Josh Selby

The 6-2 senior point guard from Baltimore (Md.) Lake Clifton lists Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona and UConn as his final four, but Tennessee coaches Bruce Pearl and Steve Forbes recently went to watch him play.

“At one time Josh was going to announce his decision when he finished his visits,” Selby’s mother, Maeshon Witherspoon, told Rivals.com. “Now we are waiting ’til the Jordan Game, so we can see how all the teams play in the tournament. It has nothing to do with us being concerned with what Brandon [Knight] is doing.”

The 6-3 Knight is the nation’s No. 1 recruit according to Rivals and lists  Kansas, Kentucky, UConn, Florida and Miami.

His father, Efrem, told me Sunday his son still hadn’t decided but would do so over the next few weeks.

Dave Beckerman, Knight’s coach at Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest, said he expected many of the top players to discuss their options with one another during the McDonald’s All-American Game March 31 in Columbus, Ohio.

Selby, Knight, Cory Joseph and Doron Lamb — the top four unsigned guards in the nation — will all be together and presumably will talk about their college options.

That group will also reconvene April 17 in New York, when Selby will announce.

Coast to Coast Recruiting & Season Updates

By Alex Kline

The high school hoops season is coming down to the wire and what a great few months it has been. With April signing periods creeping up on recruits, visits are being made and decisions are coming. In this article we will profile some players who are weighing their options all around the country.

Perry Ellis, 2012, Heights (KS)

Perry’s Mom, Fonda Ellis, On Her Son’s Offers and List: He has six offers. In order by who offered first Kansas, Memphis, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Wichita State and Kansas State. The others that stay in close touch are UNC, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Arizona. They all stay in touch with coach.  He has over 40 colleges sending him info; not any order just started making a list.  I did the same thing for my daughter.

Fonda Ellis On When Her Son Might Commit: He said when he is ready. It could be his junior year or the beginning of senior year.

Fonda Ellis on Whether Location Would Be a Factor: We have family in S.C. that would love him to go on the East Coast.  He really doesn’t say anything about location he just wants the right fit for him.

Kadeem Jack, 2010, Rice (NY)

On His Current List: Arizona, Arkansas, UConn, Georgetown, Providence, Miami, Florida, Kentucky, UCLA, California, Seton Hall, and West Virginia. All of the schools have offered except for Kentucky.

On Rumors That Arizona Is His Favorite: I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite. It’s the only school I have visited. As of now they kind of have the edge over other schools.

On His Only Visit to Arizona: It was a great experience. The fans and the whole environment was great.

On other possible visits: I’m not really sure yet. I’m still in the process of figuring it all out.

On When He Will Commit: I will most likely commit to a school in April.

To read the Q&A in its entirety, go here.

Todd Mayo, 2010, Germantown (TN) Memphis Grizzlies Star OJ Mayo’s Younger Brother

On His Current List: Memphis, Tennessee, Missouri, and West Virginia

On When He Will Commit: I will commit at the end of the season.

Myles Davis, 2011, St. Peter’s Prep (NJ)

On His Current List: UConn, George Mason, Georgetown, Rutgers, Providence, Seton Hall, Wake Forest, Virginia, Maryland, UMass, St. Joe’s, Marquette, and some more. There is no favorite.

On The Storybook Season: It’s going good for now. I mean, we got this far and were trying to go farther. So the job isn’t done yet. The season is still going on so I don’t wanna curse anything yet.

On Potential Visits: Not yet. I haven’t really done anything about the schools. I’m thinking more about States. That’s the main focus.

On When He Will Commit: I will probably commit before my senior season.

Dwayne Polee, 2010, Westchester (CA)

On His Current List: Georgia, Gonzaga, Arizona, USC, Rutgers, and UNLV with no favorite.

On When He Will Commit: I plan on making my commitment in late March or early April.

Gorgui Dieng, 2010, Huntington Prep (WV), Soon To Be Louisville Commit

On His Intentions of Committing to Louisville: I like the people, Coach Pitino, Walter McCarty. He was like 17 years old when he was being recruited by Pitino; now they work together. That shows it can improve a friendship and family at Louisville.

On When He Will Commit: I will not commit until March 15^th. I will most likely commit then.

