. Rivals ranks Memphis as the No. 1 overall recruiting class for 2010.

(Photo courtesy Michael Keating, Cincinnati Enquirer)

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Of course, the team that could really use Wall — just named to the Bob Cousy Award Watch List – and his transcendant abilities is the New York Knicks.

And the Knicks — off to a dreadful 1-8 start — could well earn the right to select the 6-foot-4 Wall with the top pick. Several mock drafts project Wall as the No. 1 pick next year, ahead of Derrick Favors, Ed Davis and Greg Monroe.

There’s just one problem.

The Knicks traded the pick.

Utah now holds New York’s 2010 1st-round pick after the Knicks dealt for Stephon Marbury.

To borrow a phrase from Spinal Tap, Marbury is currently residing in the “Where are they now?” category and spends more time texting New York Post beat writer Marc Berman than he does actually playing basketball. 

So where does all this leave the Knicks?

Well, without a quality point guard, now or later.

Starting point guard Chris Duhon posted this gem of a line in last night’s 114-101 loss to Al Horford and Atlanta: 0 points on 0-for-6 shooting, 3 turnovers, 3 rebounds, 2 assists.

“He’s going to have to play better and he’s going to have to do it,” a visibly shaken Mike D’Antoni said.

Asked if Duhon might lose his starting job, the coach said, “We’ll see. I don’t know yet.”

At the rate the Knicks are going — which is to say, full-speed straight off a cliff like those chicks in Thelma & Louise — they are “on pace” for a final record that says 10-72 or 9-73.

Is it likely to get that bad?

Probably not, but let’s say they win 25 games.

Is that going to be enough to attract LeBron James or Dwyane Wade to the Garden next summer?

“Honestly, I wouldn’t say they [the Knicks] have to make the playoffs. They just have to compete. Both those guys are on really good teams right now so who knows what the future holds?”  former Knick and current Hawk Jamal Crawford said before the game. “It would be tough for them to leave that.”

Assuming those free agents did want to come to New York, what point guard will they be playing with? Someone who leads his team to the playoffs and makes his teammates better?

Or someone whose team has one more NBA win right now than I do.

One thing’s for sure, the Knicks point guard next year won’t be John Wall — barring some blockbuster trade.

Wall could be headed to Utah…if the winless Nets don’t grab him first.

HORNETS FIRE SCOTT

The New Orleans Hornets announced Thursday that they have relieved Byron Scott of his head coaching duties. Scott will be replaced by General Manager Jeff Bower.

New Orleans lost 124-104 at Phoenix on Wednesday, falling to 3-6 to start the season.

Former Hornets and Bulls head coach Tim Floyd was named an assistant. Floyd stepped down as coach at USC before the season in the wake of the O.J. Mayo scandal in which Floyd allegedly doled out cash payments to a runner in exchange for landing Mayo.

“I want to thank Byron for the hard work he has put in during his time with the Hornets,” said Hornets Owner George Shinn. “I’ve hired Jeff Bower to take over the coaching reign. He knows this team better than anyone, has the respect of the players and in basketball circles, is regarded as one of the best basketball minds in the business. This is our best opportunity to reach our goals this season.”

Bower has spent his 14-plus seasons with the club.

After serving as the assistant general manager for the 2000-01 season, Bower was promoted to general manager in June of 2001 and has since held that position. He returned to the bench as an assistant under Floyd in 2003-04.

“Accountability was our theme this past summer,” said Hornets Vice President of Basketball Chad Shinn. “We talked about the fact that everyone on our staff is held to a certain standard of performance and we didn’t feel this was happening at the head coach level. We feel like we still have an opportunity with our nucleus to get to where we want and Jeff is the right guy, right now to move us in that direction from the bench.”

“As we look at our long-term coaching plans, it’s not about who the head coach is, it’s about the role of the head coach to get the team to perform to their capabilities and reaching our potential this season,” said Bower.

Bower served three years as an assistant coach at Penn State University from 1983-86 before moving to Marist College, where he led the Red Foxes to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1987 after winning the Northeast Conference.

(Information from the Hornets Website was used; Photos courtesy University of Kentucky, AP)

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The 6-foot-4 Wall must repay nearly $800 in expenses and sit the first exhibition game against Campbellsville (Nov. 2) and the first regular-season game against Morehead State (Nov. 13).

