Cleveland Melvin

“He wants to be a wing at the next level,” Hurd wrote by text. “They see him as a four. [It's a] mutual decision. No hard feelings either way.”

Hurd listed Seton Hall, South Florida, Miami, TCU, Marquette and Oklahoma state as possible landing spots.

“He wants to take his time. He’s not in any huge hurry,” Hurd said.

The story was first reported by Scout.com.

ABRAHAM SKIPS VISITS

Moses Abraham, a 6-9 forward from Temple Hills (Md.) Progressive Christian, has a case of the flu and had to skip Thursday’s visit to Seton Hall and Rutgers. He may also miss Saturday’s trip to Indiana.

Abraham attended last Saturday’s Kentucky-Tennessee game but then got sick after Wednesday’s Duke-Maryland tilt.

“He has to get better, then we will see,” his mentor, Joe Boncore, wrote by text.

Boncore said Abraham will decide announce March 14 and is considering Georgetown, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland and Seton Hall as the top seven.

HINDS HASN’T COMMITTED

Despite a published report, Mount Vernon (N.Y.) junior point guard Jabarie Hinds has not committed to Louisville. Hinds may visit Louisville at some point in the future, but won’t be there for Saturday’s Syracuse game, Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino said.

“Maybe he will visit in the summer or early fall,” Cimmino said.

(Photo courtesy Baltimore Sun)

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“The doctor said he would be out about a week,” a source with direct knowledge said.

The Pirates play at West Virginia Saturday before hosting Rutgers Tuesday.

Hazell reportedly received eight stitches Wednesday night and is scheduled to visit the doctor again on Friday.

“He’s going to see him tomorrow [Friday] morning. Then we will know more,” the source said.

The second-leading scorer in the Big East at 22.4 points per game, Hazell left at the 8:21 mark of the first half and did not return.

Senior guard Eugene Harvey also did not play in the game because of a bone bruise on his right wrist.

RECRUITING RUNDOWN

Having secured a verbal commitment from 6-8 power forward Eugene McCrory, the Pirates are in the market for one or two other power forwards and centers. Seton Hall is also involved with 6-9 senior Moses Abraham of Temple Hills (Md.) Progressive Christian; 6-8 senior Jonathan Graham of Baltimore Calvert Hall; 6-10 Maurice Walker of Brewster (N.H.) Academy, the No. 12 center in the Class of 2010; and 6-8 Jamir Hanner of Newark (N.J.) Nia Prep.

The Pirates are also involved with Manhattan Rice senior forward Kadeem Jack. Arizona assistant Book Richardson was in New York on Thursday to watch Jack at practice.

Jack said Georgetown, Kentucky and Louisville “are my new schools.”

Arizona is also pursuing Oak Hill senior guard Doron Lamb and Lake Baltimore (Md.) senior guard Josh Selby.

Lamb is down to Arizona, UConn, West Virginia, Kansas and Kentucky, while Selby is mulling Arizona, UConn, Kansas and Kentucky.

(Photo courtesy AP)

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“I was in street clothes sitting on the bench for the St. John’s game on Sunday and my status for today’s game at Louisville probably will be a game-time decision,” Harangody said in diary written for NWI.com.

The nation’s second-leading scorer at 24.1 points per game, Harangody suffered a deep bone bruise to his right knee during the second half of a Feb. 11 loss at Seton Hall. He then sat out Sunday’s 69-68 home loss to St. John’s.

“I was proud of my teammates; we fought hard in the one-point loss, but I can tell you this, watching from the bench was excruciating,” Harangody wrote.

Notre Dame is 17-9, 6-7 in the Big East and squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble. If Harangody sits out tonight’s game, he would have a week off before the Irish host Pittsburgh Feb. 24. The Irish close the season with games at Georgetown (Feb. 27), home against UConn (March 3) and at Marquette (March 6).

Louisville coach Rick Pitino said his team is ready either way.

“My belief is he won’t play,” Pitino told the Louisville Courier Journal.

Louisville wing Reginald Delk is expected back after missing the Cardinals’ win over Syracuse on Sunday with back spasms. He averages 6.6 points and 3.3 rebounds.

“I could have played Delk the other night and I didn’t; I wanted him for this game,” Pitino said. “I find when guys aren’t 100 percent, they re-injure themselves.”

(Photo courtesy Notre Dame Athletics

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PISCATAWAY, N.J.

But Hill may well have saved his job with Rutgers’ thrilling 71-68 victory over No. 7 Georgetown at the Rutgers Athletic Center.

The victory was the second-biggest in program history, dating to a 1982 win over then-No. 6 West Virginia. Rutgers (13-12, 3-9) hadn’t beaten a Top 10 team since a Gary Waters-led club beat No. 9 Notre Dame in 2003.

Read the full story here.

**Among the recruits at the game were Plainfield junior G Tyrone Johnson, St. Peter’s Prep junior G Myles Davis, Rutgers-bound senior F Gil Biruta of St. Benedict’s and senior C Blaise Mgargorba of St. Ben’s.

**Also, Samardo Samuels scored all eight of his points late as Louisville stunned No.  2 Syracuse on the road.

**D.J. Kennedy hit a pair of foul shots with 12 seconds and St. John’s beat Notre Dame, 69-68, in South Bend, Ind.

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NEW YORK — Rick Pitino

On top of his team’s ugly 74-55 loss to St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, Pitino tried to quell questions about his coaching future.

“I’ve been at Louisville nine years, and I’m hoping to go to [age] 65, and I hope it’s at Louisville, and I hope they want to have me. Maybe after tonight they want me to coach a pro team,” Pitino joked.