For more on Gorgui’s potential commitment, go here.

Nigel Williams-Goss, 2013, Findlay Prep (NV)

On His Current List: UConn, Mississippi State, Washington State, UNLV, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, Hawaii, Washington, and Tulane.

On If He Has Plans To Commit Despite His Age: No I’m just taking it one step at a time. I’m more focused on winning now.

St. Patrick’s Seniors Reflect upon Abrupt Ending

Chase Plummer, 2010, UMBC Commit: It is unbelievable. I didn’t think that a great season and my high school career would end like that.

Kyrie Irving, 2010, Duke Commit: It’s sad because all these guys are family and we here at St. Patrick’s are built on brotherhood. This season was really special because although it was my senior season, I’ve become so close with all my teammates. It’s heartbreaking the way the season had to end but now all of the seniors can move on to their endeavors that are waiting for them. I love St. Patrick’s, from the coaching staff teachers and my brothers.

**Also check out this recent interview with Kyrie below.

(Photo courtesy Baltimore Sun)

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Duke-bound point guard Kyrie Irving and Western Kentucky commit Derrick Gordon combined for 25 points to lead St. Patrick over Union 64-47 in the semifinals of the Union County tournament Wednesday night in Elizabeth, N.J.

Michael Gilchrist added 9 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks.

The Celtics are in the final for the 18th straight year and will face Tyrone Johnson and Plainfield Saturday at 3 at Kean College.

“That’s a big-time game. I know everybody wants to see me and Kyrie match up. Everything is on, the lights are on. Throw the ball up and I’m coming out to play hard,” Johnson, a junior point guard who dropped 21 points as Plainfield beat Linden, 55-41, told Mike Kinney of The Star-Ledger.

The question is: Will that be the last game of the season for Irving and the Celtics?

The school filed a civil suit Wednesday in federal court in Newark seeking an injunction to overturn the NJSIAA’s decision to ban the team from the state tournament after coach Kevin Boyle admitted to holding six out-of-season workouts last October.

Federal District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh has scheduled a hearing on St. Patrick’s that has now been moved to Monday at 9 a.m. from Friday at 3. It remains unclear if Cavanaugh will rule from the bench at that point.
The state tournament begins Monday but the New Jersey Non-Public B bracket doesn’t begin until Tuesday.

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The complaint alleges that the NJSIAA violated St. Patrick’s student-athletes’ rights to due process, privacy and the free exercise of religion by ignoring its own regulations, entering the school’s gym under false pretenses, taking secret video of students on school property and disregarding NJSIAA precedents.

Steven J. Timko, the NJSIAA executive director; Patrick J. Reilly, a retired New Jersey police captain who took the videos while working as a private investigator for the NJSIAA; and Reilly’s Signature Investigative Group were named defendants in the suit

St. Patrick Coach Kevin Boyle, who admitted that he attended pre-season open gym sessions in violation of NJSIAA rules, has served the three-game suspension imposed upon him and is not a party to the lawsuit.

Federal District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh has scheduled a hearing on St. Patrick’s application for 3 p.m. Friday afternoon. It remains unclear if Cavanaugh will rule from the bench on Friday.

Kevin Marino, attorney for St. Patrick, declined comment.

NJSIAA attorney Mike Herbert said the state was in the process of getting its papers together.

“We’re trying to respond as quickly as we can,” Herbert said. “We’re going to have our papers to Judge Cavanaugh on Friday morning and the hearing will be conducted at 3 p.m.”

The Celtics (22-3) feature Duke-bound point guard Kyrie Irving and junior wing Michael Gilchrist, the top prospect nationally in the Class of 2011, and are ranked No. 8 in the USA Today Super 25. They are the defending New Jersey Tournament of Champions winner and would have been the favorite to repeat had they not been banned by the NJSIAA on Feb. 12.

“In reaching and upholding its decision to exclude the student-athletes on Plaintiff’s team from competing in the state basketball tournament, the NJSIAA, a state actor, violated Plaintiff’s fundamental constitutional and civil rights, including its right to procedural due process,” the suit reads. “Specifically, in addition to violating Plaintiff’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and its First and Fourteenth Amendment right to the free exercise of religion, the NJSIAA also violated Plaintiff’s Fourteenth Amendment right to procedural due process.”

