Props to my boy Chris Chaney, the former Patterson (NC) School coach, who predicted del Potro earlier Monday (maybe before that). Someday I plan to cover Wimbledon and maybe even the Australian Open. So stay tuned for that…

Anyway, here are the hoops highlights of the night:

**Dallas Episcopal point guard Phil Pressey confirmed to me via text tonight that he committed to Missouri.

“Yes, I did,” he said.

The 5-foot-10 Pressey is ranked No. 13 among point guards in the Class of 2010. He chose Mizzou over LSU, Baylor, UCLA and Arizona.

“After I played with the guys and saw the campus and the football game and interacted with all the players, I thought Missouri was the place,” Pressey told Powermizzou.com . “I pretty much knew where I wanted to go. With the family atmosphere and knowing I had a chance to play right away, I just felt like there was no point in taking any other visits.”

Pressey averaged 18.3 points, 9.8 assists, 5.3 rebounds and five steals per game as a junior while earning all-state honors from the Southwest Preparatory Conference.

**Kansas head coach Bill Self met Monday night with the parents of Oak Hill (Va.) guard Doron Lamb, a Queens native.

“It was good,” Calvin Lamb, Doron’s dad, said by text. “He talked about how Kansas will be a good fit for Doron.”

Self had previously met with Doron himself last week at Oak Hill.

Arizona head coach Sean Miller and Kentucky coach John Calipari have also visited with Calvin Lamb. Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel is due in on Tuesday.

**Texas A&M head coach Mark Turgeon had an in-home with Elizabeth (NJ) St. Patrick coach Kyrie Irving.

“Texas a and m in home was splendid,” Tweeted Kyrie, who now has more than 2,000 followers.

A&M associate head coach Scott Spinelli played college ball with Dred Irving at BU, so don’t count out the Aggies.

Kyrie will trip to Duke officially Sept. 25, Indiana Oct. 2 and A&M Oct. 9.

UConn, Seton Hall, Georgia Tech and Kentucky are also in the mix for the supremely talented PG whom Celtics coach Kevin Boyle told me will be the best guard ever to come out of the Garden State.

**The Tobias Harris Sweepstakes continues and UConn is still in the mix. Jim Calhoun and the UConn coaches met with Tobias at his school last week.

“We met earlier in the week and had a good visit,” Torrel Harris said by text.

**Tobias also had a home visit Monday with Oklahoma’s Capel that went very well. You can bet that Oklahoma mentions that Blake Griffin was the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft in every home visit.

“Oklahoma visit was awesome,” Torrel said by text. “We really like the presentation from Jeff Capel and his staff. We like the direction Coach Capel is leading his team to the next level and winning. He spoke about academics, his basketball program, development workouts and getting his players better.

“His basketball staff is strong and understands helping players improve their skill level. Very impressed by the future. Three years at Oklahoma, three first-round draft picks. Many NBA prospects to follow from his program.”

**6-8 Concord (Mass.) Middlesex wing Rod Odom had breakfast with Harvard coach Tommy Amaker and his wife and then dinner with Vandy coach Kevin Stallings and his staff Sunday night at the school. Stallings and company had an in-home with the Odoms Monday night.

New York Panthers AAU coach Gary Charles previously said Odom “loved the fact that Vandy had a pre-law and medical building plus immediate playing time.”

**Harrison Barnes, the wing out of Ames (Iowa) High ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2010, says he won’t release his in-home visit but is slated to visit Duke Oct. 23.

**Seton Hall Prep junior PG Sterling Gibbs visited Maryland unofficially over the weekend and had a good talk with Gary Williams.

“The visit went real well,” Gibbs said by text. “I was able to sit down with Coach Williams and all of the assistant coaches and talk about my future if I were to come to Maryland and then we took a tour around the campus and met with the academic director and later on in the night we went to the football game with the players.”

Gibbs, whose brother, Ashton Gibbs, plays at Pitt, may also visit Notre Dame Oct. 19 for the football game.

He previously said Villanova was his leader.

**Jesse Morgan, a 6-4 postgrad shooting guard at South Kent, has interest from UConn, Florida, Seton Hall, Temple, UMass, Georgia and Pittsburgh, according to South Kent coach Kelvin Jefferson.