“I’m grateful to have this decision behind me. All I ever wanted was to go to school and play ball with my team,” Wall said. “This has been really hard for my mom and I want to thank her for her support during this process.”

The punishments stem from Wall’s association with his former AAU coach, Brian Clifton of D-One Sports, who was a certified agent from 2007 to 2008. During his junior year at Word of God Christian Academy, Wall took two unofficial visits to Kentucky with Clifton.

“We’re appreciative of the process and the NCAA’s willingness to listen,” said Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart. “The NCAA staff worked to keep the welfare of the student-athlete in mind throughout this process. I’m happy for Coach [John] Calipari and John Wall that he will get a chance to represent the Wildcats this season. He’s a great young man and deserves to be able to concentrate fully on his academics and basketball.”

Wall was one of five freshmen on the Naismith Preseason watch list. A pre-season All-American according to several national publications, Wall was the top recruit in the country last season according to Rivals.com.

“John Wall is a great kid who always tries to do the right thing and his mother is a great lady,” Calipari said. “I’m just happy this is behind us.”

KILICLI SUSPENDED 20 GAMES

West Virginia freshman forward Deniz Kilicli must sit for the first 20 games of the season after the NCAA determined he violated an amateurism rule.

West Virginia said Friday that the NCAA determined Kilicli played on a Turkish team during the 2007-08 season that included a professional player, which isn’t allowed under NCAA rules.

A native of Istanbul, Kilicli played for the Pertevniyal Istanbul Club team in Turkey because high schools there don’t offer prep basketball.

Kilicli attended Mountain State Academy in Beckley, West Va., in 2008-09.

Kilicli must sit until Feb. 3, when West Virginia hosts Pittsburgh.

Coach Bob Huggins declined to comment on the NCAA ruling.

“Deniz has played really well,” Huggins said last week at Big East media day.

Huggins already suspended guards Darryl “Truck” Bryant of Brooklyn and Joe Mazzulla during the summer for off-the-court issues.

“They’re fine. It’s over with, we’re moving on,” Huggins said last week.

West Virginia (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) opens exhibition play on Nov. 8 against Mountain State.

SETON HALL WINS EXHIBITION

Seton Hall downed Carleton University 89-62 in an exhibition Friday at Walsh Gym. Sophomore guard Jordan Theodore scored 17 points and had eight steals, all in the first half. Junior forward Herb Pope scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting and added three blocks. Junior Keon Lawrence went 5-of-5 from the field and tallied 13 points. Seton Hall shot 59.6 percent from the field and made 6-of-14 from beyond the arc. Junior guard Jeremy Hazell did not play in the game and the Pirates started Lawrence, Pope, Eugene Harvey, John Garcia and Robert Mitchell and Pope. The Pirates open the season Nov. 13 against St. Peter’s.

BIRUTA GETTING LOOKS

Coaches from Arizona, Md, Seton Hall, Rutgers and St. John’s came to St. Benedict’s this week to scout Gil Biruta, a 6-8 forward from Lithuania.

(The Associated Press contributed; Photos courtesy Kentucky & West Virginia Athletics)

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Leslie, the No. 4 power forward in the Class of 2010, was supposed to attend Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness last week but didn’t attend. Seton Hall is hoping to get a visit from Leslie as well, but his camp has been very quiet about his plans.

Word of God coach Erasto Hatchett told me earlier this month the 6-foot-8, 205-pound Leslie is c

Clifton, who coached Wall with the D-One Sports program and was with him in the summer of 2008 at the Steve Nash Skills Academy in New Jersey, was a former certified agent.

“Those are amateur issues that arose prior to their coming to our schools,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive told Dana O’Neil and Pat Forde of ESPN.com in reference to Wall and Mississippi State freshman big man Renardo Sidney. “Those are strictly amateurism issues. As we told our people, somebody needs to determine if they are eligible. It’s not relative to you, it’s relative to them.”

According to the report, Wall may have to repay any and all expenses Clifton paid for during the period he was an agent.

Wall could also be withheld from at least 10 percent of Kentucky’s games as part of the punishment.