Paterson Catholic is currently the top seed in the New Jersey Non-Public North B bracket, with Jersey City St. Anthony No. 2. The bracket would have to be re-seeded if St. Patrick is admitted to the tournament.

St. Patrick principal Joe Picaro hopes his team will be reinstated.

“The best case is that the judge says that they [the NJSIAA] were out of line and they were wrong and he throws out their findings,” Picaro said.

St. Patrick faces Union in the Union County semifinals Wednesday night at The Dunn Center in Elizabeth, with the winner to face the Plainfield-Linden winner in Saturday’s championship at Kean College.

IRVING, HARRIS NAMED NAISMITH FINALISTS

(Photo courtesy Star-Ledger)

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Alex Kline of BoxofMess.com continues to put in work interviewing many of the top high school prospects in the New York metropolitan area.

In this piece, Kline gets Burlington (N.J.) Life Center stars Dion Waiters and LaQuinton Ross talking about their future goals and plans.

The 6-foot-8 Ross has already been compared to Kevin Durant by Burlington coach Wilson Arroyo.

The junior transferred from Murrah (Miss.) High in order to play a national schedule against better competition.

Here he lists these schools among his possible choices: Villanova, Georgetown, Syracuse, UConn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Florida and Texas.

Asked if he might join Waiters at Syracuse, Ross said: “It’s  a possibility.”

Asked about his visit schedule, he said: “I probably plan on taking some this summer…I’m going to narrow [my list] down to the top five next summer. Top five, Syracuse will be in there.”

As for the 6-3 Waiters, he has been following Syracuse’s progress this year and says, “I hope they win a national championship.”

Waiters joins a Top 3 recruiting class that includes 7-foot Fabricio de Melo of the Sagemont (Fla.) High School; C.J. Fair, a 6-8 forward from Baltimore who attends Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H.; and Baye Moussa Keita, a 6-9 forward at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy.

“They all bring something to the table,” he said.

HARRIS REACHES 2,000 POINTS

Congrats to Tennessee-bound forward Tobias Harris for scoring his 2,000th career point Tuesday night in an 80-63 win over Copiague in a Suffolk Class AA quarterfinal.

According to Newsday, the 6-8 Harris reached the milestone on a layup with two minutes left in the third quarter, and became the 11th Long Islander to accomplish the feat.

“It means a lot to me,” Harris, who has 2,008 points and added 17 rebounds, told Newsday. “It’s a great step in my career and it’ll be nice to look back on, but for now I’m just worried about us winning states.”

Half Hollow Hills West coach Bill Mitaritonna credited Harris’ work ethic for his success.

“He downplays everything because he’s only concerned about the team,” Mitaritonna, whose team improved to 20-0 and will face Bay Shore in the semifinals Sunday at Farmingdale State, told Newsday. “He works when nobody’s around. Before the season he was waking up at 5:30 a.m. to run, he does his lifting and speed drills after games and he’ll come back to school at night and take 1,000 shots. He’s a special player and that’s why he’s a McDonald’s All-American.”

IRVING’S CAREER WINDING DOWN

Kyrie Irving’s high school career is winding down.

Because St. Patrick was banned from the New Jersey state tournament, the Duke-bound Irving can play only two more games with the Celtics.

Top-seeded St. Patrick meets Union Wednesday night in one Union County semifinal at 7:30 at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth, while No. 2 Plainfield (20-2) takes on No. 3 Linden (16-5) in the other.

“It’s really starting to hit me..i have 2 games left in my season…73 more points to a 1000 with st patricks..I’m gonna miss these guys..h&h,” Irving wrote on his Twitter page.

The championship game is Saturday at 3 at Kean University, and will be shown Sunday at 9 on MSG.

FREE THROWS

Desmond Hubert, a 6-9, 200-pound junior center from New Egypt (N.J.) High, has offers from Villanova, Pittsburgh, Penn State, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Rutgers and Seton Hall, according to Mike Quick of MSG. Hubert already has more than 1,000 points.

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UNION, N.J.

Joseph, a 6-foot-3 senior guard from Findlay (Nev.) Prep ranked No. 3 among point guards in 2010, was not at the game but he is considering both UConn and Villanova, along with Texas, Minnesota and UNLV.