**Marist men’s basketball head coach Chuck Martin will host the 2009 Hudson Valley Coaches Clinic on Sept. 26 at the McCann Center. Coaches who will speak at the event include Kentucky’s John Calipari, Drexel’s Bruiser Flint, UMass’ Derek Kellogg and Norm Roberts of St. John’s.

The pre-registration fee, which must be received by Sept. 23, is $70. A flat rate of $200 will be charged for three coaches from the same school who attend. A free gift from Anaconda Sports will be given to those who pre-register. The walk-up registration fee is $85.

The clinic includes breakfast and lunch. Registration is scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m., and the program is scheduled to end at 3 p.m. The schedule for the clinic goes as follows:

8:15 a.m.: Registration
9-10 a.m.: Norm Roberts – Ballscreen Options
10:10 -11:10 a.m.: Bruiser Flint – Pressure Defense
12:30 -1:30 p.m.: John Calipari – Dribble Drive
1:40 – 2:40 p.m.: Derek Kellogg – Transition Offense

(Photos courtesy Rivals / Kelly Kline, Nike)

Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter

As first reported here last month, former Villanova big man Casiem Drummond is now at Marist. Seton Hall also announced that former Memphis guard Jeff Robinson is officially part of the team. Both are New Jersey natives — Drummond is from East Orange and Robinson is from Trenton. Both left to get more burn. And both are expected to be eligible in the second semester of next year.

“We are really excited about Casiem Drummond joining our family at Marist College,” Marist coach Chuck Martin said. “First and foremost, he’s a great kid and a great addition to our community. I think the sky is the limit for Casiem. At Villanova, he showed flashes of what he can do.”

In the 2007-08 season, the 6-foot-10 Drummond set a career high by hauling in 17 rebounds against North Carolina State in the final game of the Old Spice Classic. In the Old Spice Classic, Drummond averaged 10.7 rebounds per game. He also had a 10-point, five-rebound game against LSU, and scored 11 in a contest against Syracuse. Drummond finished last season with nine starts in his 21 appearances, averaging 4.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. As a freshman in the 2006-07 season, he averaged 1.8 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

Drummond played scholastically at Bloomfield Tech, the same school Marist freshman R.J. Hall attended. He averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game as a junior, and as a senior he was named to the Jordan Classic Regional All-Star game held at Madison Square Garden. Drummond averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds a game as a senior.

“I’m excited to be here because I think Chuck Martin is a great coach, and I think the players who are here really want to be part of a winning team,” Drummond said. “I think I can really help them get to where we want to go.”

JEFF ROBINSON JOINS SETON HALL

Meanwhile, Robinson has officially transferred to Seton Hall. Read my interview with Jeff from a week ago.

He will sit out the remainder of the 2008-09 season and the first semester of the 2009-10 season, becoming eligible to play at the conclusion of the first semester next year. He will be eligible to practice with the team immediately.

“We’re really excited to be adding such a talented player in Jeff Robinson,” Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez said. “He comes from a great high school program at St. Pat’s that Seton Hall has received a long line of successful past players such as Shaheen Holloway, Samuel Dalembert and Grant Billmeier. He has been well-coached at both St. Pat’s with Kevin Boyle and at Memphis with John Calipari. He’s an explosive athlete that can play multiple positions and is ideal for our up-tempo, pressing style of play. A high-flying, energy guy, he’s another important piece to our 2009-10 puzzle that already features transfers Keon Lawrence and Herb Pope. We believe he’ll be hungry to prove himself.”

Calipari told me this weekend in Springfield, Mass., that he would work with Seton Hall to get Robinson a redshirt so he can have two and a half years at the school instead of one and a half.

“Whatever we’ve got to do to help that process along, we will,” Calipari said

The 6-foot-5, 232-pound Robinson played in five games for the Tigers this season including Memphis’ 84-70 victory over Seton Hall on Nov. 21 at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off. Robinson played 11 minutes vs. the Pirates scoring three points and grabbing two rebounds.

Last season, Robinson saw action in 28 games as Memphis marched all the way to the NCAA Championship game. The Trenton, N.J. native averaged 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.1 minutes per game. Against Siena on Jan. 3, 2008, Robinson logged career-highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

At St. Patrick’s High School, Robinson was a consensus Top-50 recruit, rated #36 by Rivals.com and #38 by ESPN150. Ranked among the nation’s top small forwards, he was rated #5 by ESPN150 and #11 by Rivals.com. In 2007, Robinson was a national All-America honorable mention by MaxPreps.com. He earned All-State honors and was named the Star-Ledger Union County Player of the Year. Robinson averaged 19.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while helping St. Patrick’s to a 30-2 overall record and a second straight NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title.