Kentucky coach John Calipari told ESPN.com at Thursday’s SEC media day that Wall is further along in his development than former Memphis guards Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, both of whom are in the NBA.

“John right now is probably farther along today than they were,” Calipari said. “Those two when they got it and they felt the offense, they were unleashed and they weren’t afraid to make The Play. When we’re in a tough game and it’s on the road, is he going to make the play that those two did? I have no idea.”

If Wall isn’t eligible to start the season, the Wildcats have the luxury of  playing fellow freshman Eric Bledsoe, who chose Kentucky over Memphis even after the ‘Cats had landed Wall.

Several of the nation’s top freshman are facing eligibility issues related to amateurism concerns, including Wall, Sidney and Cincinnati freshman Lance Stephenson, the Big East Preseason Rookie of the Year who is also awaiting word from the NCAA Clearinghouse.

“He’s cleared academically so we’re just waiting on the amateur thing,” Bearcats coach Mick Cronin told me Wednesday at Big East media day. “He’s not the only one going through it, so a lot of the elite players are going through it. We’ll see. Hopefully it’s done before the first game, I know that.”

(Photo courtesy US Presswire)

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They’ll be taking in the show at Kentucky.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Forget about that Jordan Crawford dunk on LeBron…this one by the Kentucky frosh beats it.

This interview with Kentucky Coach John Calipari at the “Summer in the City” event is the third in a series of interviews with Division 1 head coaches conducted at camps this summer.

NEW YORK — John Calipari has yet to coach a single game at the University of Kentucky and already the expectations are sky high.

After leaving Memphis in April, Calipari landed a recruiting class that many college basketball experts consider among the best ever assembled.

Four of the top 23 players in the Rivals150 for the Class of 2009 are coming to Bluegrass country — including the No. 1-ranked player, point guard John Wall, and the No. 2, forward DeMarcus Cousins.

And while shooting guard Jodie Meeks left for the NBA, big man Patrick Patterson returned to campus.

Is it any wonder that Kentucky is ranked among the Top 5 in many preseason polls — as high as No. 2 in Jeff Goodman’s Fox poll — and is being touted as a challenger for the 2010 NCAA championship?

“Final Four contenders,” Cousins told me in April. “We’ll beat Duke and North Carolina.”

Calipari is a little more guarded than his loquacious recruit.

“I’m glad people think that highly of our team but we’ve got six new players joining six returning players who went to the NIT, minus their leading scorer [Meeks],” Calipari said last Friday at St. John’s. “It’s a whole new style of play, a whole new attitude, changing the culture. [And] still throwing a tough schedule at them.

“If we’re as good as everybody says it’s gonna be a helluva run because we got a lot that we’re facing.”

Still, Calipari agrees that Kansas, which won the NCAA title in 2008 and returns a stacked team including point guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich, should be the preseason No. 1.

“I think they deserve it for what they’ve done,” he said. “I think people are guessing about us, but I appreciate the respect they show for the program by doing that. They’re showing respect, and I hope they’re all right.”

There have been concerns about the academic status of some of the freshmen, but Calipari said “John Wall is really doing well academically.”

Kentucky has already held six practices for the returning players to learn Cal’s dribble-drive offense, but the “six new guys haven’t seen it at all.”

The loss of Meeks, who averaged a team-high 23.7 points per game, detracts from Kentucky’s outside shooting prowess, and Calipari said 6-7 sophomore guard Darius Miller will see “more minutes” as a result.

In Wall, who was the subject of a complicated and drawn out recruiting proess, and Eric Bledsoe, Calipari landed two of the top point guard prospects in the nation.

He said he plans to play of them together at times.

“Eric Bledose and John Wall play together now and give you a ridiculously fast team,” he said.

In his offense, Calipari likes having multiple point guards on the floor and said you can really never have enough.

“I’ve done it before,” he said. “When we got Chris Douglas-Roberts [at Memphis], we also got Antonio Anderson…We’ve gotten too specialized, where you can’t play two guards. You gotta play one guard. Why?

“I’d like to play three point guards. This offense with three point guards, as long as they’re big enough to guard other positions. Eric Bledsoe is 6-foot in bare feet…but he jumps 40 inches or more. So wait a minute, how small does he play? He plays 6-5.