“[I'm just gonna commit] whenever I feel 100 percent. . . . I am not sure if I am gonna pick out of the [full list of] five. I have no set time,” Joseph told Alex Schwartz of Rivals.com while playing this past weekend at the Primetime Shootout in Trenton, N.J.

Also at the Primetime was Joseph’s friend and fellow Canadian, Myck Kabongo, a junior guard at St. Benedict’s Prep.

Kabongo said he and Tristan Thompson talk to Joseph “every day” about following them to Texas. The 6-8 Thompson, Joseph’s Findlay Prep teammate, has signed with Texas for 2010 and Kabongo is verbally committed for 2011.

“Every day, every day,” Kabongo said Friday night after dropping 20 points, 12 assists, 5 steals and 5 rebounds in an 82-38 rout of Lakewood at Kean College. “But obviously he’s going to do what’s best for him. That’s what we want. We wouldn’t tell him to come to Texas if it wasn’t best for him. Obviously we know each others’ games well, me, ‘T’ and C.J., so just playing with each other it’s just chemistry right away.”

Both Thompson and Joseph were recently named McDonald’s All-Americans for the March 31 game in Columbus, Ohio.

“Obviously, I want to play with C.J.,” Kabongo added. “We want to play with great players, McDonald’s All-Americans. He’s one of the first Canadians to ever play in the game. When you have someone like that that’s very talented, obviously you want to play with him.”

The three Canadians all played for Ro Russell’s Grassroots Canada club. Thompson and Kabongo were teammates at St. Benedict’s before Thompson was dismissed from the team last year and then transferred to Findlay Prep. Findlay head coach Michael Peck checked with Joseph first before admitting Thompson.

“We played AAU together so that’s all we always talk about, just playing together,” Kabongo said.

Joseph has said he doesn’t have a favorite at this point, and that’s what Kabongo believes as well.

“I don’t think so,” Kabongo said. “He’s just enjoying the process and he’s really taking his time. As soon as he feels 100 percent he told me that’s what he’s gonna do [decide]. Right now he doesn’t have a favorite.”

GILCHRIST, PINKSTON VISIT NOVA

PHILADELPHIA — Uncommitted junior Michael Gilchrist of Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick and Villanova-bound senior forward JayVaughn Pinkston of Bishop Loughlin both attended the UConn-Villanova game.

The 6-foot-7 Gilchrist was named co-MVP Friday night when St. Patrick lost to Oak Hill Academy, 79-78, at the PrimeTime Shootout at Kean College. He and Duke-bound guard Kyrie Irving of St. Pat’s both scored 28 points in the loss.

Gilchrist declined to speak with the media after the game, telling reporters, “I’m good.”

Villanova and Kentucky lead for Gilchrist, the No. 1 junior in the nation.

Pinkston was recently named a McDonald’s All-American and is the first player from his high school ever named to the game.

The Wildcats currently feature five former McDonald’s All-American: Scottie Reynolds, Corey Stokes, Taylor King, Dominic Cheek and Maalik Wayns.

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As expected, Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick was officially banned from the New Jersey state basketball tournament and put on two years probation Friday by its state association.

Head coach Kevin Boyle, found guilty of holding illegal preseason workouts – so his players could be seen by college coaches – was suspended for three games.

Read the full story here.

HURLEY TALKS ST. PAT’S SUSPENSION

Also, these quotes didn’t make the story (because of length), but legendary St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley calls Paterson Catholic the favorite to win the Tournament of Champions.

“I would say Paterson Catholic is probably still the favorite,” said Hurley, whose team has won 10 T of C titles. “I haven’t seen them since the beginning of the season. Early on they looked like a very, very good team. I know we’re happy we’ve improved since the beginning of the season. We still have a bunch of games to play. Everything we’re doing is geared toward being ready for the states.

“From a competition standpoint, we’re 1-2-3 in the state in one section,” Hurley added, referring to St. Patrick, Paterson Catholic and St. Anthony. “Now we’re 2-3 in one section. It’s still a tough section but it’s a little more winnable now.”

Paterson Catholic, which features Seton Hall-bound senior forward Fuquan Edwin and star junior point guard Myles Mack, has lost to St. Patrick six times in the state tournament since 1997. The Cougars advanced to the Tournament of Champions final once, when the Tim Thomas-led team lost in the finals to Orange in 1994.