The 6-foot-10, 275-pound big man from East Orange, N.J., will have to sit out a year and hopes to play beginning in December 2009.

“I think he wants to play a little more,” Bloomfield Tech coach Nick Mariniello said previously. “He’s coming off of foot surgery and he’s probably 90 percent and I don’t think he’s playing as much as he wants to play.”

Mariniello previously said Marist, Siena and Boston University had secured waivers to speak to Drummond.

Drummond appeared in just two games this season for Villanova and averaged 2.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 19 minutes. He underwent foot surgery last spring and suffered a stress fracture in his other foot a month ago. Villanova head coach Jay Wright also suspended Drummond one game for what he termed a “minor disciplinary” matter.

Mariniello says Drummond’s academics are in great shape.

“He’s in very good academic standing,” he said. “He’s on target to graduate.”

MORE BAD NEWS FOR ST. JOHN’S

The injury bug keeps biting St. John’s.

Sophomore forward Justin Burrell will return to action Saturday against Miami after suffering three facial fractures when he was hit in practice by Sean Evans last week. Evans missed both games this past weekend at the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm beat Marist before losing in the final to Virginia Tech.

But second-year point guard Malik Boothe is now out two weeks with torn tendons in his thumb.

“We are extremely happy and fortunate to be getting Justin back, and we are glad that his injury is something that he can play with and deal with over the course of the season,” head coach Norm Roberts said in a release. “Malik is a big loss for us, but we are happy that it wasn’t worse, and that it is something he will likely be able to recover from relatively quickly. We’ll miss Malik, but as with other injuries we’ve had to deal with, it gives an opportunity for our young guys to step up and fill his position.”

**I was at MSG, where the Johnnies routed Marist 65-44 to advance to Sunday’s title game against Virginia Tech in the Holiday Festival. St. John’s, playing without injured stars Anthony Mason Jr. and Justin Burrell, is now 9-1, its best start since 1990-91. Read my game story here on SNY.tv.

**In Seattle, A.J. Price had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lift No. 2 UConn over No. 8 Gonzaga, 88-84, in OT. Jerome Dyson scored six of his 21 in the extra period. Price drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer in regulation to send it to OT. Read that story here.

**Forty-eight hours after beating Mississippi in Cincinnati, No. 9 Louisville was upset by Minnesota, 70-64, in Glendale, Ariz.

Terrence Williams scored 17 points and Earl Clark had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Louisville.

Tubby Smith got the win over Rick Pitino, who replaced him at Kentucky.

**In Syracuse, No. 11 Syracuse played its first game without suspended guard Eric Devendorf and beat No. 23 Memphis, 72-65, behind 24 points and 6 assists from Jonny Flynn. Flynn had missed practice Friday with an injured hip suffered in the Canisius game. Paul Harris added 15 points and 8 rebounds and Rick Jackson had 14 and 7.

Devendorf could petition to be readmitted prior to the start of the spring semester on Jan. 12 if he finishes the community service. Devendorf could play on Dec. 30 against Seton Hall if he meets the terms of Friday’s decision.

Doneal Mack and Pierre Niles had 12 apiece for Memphis, which shot 7-for-33 from beyond the arc. This team desperately needs a point guard. Wesley Witherspoon, who started in that spot, had 0 assists.

**No. 13 Georgetown beat Mount St. Mary, 69-58, with Chris Wright posting 19 points and 7 rebounds.

**No. 14 Notre Dame hammered Delaware State, 88-50, behind 20 points and 8 boards from Luke Harangody.

**In Piscataway, N.J., Mike Rosario , sporting a new mohawk, scored 18 points, and fellow freshman Gregory Echenique posted his fourth double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, to lead Rutgers (8-3) to a 67-37 victory over Bryant (1-8) Saturday afternoon at the RAC.

The Scarlet Knights led from start to finish and were stifling on defense, limiting the Bulldogs to just 11 field goals and 22.4 percent (11-49) shooting.