“So now all of a sudden you got two point guards that play big. Well, let’s get another point guard and we’ll play real big. Now you’re playing against zones, you got more playmakers.

“We’ll continue to do that,” he said. “Big guards mean they play big. They’re long, they jump, they’re athletic, they’re not afraid to go inside. They play around the rim.

“Derrick Rose is 6-2, 6-3, but he played about 6-6. And I had a big guard in Tyreke [Evans] who learned the position as the year went on and he was fine. We could’ve played with three Tyrekes at one time.”

If Wall jumps to the NBA after next season and Bledsoe returns, Calipari would still like to bring in multiple point guards for the 2010-11 season and beyond.

That’s why the ‘Cats are involved with Joe Jackson, Doron Lamb, Josh Selby, Cory Joseph and Kyrie Irving (pictured below).

“We’re recruiting point guards,” Calipari said. “If I thought we were losing both point guards, I’d bring in two. Even if we weren’t, maybe we’ll look at a guy and try to  figure out where he can fit. We’re just finalizing all that, what we’re gonna do. But I do know this: If you want to win and you want to win big, and I’ve been on both sides of it, you have good point guard play and have as many of them as you can have and play them all.”

Up front, the ‘Cats have the 6-9 Patterson, the 6-11 Cousins and the 6-10 Daniel Orton, who initially committed to Billy Gillespie and remained with UK after Gillispie was fired.

“I think Daniel Orton and DeMarcus Cousins can play together, too,” Calipari said. “There’s all kinds of different combinations you can use. Two point guards, two big guys. I’m anxious to see Patrick and Daniel when they come back and see where they are in their training and conditioning and all that stuff. The freshmen that we have on the campus really have a great base now conditioning, weight-training, skill. They’ve played a lot of pickup, which means they’re learning to play with each other.“

Kentucky is also set to play in a loaded SEC East that also features Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida and South Carolina. USC and UT both went 10-6 last year, while Florida was 9-7 and Vandy was 8-8.

“It’s ridiculous,” Calipari said. “How about South Carolina beating us twice last year, they told me. And you still have Vanderbilt, who Kevin Stallings might be one of the best coaches in the country. And he had a young team and they’re all back. They could be an NCAA Sweet 16 team. That’s how good they could be.

“Mississippi State [in the SEC West] has everybody back. [Jarvis] Varnado’s back so Mississippi State’s taken a step up. I think what you’re gonna find out is, the league could be a six-bid league. It’s based on the fact that veterans are coming back and teams are reloading more than regrouping.”

Still, the expectations are sky high, as evidenced by the fact that Calipari currently has more than 530,000 followers on Twitter (compared to the 800 or so I have).

“The fans the last four or five years, they’ve kind of been blah,” Calipari said. “I don’t know why. I wasn’t at Kentucky. Right now they’re so excited it’s ridiculous. At some point we’ll calm them down, but what people realize is [we have] returning players who were in the NIT, freshmen coming in who don’t understand and all of them together have never played this offense.

“I hope we’re the best team in the country but I have not coached them. I haven’t been on the floor with them. “I haven’t watched them so I don’t know.”

TOBIAS HARRIS VISITING KENTUCKY

Speaking of Kentucky, Long Island forward Tobias Harris is currently visiting the school on his way to the Nike Global Challenge in Portland, Ore.

“We are planning an unofficial visit today at Kentucky. We have decided on speaking with coach Cal to see what Kentucky is like before we narrow our list down,” Torrel Harris wrote in an email. “My college coach spoke very highly about coach Cal.”

Kentucky was not on Harris’ original list, but  Torrel said Kentucky, Memphis, UCLA and Florida were trying to get in the mix.

I guess they have.

“Just landed plane was so small couldent sleep at all lol,” Tobias said via his Twitter feed.

Harris plans to cut his long list at the end of the month.

Read my feature on Tobias here.

PREVIOUS COACH’S CORNERS:

Arizona’s Sean Miller

Kansas’ Bill Self

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Walker, the former Manhattan Rice star, averaged 8.9 points and 3.5 assists as a frosh on a team that made the Final Four.

If he has a big year this season paired in the backcourt with Jerome Dyson, it’s possible that Walker could go to the NBA after his sophomore season.