“There was no guarantee we would’ve played [St. Patrick’s],” PC coach Damon Wright told the Bergen Record. “But our kids know the St. Patrick’s kids. They crushed us last year, and I just think our kids could have made it a better game this year, and it was probably something that they were looking forward to. But right now, we have our eyes set on the [Passaic] County tournament.”

As for the suspension itself, Hurley said he felt bad for the St. Patrick kids.

“It’s a shame,” he said. “The kids are effected by this and I feel bad for them, particularly the kids that are seniors in high school. Everything you do is geared toward playing the state tournament. They were certainly a strong favorite to win a state championship. It’s tough.”

(Photo courtesy Star-Ledger)

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Villanova-bound forward JayVaughn Pinkston of Bishop Loughlin, Tennessee commit Tobias Harris of Half Hollow Hills West, Duke-bound guard Kyrie Irving of St. Patrick and Queens native Doron Lamb of Oak Hill Academy will play in the game March 31 at the Value City Arena in Columbia, Ohio.

“I’m the first [player] from my school to make the McDonald’s game; that’s big,” the 6-foot-5 Pinkston told Chris Lawlor of ESPN.com. “In the end, it’s not about individual stuff but getting the ‘W.’ You take nothing for granted; I did my talking on the court.”

Pinkston and Harris played against one another last month at the Big Apple Invitational, with Harris’ team coming out on top, 75-72 in OT. Pinkston poured in 34 points and grabbed 14 points in the game, while Harris had 19 and 7 before fouling out.

“It feels great, it’s an honor,” Harris said of making the game. “The hard work is paying off but I still have a long way to go.”

Two players from Findlay (Nev.) Prep, Texas-bound forward Tristan Thompson, and uncommitted guard Cory Joseph, were also selected. Thompson previously played at Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s.

“I feel great. It’s an honor to be named a McDonald’s All-American,” Joseph said by text.

Joseph is one of uncommitted players in the game, meaning there will be added interest at that time of year when the players are getting close to making their college announcements.

Here are the rosters courtesy ESPN.com:

East: 6-7 Reggie Bullock, Kinston (N.C.), North Carolina; 6-8 Tobias Harris, Half Hollow Hills West (Dix Hills, N.Y.), Tennessee; 6-3 Kyrie Irving, St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.), Duke; 6-0 Joe Jackson, White Station (Memphis), Memphis; 6-11 Perry Jones, Duncanville (Texas), Baylor; Jelan Kendrick, Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), Memphis; 6-9 C.J. Leslie, Word of God Academy (Raleigh, N.C.), undecided; 6-4 Kendall Marshall, Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.), North Carolina; 6-7 Jayvaughn Pinkston, Bishop Loughlin (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Villanova; Josh Selby, Lake Clifton (Baltimore), undecided; 6-9 Jared Sullinger, Northland (Columbus, Ohio), Ohio State; 6-7 Deshaun Thomas, Bishop Luers (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Ohio State.

West: 6-3 Keith Appling, Pershing (Detroit), Michigan State; 6-8 Harrison Barnes, Ames (Iowa), North Carolina; 6-9 Terrence Jones, Jefferson (Portland, Ore.), undecided; 6-3 Cory Joseph, Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), undecided; Brandon Knight, Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), undecided; 6-4 Doron Lamb, Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), undecided; 6-1 Ray McCallum, Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, Mich.), undecided; 7-0 Fab Melo, Sagemont School (Weston, Fla.), Syracuse; 6-8 Jereme Richmond, Waukegan (Ill.), Illinois; 6-10 Joshua Smith, Kentwood (Kent, Wash.), UCLA; 6-10 Tristan Thompson, Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), Texas; 6-9 Patric Young, Providence School (Jacksonville, Fla.), Florida.

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Kyrie Irving

The Celtics won despite a huge controversy swirling around the program.

St. Patrick will be declared ineligible for the upcoming New Jersey state tournament at a New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association hearing this week because it allegedly held illegal preseason practices, according to a source with direct knowledge.

The NJSIAA said there is a “99 percent” chance the hearing will be moved to Friday from Wednesday because of the impending snowstorm.