“I liked our defensive energy and our defensive execution,” said head coach Fred Hill. “We have played pretty consistent defense all year long. We talked about getting leads and putting people away. Today was the first that we have been able to do that all year. In the second half we held them to 17 points and 18.5% shooting. That means that we are playing with energy and we’re executing our game plan defensively.”

**In Cincinnati, Cincinnati outscored Eastern Kentucky 12-6 in the extra period to win it, 85-77, after trailing by 14 points.

Mike Rose hit two foul shots with 4.6 seconds in regulation left to give Eastern Kentucky a 73-71 lead. After a timeout, Deonta Vaughn raced downcourt and put up an alley-oop pass to Yancy Gates, who flushed with two hands to tie the game and send it into OT.

Mike Williams finished with 13 points and a career-high 16 boards for Cincy, now 9-2.

“The guys stepped up,” Bearcats coach Mick Cronin said on SNY. “We never quit. It’s a great win for us. Some night you’re supposed to lose…Our kids hung in there. You’re not going to blow everybody out. This is a great win for a young team.”

Cincinnati beat Mississippi State a few days ago and Cronin took a shot at the Cincinnati Enquirer for calling Eastern Kentucky, which had won six of its last seven games, a “cupcake.”

“Eastern Kentucky reads that stuff,” Cronin said. “They’re a good team. They’re 7-3, they’ve won six of their last seven, they have a great young coach and they can shoot the basketball… so it was a great win.”

Cincy has a fascinating slate coming up. After playing Arkansas Pine Bluff Dec. 22, the Bearcats are at No. 23 Memphis Dec. 29; at No. 24 Marquette Jan. 4; home to Providence Jan. 7; and home to No. 2 UConn Jan. 10.

**West Virginia downed Miami of Ohio, 82-46, behind 28 points and 5 rebounds from Da’Sean Butler, a former New Jersey prep star.

**Seton Hall, playing without senior big man John Garcia, out with a knee injury, lost at home to IUPUI, 67-65, on a last-second layup by Leroy Nobles.

It was just the second loss of the season for the Pirates (8-2). It remains unclear how long Garcia will be out.

Read the writeup from SHU here.

IUPUI is 6-4.

**Boston College beat Providence, 81-76, behind 20 points and 6 assists from Tyrese Rice.

“Right now it’s three schools that really want me, Seton Hall, South Florida and VCU,” Skeen said Thursday in a phone interview.

“So far I have visited Seton Hall first [last weekend]. I got back late last night from VCU. I drove up there. My plane leaves for South Florida at 6 tomorrow evening.”

Skeen was declared ineligible for the fall semester at Wake Forest for violating the school’s academic policy and told the team last week that he would not appeal for reinstatement to the university.

Skeen will have two years of eligibility left but would have to sit out a year if he transfers.

In two seasons at Wake, Skeen averaged 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds. He was named North Carolina’s Mr. Basketball in 2005, the same season he led North Mecklenburg to the N.C. 4A state championship.

Skeen visited Seton Hall last weekend (Dec. 6-8) and saw the campus, the Prudential Center in Newark and Manhattan.

“It was nice,” Skeen said. “They took me to New York and showed me around. I had never been to Manhattan. I saw Rucker Park. I do remember the big ]Christmas] tree. I saw everywhere in Manhattan. I saw the Prudential Center. It’s huge. I have never been in an arena like that before.

“I was there for two days. I got to meet John Garcia. He was my host. I just met the rest of the team in practice. I worked out with them afterward. I worked out with Paul Gause and with No. 23, Robert “Stix” Mitchell. That was pretty much it. I played video games. I was killing all of them in 2K9, xbox 360. I’m the man at that game.”

Seton Hall currently has two transfers in Herb Pope (New Mexico State) and Keon Lawrence (Missouri). Pope is sitting out the year as per NCAA regulations and Lawrence has applied for a waiver to play this year and should know by Dec. 20.

As for the trip to VCU, Skeen spent just one night there, staying in the Jefferson hotel.

“I was there for less than 24 hours,” he said. “It was more like I went to go see the campus and that was pretty much it. I spent time with the coaches. Eric Maynor and the coaches.”

As for South Florida, “I’ve been there when they played the ACC Tournament there my freshman year.”

Asked to describe his game, Skeen said:

“I like to create different mismatches. I’m 6-8 and I can shoot the 3-ball pretty good. If they put a guard on me, I would love to post up. If I have big man i would love to take him out on the 3-point line and take him to the basket. I love to create mismatches.”