That is why Calhoun is in Las Vegas scouting a couple of high-profile point guards in Joe Jackson and Josh Selby, who recently de-committed from Tennessee while UT coach Bruce Pearl was in Israel coaching Team USA in the Maccabiah Games. UConn is also involved with Kyrie Irving and Brandon Knight.

Playing at the adidas 64, Selby told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com that his commitment to Tennessee was premature and that he had only visited Louisville and Tennessee.

Jackson is a native of Memphis whom many think will end up playing for Josh Pastner with the Tigers.

“That’s all he’s been preaching since he got to Memphis, even when he was an assistant coach, that I’m the No. 1 guy,” Jackson told the Memphis Commercial Appeal of Pastner. “He’s relentless. He doesn’t give up. He wants you to commit right on the spot every time he talks to you. That’s how he is. I’m just speechless because he wants me so bad. He comes harder than anybody.”

But Jackson told Goodman these schools were also involved: Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas, UConn, Texas, Marquette, Indiana and Duke.

Jackson told Goodman that Kentucky coach John Calipari told him he’s his top point guard recruit.

Calipari has John Wall and Eric Bledsoe in the fold for this year, but Wall is expected to jump after one year.

Kentucky, like UConn, is recruiting  Selby, Jackson, Knight and Irving.

“You know whoever commits first is going to be the main guy,” Jackson told Goodman. “If they want me, they’ll wait. Calipari says he wants me real bad and I’m his top guy – and I’m just going on what he tells me.”

Irving, meantime, is looking for immediate playing time as a frosh, so UConn could fit the bill, but only if Walker leaves.

St. Patrick head coach Kevin Boyle told me he hears most from Duke, Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, Seton Hall, Texas A&M and Georgia Tech.

“Those are the ones Kyrie speaks to me most about. They’re all working really hard to get him,” Boyle said

“It’s clear with all those schools that he would have an excellent chance to go in and compete for a starting job right away.

As for Knight, he, along with Harrison Barnes, is not in Vegas, but is expected to compete in the Nike Global Games next month, according to Goodman.

RUBIO PLANS TO PART WITH SPANISH CLUB

Ricky Rubio plans to part ways with Spanish basketball club DKV Joventut even if the Minnesota Timberwolves cannot reach a deal to bring their first-round draft pick to the NBA.

Timberwolves President David Kahn was in Spain this week to try and help the fifth overall pick negotiate a buyout of his contract with Joventut. Rubio is at odds with his boyhood club over a buyout clause that could cost the 18-year-old point guard as much as $6.6 million. The NBA’s collective bargaining rules limit the Timberwolves’ contribution to $500,000.

Regardless of whether Rubio makes the trip across the Atlantic next season, he won’t be playing at Joventut.

“I want to continue with the club but, after everything that’s happened, I don’t think they’re too comfortable having me in their squad,” Rubio said.

Knicks GM Donnie Walsh has coveted Rubio, but it remains unclear if the Knicks have the pieces to pry him from Minnesota.

SHOULDER SIDELINES BLAKE GRIFFIN

Los Angeles Clippers’ rookie forward Blake Griffin will spend the next three to four weeks resting a strain to his right shoulder which he incurred in the third game of the Clippers’ five game Las Vegas Summer League schedule last week.

Griffin, named the League’s Most Outstanding Player, went on to average 19.2 points and 10.8 rebounds.

Griffin will maintain his normal lower body training and conditioning regimen, and will be further evaluated regularly. He was examined and diagnosed Tuesday by Clippers’ team physician Dr. Steven Shimoyama. A second examination today by Los Angeles-based specialist Dr. Lewis Yocum confirmed the earlier diagnosis and suggested protocol.

As a precaution, Griffin will be held out of the USA Basketball National Team Mini-Camp to which he was invited and which starts today in Las Vegas.

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(AP contributed)

NEPTUNE, N.J. –

“I received a call asking if I was interested in a player and the call did not come from his high school coach or AAU coach, but rather from an agent,” the coach recalled.

The coach says he ultimately turned the player down, but the call reveals an inside glimpse into how college basketball really works.

