“The only place I have found that to me was overpowering was Kansas,” Pitino said Thursday on the Big East con call. “Now, I have not taken a team to Duke. There really is not any place I’ve entered where it’s, ‘God, that’s just incredible, what an advantage that is.’”

He added, “There are some overpowering places, in terms of the amount of people, like Rupp Arena’s overpowering.”

Just ask Baylor about Kansas.

The Jayhawks beat the previously unbeaten Bears 92-72 at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night, becoming the lone unbeaten team in Big 12 league play.

Pitino was asked by a Syracuse writer about going into the Joyce Center at Notre Dame because the No. 1 Orange play there Saturday.

“I don’t think the Joyce is any more difficult than any other place, to be honest with you,” Pitino said. “The only place I’ve found [is Kansas] and that could’ve been I was playing with four walk-ons and lost by 50 points, so maybe that was the reason I felt that way.”

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Pitino added that he’s unsure if Kyle Kuric (ankle) would play Saturday at Pitt. “I don’t think we have an identity because we’ve had so many different lineups, so right now we’re just trying to survive and win and we’ll keep on doing that,” he said.

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“They started recruiting real hard but I don’t know if I’m going to visit yet,” Parker told SNY.tv by phone Tuesday morning, confirming comments he originally made to Scout.com. “But it’s a question mark there.”

Parker said Kansas has been involved for “not a long time,” but he is considering them along with Duke, UCLA, Ohio State, Memphis, Georgetown and Georgia.

Asked if his recruitment was wide open, Parker said,”Yes.”

Kansas has a strong tradition of producing quality big men, from Danny Manning down through Marcus and Markieff Morris and Thomas Robinson.

“They always produce great bigs,” Parker said. “They do a great job with their team and they’re just an all-around good program and they have good history.”

Parker reiterated that he’s uncertain if he will take an official to Kansas.

“I have no clue yet,” he said. “My parents are talking about it, though.”

Parker is currently at the City of Palms Classic in Fort Meyers, Fla., where his team lost Saturday to Ricardo Gathers and Reserve (La.) Riverside despite Parker’s 14 points and 6 boards.

He drew national attention last Thursday when put up 29 and 10 in a loss to Oak Hill, 72-68, at Morehouse College’s Forbes Arena.

“I’m playing OK,” he said. “Me and our team are really just getting a feel for each other. We just gotta pick up our play.”

As far as his recruitment, he is still mulling several options.

As for Georgia he said, “Georgia’s just Georgia. It’s the hometown school. It’s a good school.”

With regard to Ohio State, Parker said, “Ohio State’s a great school. They’re playing great right now. They’re bench is starting to produce and if Jared [Sullinger] stays healthy” they’re tough.

Parker said he and Sullinger have “been cool. I met him at LeBron Camp. He’s a cool guy.”

In terms of UCLA, Jordan Adams of Oak Hill and Kyle Anderson of St. Anthony have both been recruiting Parker to Westwood. (Read more about that here.)

Shabazz Muhammad, the consensus No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2012, is also being courted by both UCLA and Duke and told FiveStarBAsketball.com he and Parker would do well together.

“Me and him in the same program would be a really good thing and we would win a lot of games,” Muhammad, who will take an official visit to Duke March 3 for the North Carolina game, said of Parker.

With several options in front of him, Parker has no precise timetable on a decision.

“I think I’m going to decide by the spring, of course,” he said, “but basically just play it by ear.”

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Tyshawn Taylor 

The Kansas guard from St. Anthony High School hurt the knee early last week but played through the injury in the 13th-ranked Jayhawks’ 78-67 victory over No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. After the game, coach Bill Self disclosed the torn meniscus and said Taylor also had a sprained MCL in the same knee.

“I spoke with the doctors and it went as well as expected,” Self said Sunday. “He will be up and around tomorrow morning and will be back in the shortest time possible. The time for recovery depends on swelling and how he reacts to rehab.”

Taylor is the Jayhawks’ leading returning scorer and is averaging 15.9 points and 4.7 assists. He had nine points and a career-high 13 assists against the Buckeyes.

“Certain things that I do, like planting off my right foot and jumping off my right foot, I feel it, but I wasn’t really affected by it the last two games,” Taylor said Saturday. “I’ve been playing with this, I’m fine. Surgery’s going to make it better. I’ll be back 100 percent.”

Self said there were discussions about having surgery last Tuesday, shortly after the injury happened, but Taylor said he would rather play through pain than miss the Ohio State game.