The executive committee of the NJSIAA is expected to “rubber stamp” the recommendation of the Controversies Committee to suspend St. Patrick, the source said.

“We had several open gyms prior to the season – that was the accusation,” Celtics coach Kevin Boyle told MaxPreps.com after the Taft game. “It has to go to another committee to decide if it’s overturned or if they agree with the penalty.

“I’ll say this: something will come out that is really going to surprise people.”

The source said Boyle will receive a three-game suspension — potentially beginning with Friday’s game against Oak Hill Academy in the PrimeTime Shootout — and the program faces two years of probation.

If that happens, the Celtics won’t be able to defend the Tournament of Champions title they won last season.

“That would be very disappointing,” the Duke-bound Irving, who scored a game-high 24 points against Taft, told MaxPreps.com. “This is my senior year and I’d love to end my year winning back-to-back state titles.

“The thing is we can’t control or pay any attention to that. It’s a ruling. We have to get past all that and just play good basketball. I think we did that tonight.”

If St. Patrick can’t defend its title, the T of C would be wide open to a number of challengers, including Paterson Catholic, St. Anthony, Plainfield and Seton Hall Prep.

Boyle said he hoped his team could compete in either the state tournament or the ESPN Rise National Invitational in April.

“We’ll see what is available to us,” Boyle told MaxPreps. “We’re confident and hopeful it will be in one of those two events.”

An ESPN spokesman said the tournament will only invite teams that have been cleared by their state’s governing bodies.

“Before we will even approach a school we have to know that the state association or the governing body will allow them to play in the games,” Crystal Howard said. “If they don’t say that schools in their governance could play in our games, we won’t even consider going against those rulings and actually select or invite.”

(Photo courtesy SI.com)

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Head coach Kevin Boyle will receive a three-game suspension and the program faces two years of probation, the source added.

“The recommendation is for a three-game suspension for Boyle and the team can’t play in the [state] tournament and [faces] two years probation,” the source said.

The Star-Ledger first reported on its Website Thursday that St. Patrick had been accused of holding illegal preseason practices. New Jersey schools are not allowed to hold practices before Thanksgiving.

The executive committee of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association is expected to “rubber stamp” the recommendation of the Controversies Committee to suspend St. Patrick when it convenes Wednesday in Robbinsville, N.J.

“Do I think the Executive Committee is going to reverse what the Controversies Committee will do?” the source said. “Of course not. It’s a rubber stamp.”

Boyle did not return text or phone messages left on his cell phone.

Kevin Marino, the attorney representing St. Patrick, declined formal comment, as did St. Patrick principal Joseph Picaro.

St. Patrick has four regular-season games remaining, beginning with Saturday night’s contest against Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft at the Mater Dei Nike Extravaganza.

If Boyle were to be given a three-game suspension on Wednesday, as the source indicated he would, he have to sit out the team’s remaining three games after Wednesday, including contests Feb. 12 against Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy and Feb. 13 against Manattan Rice, both in the Primetime Shootout in New Jersey. Boyle could then return in time for the Union County tournament Feb. 16 or 17.

St. Patrick, which features Duke-bound point guard Kyrie Irving and Michael Gilchrist, the No. 1 junior in the nation, could attempt to play in the ESPN Rise National Invitational slated for early April, but the teams in that event need permission from their state’s governing body.

New Jersey prevents its teams from participating in games after the Tournament of Champions ends in March, and the state is unlikely to permit a program on probation to participate in such an event.

“I doubt it,” a second source close to the St. Patrick administration said. “They’re going to hammer us. They’re not going to say, ‘We’re going to hammer you and let you do something nice.’”

Crystal Howard, a spokesperson for ESPN, said the tournament will only invite teams that have been cleared by their governing bodies.

“Before we will even approach a school we have to know that the state association or the governing body will allow them to play in the games. If they don’t say that schools in their governance could play in our games, we won’t even consider going against those rulings and actually select or invite,” Howard said.

St. Patrick, which has produced NBA players Samuel Dalembert and Al Harrington, would appear to be at a crossroads.

Boyle has indicated his desire to coach at the college level in New Jersey in the near future and could opt to leave after this year.

This latest development could hasten Boyle’s departure from the school after a 20-year run.