Read the full story here.

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“I can’t keep talking about rumors and untruths,” Pitino, whose team visits St. John’s Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, said on the Big East conference call. “All I can say is in the past nine years I’ve never had one conversation with a pro team. I had one conversation with a college team and that was Providence College. There’s absolutely no truth to it [the Nets story] and I shouldn’t address it.”

Pitino joked that if he was trying to get “rejuvenated” in the wake of the Karen Sypher sex scandal that hit last summer and the threats of a rising Kentucky team, he would take a vacation to a tropical paradise.

“If you’re going to get rejuvenated, I don’t think you take over the Nets,” he said.

Read the full story here.

And read here about how the middle-of-the-pack Big East teams are feeling the NCAA squeeze.

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“There’s not an ounce of truth to it,” Pitino told ESPN.com’s Pat Forde.

“I have no interest, period,” Pitino said Thursday. “I’m done with coaching professional basketball. I’ve put the professional ranks behind me.”

Nets president Rod Thorn also refuted the story, telling The Star Ledger by text, “Have not had any contact with Pitino. To my knowledge, no one in our organization has, either.’’

The Daily News reported that the Nets have compiled a short list of candidates for the job, with former Knicks and Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy on top.

I’ll be at Madison Square Garden tonight when Pitino and Louisville meet St. John’s. The game will be preceded by a press conference with Chris Mullin and Bill Wennington, stars of the 1985 Johnnies squad that reached the Final Four.

Johnnies fans are a long way from those days.

The Red Storm (12-10, 2-8) has gone 2-8 over its last 10 games and has lost six games after leading at the half, including Saturday’s game with West Virginia.

There are sure to be a number of interesting storylines coming out of tonight. What, if anything, can Norm Roberts do to save his job at St. John’s? Is he even in danger of losing it, or is Father Harrington happy with the team’s collective GPA and the fact that Roberts is running a clean, scandal-free program?

Is Mullin interested in coaching at the college level?

Stay tuned for more on this later today here and on SNY.tv.

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**Louisville Coach Rick Pitino was on hand Monday night to watch Mount Vernon junior point guard Jabarie Hinds in his team’s final regular season game. Hinds dropped 13 points in a 77-67 loss.

The top six schools showing interest in Hinds are Louisville, Virginia, Wake Forest, St. John’s, UNLV and Seton Hall, coach Bob Cimmino said.

As I wrote Monday, Cimmino and Hinds will meet in July to cut the list and focus on certain schools.

**According to NYCHoops.net, Pitino and Florida coach Billy Donovan were also on hand Sunday when Christ the King beat Rice, 60-52. Rice features 6-9 senior center Kadeem Jack and 6-5 junior wing Jermaine Sanders, while Christ the King features Omar Calhoun, a 6-3 sophomore shooting guard.

**Bryon Allen, a 6-1 combo guard from St. Thomas More (Conn.), will make an official visit to Siena beginning Sunday night, according to sources. Allen, once committed to West Virginia, is also considering Boston College, Oregon and Providence, according to St. Thomas More coach Jere Quinn and the NBE Basketball Report. Quinn said Allen visited Boston College for the Duke game last weekend and was hoping to also visit Oregon at some point.

**6-8 Maryland commit Ashton Pankey had surgery for a stress fracture in his left leg on Feb. 4 and is out for the rest of St. Anthony’s season but is looking forward to playing next year for the Terps.

“Ashton’s surgery was successful. He will begin rehab in 4-6 weeks. He is extremely disappointed that he will not be able to play and help St. Anthony try to win another title as he worked hard over the summer to improve his game but he is looking forward to getting healthy for his freshman year at the University of Maryland,” said Jeff Rivera, Pankey’s AAU coach with New Heights.

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The next in that line is junior point guard Jabarie Hinds.

The 6-foot, 166-pound Hinds is ranked No. 18 among point guards in the Class of 2011 and No. 77 overall.

He’s averaging 25 points, 4.5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals for a team that is 12-5 and plays its final regular season game Monday.

“He’ll be a point guard that understands the flow of the game. He’ll get the ball to the players he’s supposed to get it to. He can score when he needs to score and he loves to play defense,” Cimmino said when asked to describe what Hinds will contribute at the next level.

It’s still early but Cimmino says half a dozen schools are working the hardest on landing Hinds.

“The people into him the most are Louisville, Virginia, Wake Forest, St. John’s, UNLV and Seton Hall,” Cimmino said.

Cimmino said, Seton Hall, in particular has “done a lot of work.”

Cimmino and Hinds attended the Pirates’ victory over Pittsburgh Jan. 24 at the Prudential Center.

“I don’t know if I’ve seen a better arena. It’s gorgeous,” Cimmino said.

Cimmino said Hinds planned to play the spring AAU season before cutting down his list in the summer.

“He definitely hasn’t tipped his cards,” Cimmino said. “He keeping it close to his vest. I want him to do the spring season and then we’ll get together in early July and get a list of five or six schools and focus on setting up visits later in the summer.”

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NEWARK, N.J.

Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez talked boldly before this season began about how making the NCAA tournament was a goal — and a realistic possibility — for this team.

After a 1-4 start in Big East play, that dream seemed to be fading fast.

But Jeremy Hazell, Jordan Theodore and Keon Lawrence breathed new life into the Pirates’ postseason hopes Thursday by combining for 52 points as Seton Hall held off Louisville, 80-77, in an ESPN game at the Prudential Center.

Read the full story here.

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