After consulting with the Kansas medical staff, it was decided that Taylor couldn’t do any more harm to the knee by playing. It became a matter of tolerance, and Self said he never cared to ask how much pain Taylor was feeling because he didn’t want to hear the answer.

“I can get on Tyshawn for turning it over. I can get on him for not making some plays, which I think is conducive to being an extension of the head coach, but I can’t get on him for toughness,” Self said. “He’s been hurt, and he goes out there and gives his body up.

“I think our fans should really appreciate him playing nicked up.”

(The AP contributed)

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He could miss a “handful of games,” the paper said.

During practice Monday, Taylor sprained his medial collateral ligament and tore his meniscus.

He played Tuesday against Long Beach State and was given the option of having the surgery Wednesday, but Taylor declined.

“I wasn’t missing this game,” Taylor told the Star. “No discussion at all.”

Ohio State star Jared Sullinger did sit out the game with back spasms, but Taylor, the former St. Anthony star, insisted on playing.

“I can get on Ty, because he will turn it over every now and then,” Kansas coach Bill Self said, “but where would we be without him? We don’t win tonight unless he plays. I think everyone should appreciate how bad he wanted to be out there. He never once complained, never once said he was hurt.”

Photo: K.C. Star

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Andrew White is headed to Kansas.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound small forward from the Chester (VA.) Miller School chose the Jayhawks Friday over N.C. State, West Virginia, Louisville, Texas, Georgetown and Richmond.

“I think it was a huge opportunity there to play and I have a great relationship with the staff,” White told his local NBC affiliate. “Coach Dooley, Bill Self, they’ve been good to me. And seeing them play on TV many times, I just see an opportunity to play and their style fits my strengths.”

“He has improved the most in one year’s time span (of anybody he’s ever seen),” Team Loaded coach Ty White told the Lawrence Journal-World. “He can stroke it out of this world. His body is built like a man. He is putting it (ball) on the deck a lot more while rebounding it very well for his position. He plays both ends of the court.”

White joins signed bigs Perry Ellis, Zach Peters and Landen Lucas and committed guard Anrio Adams in KU’s 2012 class.

For more on KU’s 2012 recruiting targets, read the feature on FiveStarBasketball.com.

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JaKarr.

Chris

And Julius.

These are just four big-time names that Kansas is going after to help build their program going forward.

“I’m guessing Thomas Robinson’s gonna go [to the NBA],” Shay Wildeboor, who covers Kansas recruiting for JayhawkSlant.com, told Five Star Basketball. “They’re going to lose Tyshawn [Taylor]. They need guys that guys score from the wing. They need power forward guys. They need guards and forwards, or at least wings.”

Click here to read the full story at FiveStarBasketball.com.

And check out the Five Star Big Board on Kansas here.

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Isaiah Lewis

The two talented prospects are so tight, they are talking about potentially teaming up in college.

“All the coaches that’s really recruiting me know I’m best friends with Brannen Greene from Georgia, so I think me and Brannen may end up at the same school,” the 6-foot-3, 155-pound Lewis told SNY.tv. “He really likes Kansas as well as I do. Me and him could end up at Kansas if that’s possible.”

Lewis said Louisville, Memphis, Florida State, Florida and St. John’s were also possible destinations for both players, but said Memphis, Louisville and Kansas “are recruiting me the hardest right now.”

Lewis said he hopes to visit Kansas unofficially during the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Miss., over MLK weekend.

“If everything goes accordingly, I will probably visit Kansas while my high school team is down there,” he said.

He’s also “trying to figure out a date to get out to Louisville and also Memphis.”

Lewis plays alongside UConn signee Omar Calhoun on a stacked Christ the King team that is coached by Joe Arbitello. This year, former Christ the King stars Erick Barkley (St. John’s) and Khalid Rheeves (Arizona) are helping Arbitello out, according to the New York Post.

“With them being McDonald’s All-Americans and being in the NBA, things they say we’re gonna listen — point blank, period,” Lewis told the Post.

While Calhoun is a pure scorer, Lewis is scoring point who can create for others and get his own shot.

“He’s one of these guys that can score and be a point guard,” Arbitello told SNY.tv.

Lewis said he and Greene became friendly over the summer and began talking about playing together in college.

“He’s more of a two/three,” Lewis said. “He’s 6-5, 6-6, a really good shooter. I got a chance to kick it with him at the Super Showcase in Orlando. We really like each other’s game. He came to some of our games, I watched him play. We think we can do well in the backcourt together.”