St. Patrick would appear to have two choices.

With or without Boyle, it could opt to remain a member of the state association and accept the punishment and move forward. But if Boyle leaves (prior to Gilchrist’s senior year), the program’s reputation as a national powerhouse could take a serious hit and the team could sink into mediocrity

On the other hand, the school could use this latest development as an opportunity to follow the path of Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep, a national basketball power which is a federated member of the NJSIAA, not a full member.

St. Benedict’s, which beat St. Patrick, 65-64, in a recent game in Elizabeth, N.J., is free to play a national schedule.

“For us scheduling is difficult,” St. Benedict’s coach Dan Hurley said. ”In terms of finding games, the national tournaments are really the guts of your schedule. But it’s real hard here in the tri-state area to find games.”

The other issue is that all of the athletic teams at the school would have to go independent. St. Benedict’s features a number of sports — soccer, fencing, baseball, wrestling, track and field — that play either national schedules or in the prep division of the state tournaments.

St. Patrick is a coed school that has fewer than 200 students and features teams in volleyball, baseball and track and field that would all have to go independent if the basketball team did.

“I don’t think they’re considering leaving [the state association],” said St. Patrick athletic director Red Migliore. “You never know. That’s a decision that [principal] Joe Picaro could make.”

Picaro declined comment until after Wednesday’s hearing.

(Photo courtesy Star-Ledger)

Four players from New York and New Jersey will play in the prestigious game March 31 in Columbus, Ohio.

Duke-bound guard Kyrie Irving of Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick; Tennessee-bound forward Tobias Harris of Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West; Villanova-bound JayVaughn Pinkston of Brookyn Bishop Loughlin; and uncommitted guard and Queens, N.Y. native Doron Lamb of Oak Hill Academy have all been invited. Harris, on left, and Pinkston are pictured at left during their recent battle at the Big Apple Invitational.

Tristan Thompson, a forward who has signed with Texas and plays at Findlay (Nev.) Prep, was also selected. Thompson previously played at Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep.

The official list won’t be released until Feb. 11 on ESPNU.

A year ago, three New York-area players were named McDonald’s All-Americans: Lance Stephenson of Brooklyn Lincoln (Cincinnati); Dominic Cheek of St. Anthony (Villanova); and Dexter Strickland of St. Patrick (North Carolina).

In 2008, Mike Rosario of St. Anthony (Rutgers,) Samardo Samuels of St. Benedict’s (Louisville), Kemba Walker of Rice (UConn) and Sylven Landesberg of Queens Holy Cross (Virginia) were selected.

FREE THROWS

St. Patrick junior Michael Gilchrist scored the winning basket with 2.1 seconds left Saturday night to lead the Celtics to a 68-66 victory ovre Joe Jackson and Memphis (Tenn.) White Station in the Newark Invitational. He finished with 29 points and 15 boards. Irving added 16 points. On Sunday, Irving scored 23 points and he and teammate Kevin Boyle Jr. combined to hit 9 of their team’s 10 3-pointers in a 75-58 win over Gil St. Bernard’s…St. Benedict’s followed a win Saturday over De La Salle in the Newark Invitational with a 52-50 win Sunday over previously unbeaten Plymouth (Pa.) Whitemarsh in the Lehigh Valley Hoop Group Showcase. The Gray Bees (17-1) received 16 points from Temple-bound Aaron Brown and 14 from Arizona commit Sidiki Johnson. St. Joe’s commit C.J. Aiken finished with 14 points and 7 blocks…In an 80-50 win over De La Salle in Newark, Rutgers-bound Gilvydas Biruta put up scored 15 points, 5 boards and 1 block, while Texas-bound guard Myck Kabongo tallied 19 points…Tyler Harris, the younger brother of Tobias Harris, has reclassified to the Class of 2012 and will spend a prep year in 2011-12 after finishing up at Half Hollow Hills West. His father, Torrel, says Tyler has grown eight inches in the last two years and could reach 6-10 or 6-11. Numerous high-major programs are after him…6-8 forward Ryan Rhoomes of Cardozo will also prep next year, possibly at South Kent (Conn.). Cardozo fell to Rice, 63-58 in OT, Saturday in the SNY Invitational title game.

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