More and more, elite high school prospects, or those who are especially tall, are “handled” not by high school or AAU coaches, but by NBA agents or “runners,”  people who work for agents in return for something else.

If a high school or college student-athlete has a written or verbal agreement with an NBA agent, they automatically lose their eligibility. An agent can serve as a prospect’s “advisor,” but the advisors can’t speak on their behalf to other professional entities.

Yet how prevalent is this?

This same coach said he spoke to another former coach of a prominent national program — one that has won multiple NCAA championships — who said “he has to deal with agents more than AAU coaches when he has to talk to the people close to top recruits.”

The coach we spoke to added: “I don’t think this is happening with most Division 1 recruits. I don’t think it’s happening with people who are underneath the elite level, but I think with a truly elite recruit who is probably going to end up in the NBA, they definitely have agents talking to them at an early age and advising them. Then a college coach has to talk with anyone who’s advising a player. They’re part of the process, and it’s a natural evolution.”

The coach added: “They gain influence [with the recruit]. Once they gain influence, they have to be spoken to.”

Why does this type of thing go on?

“I think it’s part of the one-and-done rule,” the first coach said. “Kids that are highly likely to be NBA players clearly stand out. Agents understand this. I think they often recruit them earlier than college coaches do, and because they don’t necessarily have restricted access they can get close relationships very early on.

“Also clearly the less fortunate a family is, the more receptive they probably would be to someone who wants to help them.”

How exactly does it work?

“It’s more [the agent saying], ‘You’re going to sign with me [when you go pro]. Let me get you through the next year because I know your family’s having a hard time and I’ll help advise you on choosing the right school,” the coach said.

This doesn’t happen with every elite recruit. By all accounts, Lance Stephenson’s recruitment was handled strictly by his father, and Xavier Henry’s recruitment was handled by his family.

But John Wall’s recruitment was handled in part by Brian Clifton, a former licensed sports agent. Some expect Clifton to re-up as an agent and serve as Wall’s agent should he enter the 2010 NBA Draft.

Clifton told Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com last year that he stopped being an agent to focus on his AAU program D-One Sports.

“Absolutely, I was a licensed agent,” Clifton said. “But what I started and what I had given my life to was this [D-One Sports] program, and I was about to watch it fall apart. Obviously, I couldn’t let that happen. So at that time — after having not signed any clients — I figured that [the D-One Sports] program was the most important thing for me. … And that was the end of the agent thing.”

In a separate but related development, several coaches said it’s also not uncommon for agents to “funnel money” to specific AAU programs in return for influence with those players down the line when they become eligible to play professionally.

“Just the way shoe companies sponsor AAU programs hoping that someday they’ll wear those shoes,” one coach said. “It’s possible that an agent could sponsor an AAU program hoping that their players will choose them.”

Baylor head coach Scott Drew did hire Dwon Clifton, Brian’s brother, to his staff and many expected that Wall would ultimately follow Clifton there.

Of course, Wall ended up at Kentucky but the tactic Drew used is perfectly legal. Many college programs have hired people with influence over a prospect. Kansas hired Mario Chalmers’ father. Kansas State hired Michael Beasley’s AAU coach. Memphis hired Dajuan Wagner’s father and Arizona State hired James Harden’s high school coach.

One common conception is that some college coaches are running around with bags of money paying off players.

And while former USC coach Tim Floyd is alleged to have paid $1,000 in cash to Rodney Guillory, an alleged runner for NBA agent Bill Duffy, in order to land former USC and current NBA guard O.J. Mayo, the coach we spoke with said it’s rare for college coaches to pay for players.

“No, I don’t think college coaches are paying,” he said. “That’s the thing. I think things have shifted with elite athletes where I don’t think colleges are cheating to get elite players. I think that in some cases agents are paying the players and taking that part of the recruiting process out.”

And, in fact, that is exactly what the NCAA is investigating in the Mayo case. Guillory is alleged to have provided Mayo with improper benefits via Duffy. Mayo then initially signed with Duffy, but switched allegiances after the story became public.

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Also, here’s a good story by Pete Thamel about how Ed O’Bannon is suing the NCAA on behalf of athletes seeking compensation for the use of their images and likenessess in TV ads, video games and apparel. Sonny Vaccaro approached O’Bannon about leading the suit.

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.