Kansas is one school that’s interested in both guys and will have need for both come 2013.

“Coach [Bill] Self and Coach [Joe] Dooley, I spoke to them right before they played Duke last week at the Maui Invitational,” Lewis said.

“They’re looking for me to come in and make the big plays right away. Coach Self saw me a play a couple times this summer. Coach Dooley came [to] see me at my school work out. I think I can come in and play right away at the point guard spot.”

Kansas is also involved with several other elite 2013 lead guards, including Tyler Ennis of St. Benedict’s Prep.

“He’s more of point guard so I’m more like a point guard so I really think I don’t want to go to the same school as him, though,” Lewis said. “But if a school can make it work starting two guards, maybe something like that could work out but I don’t see me and him going in the same direction as me and Brannen Greene.”

Lewis plans to take some visits and go through the process with his family, but said he could pull the trigger when a decision feels right.

“If it’s a good fit for me I could commit as earry as next week,” he said. “But I’m not going to rush. I’m going to make sure I’m wanted. Me and my dad have to talk with the coaching staff and go visit.

“The timetable is really whenever the fit is right for me.”

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Kansas.

Kentucky.

Michigan State.

Sounds like enough history and talent to stock a Final Four, doesn’t it?

Yet when these four teams get together Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, it will take place in the inaugural Champions Classic — not the Final Four.

“These are some of the premier programs in all of college basketball, not only currently, but in the history of the sport,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.

The four programs have advanced to 23 Final Fours in the past 20 years and won a combined total of 16 NCAA titles: Kentucky (7), Duke (4), Kansas (3) and MSU (2).

While the season has just begun, the games will feature some intriguing storylines, and several of the top players in college basketball.

First and foremost, history will be on the line in the first game when Duke plays Michigan State.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski needs one victory to move past his mentor Bob Knight as the winningest coach in Division 1 men’s basketball history. They are currently tied at 902 victories.

“I’m good about not making it that big of a thing, even though I know it’s a big thing,” Coach K said after tying the record Saturday. “I’m not minimizing it, but it really will happen (in time), and the development of my team will only happen right now. I’ve got to do that (develop his team). That’s just what you’re supposed to do.

“It’s kind of hard to believe, really.”

Michigan State, meanwhile, opened its season Friday with a 67-55 loss to No. 1 North Carolina in a game — an event, really — played aboard the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson.

Talk about a tough non-conference schedule.

The Spartans face the prospect of opening the season at 0-2 if they fall to the Blue Devils at the Garden.

The Kentucky-Kansas game will feature John Calipari matching wits against Bill Self in a coaching rematch of the 2008 NCAA title game, in which Kansas beat Calipari’s Memphis Tigers.

“I thought it was a great idea and I think it’s great playing on neutral sites,” Self said. “To come back to Madison Square Garden will be great with three other unbelievable programs. I’ll bet each of these programs will sell whatever ticket allotment they have — 4 to 5,000.”

Kentucky players Terrence Jones and Stacey Poole were the victims of a drunk-driving car accident last week, yet Jones came off the bench Friday night in a 108-58 rout of Marist and had 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Poole still has not played this season as he weighs whether or not to transfer.

The games will also feature four of the top eight players in the ESPNU Class of 2011 rankings in Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (No. 1), Duke’s Austin Rivers (No. 3), Kentucky’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (No. 4) and Kentucky’s Marquis Teague (No. 8).

Gilchrist, who starred at St. Patrick, will be making a homecoming, along with sophomore guard Doron Lamb of Queens.

Kansas senior guard and St. Anthony product Tyshawn Taylor also returns home.

The event will change locations for the next years.

In 2012, Michigan State plays Kansas and Duke meets Kentucky at the Georgia Dome.

In 2013, Michigan State faces Kentucky and Duke plays Kansas at the United Center in Chicago.

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“I will be attending the University of Kansas next year for basketball,” he told Alex Kline of The Recruit Scoop.

Lucas also considered Washington, California, Tennessee and Stanford.

“He’s a skilled player, very good hands,” New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski said. “Has to get a little more physical.

“He has very good hands and is very skilled. He has to tone his body a bit. More than anything, his feet have to get a little quicker.

“He’s certainly not a three man, but he can shoot from the elbow in.

He joins 6-8 Perry Ellis and 6-9 Zach Peters in Kansas’ 2012 class.

Kansas comes to New York Tuesday to face Kentucky in the Champions Cup at Madison Square Garden.

(Photo courtesy The Recruit Scoop)

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