Skeen said he will huddle with his family over the holiday break and make a decision soon.

“I’m not trying to rush it, but I’m not trying to take up too much time,” he said. “I’m definitely going to try to have my decision by at least January or late December.”

RECRUITING & TRANSFER NOTES

In addition to what I’ve already posted on Vincent Council and DeAndre Kane (pictured), here are a few more random notes from my trip yesterday to the Patterson (NC) School-Apex Academy game in Cherry Hill. Patterson has players from Iran, Sudan, Turkey, Lebanon, Mali, and from a dozen states outside North Carolina. Remember the name David Nyrasuk, a 7-foot center at Patterson originally from the Sudan. He had 10 points, five rebounds, five blocks in the 108-63 blowout. Patterson coach Chris Chaney said Tennessee is in strong with him, and that Ohio State and N.C. State are also involved. “Tennessee talk to me and Kentucky and Ohio State and Indiana,” Nyrasuk said….LaSalle has its eye on Ben Mockford, a 6-2 guard originally from London who plays for Apex. I had him unofficially with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Looks like he could be a shooter at the next level….Eugene Teague, a 6-8 big man from Bridgeton, NJ who plays for Apex, told me has an offer from South Florida and listed a bunch of other interested schools….Marshall recruit Hassan Whiteside looks like he’ll be a force at the next level. Apex had no answer for him as he threw down a slew of dunks…Patterson has a small-ish guard named Hunter McClintock who hit a few 3’s and is being recruited by Hawaii and Washington State….A couple of people have emailed me about Villanova transfer Casiem Drummond and how much eligibility he’ll have left. I’m told he’ll have a minimum of three semesters and a max of four. He visited Marist last weekend….Rutgers transfer Christian Morris may be able to get a redshirt for this year, giving him four years of eligibility after he transfers. He has interest from TCU, Western Kentucky, Penn State and others….Providence will likely redshirt Bilal Dixon of Jersey City and Jamine Peterson of Brooklyn in an effort to prepare them for the down the road. The Friars have fifth-year senior Randall Hanke and senior Jon Kale.

BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Weekly Report

Georgetown Vs. Memphis Tips Off BIG EAST’s CBS Sports Schedule

The 2008-09 BIG EAST schedule on CBS Sports begins Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET when Georgetown hosts Memphis at the Verizon Center. CBS is televising the game nationally. The contest is the first of nine CBS telecasts this season that will include BIG EAST teams. The BIG EAST and CBS have been partners since 1985, the longest relationship of any conference and national network. Saturday’s game is a battle between two nationally ranked teams. The Hoyas are 19^th in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Polls. Memphis is 17^th and 15^th, respectively. Georgetown goes into the game riding a 26-game home winning streak, the fifth longest current streak in the nation.

SEC-BIG EAST Invitational On Tap For Next Week

The second annual SEC-BIG EAST Invitational takes place next Tuesday and Thursday in Nashville and Cincinnati. The two doubleheaders pair teams from the BIG EAST and the Southeastern Conferences. ESPN or ESPN2 will televise each game.

Dec. 16, Sommet Center, Nashville, Tenn.

USF vs. Vanderbilt 7:00 ESPN2

Marquette vs. Tennessee 9:30 ESPN

Dec. 18, U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati vs. Mississippi State 6:30 ESPN2

Louisville vs. Mississippi 9:00 ESPN

Last year, the BIG EAST won three of the four matchups.

Important Mid-Year Additions Set To Join BIG EAST Squads

With the end of the semester approaching, some BIG EAST teams have important personnel additions who will be eligible to play soon. At USF, the Bulls will welcome a pair of players who can start participating Sunday against Niagara, guard Mike Mercer, a transfer from Georgia, and forward Augustus Gilchrist, a highly regarded freshman. Connecticut will get a boost from forward Stanley Robinson who missed the first semester for personal reasons. Robinson averaged 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds as a starter last season. He is eligible for Monday’s game against Stony Brook.

Villanova, Cincinnati Set For City Rivalry Games

Villanova and Cincinnati are preparing for battle in two of the nation’s hottest city rivalry games. ESPN2 is carrying both contests. No. 15/12 Villanova hosts Saint Joseph’s on Thursday and Cincinnati welcomes No. 10/9 Xavier on Saturday. Both games tip off at 8 p.m. ET.