Tonye Jekiri

The 6-foot-10 center from Hialeah (Fla.) Champagnat Catholic and Team Breakdown chose the Hurricanes over Virginia Tech, Clemson and George Mason, a source with direct knowledge of the decision told SNY.tv.

Jekiri was not immediately available for comment.

He joins St. Benedict’s Prep shooting guard Melvin Johnson in Miami’s 2012 recruiting class.

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The 6-3, 188-pound guard verbally pledged to Miami Sunday, choosing the Hurricanes over Georgetown and Dayton.

“I felt very comfortable and I’m a competitive player who can score and make other players better,” Johnson told Fivestarbasketball.com.

Johnson left Rice High School in Manhattan after the school closed last year, and is now part of a deep backcourt at St. Benedict’s in Newark, New Jersey, that includes junior point guard Tyler Ennis and freshman combo guard Isaiah Briscoe.

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

(Photo courtesy NY Post)

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“Melvin is down to three, Virginia Tech, Miami and South Florida,” St. Ben’s coach Mark Taylor told SNY.tv. “I’d say leaning toward Miami.”

Johnson said he enjoyed the visit, which included watching the football game against Ohio State.

“It was fun,” he said. “I watched the football game and then I went to go watch that fight [Mayweather-Ortiz].”

The 6-foot-3, 188-pound off guard needs to work on some academic issues, but has a strong upside as a player.

“His scoring ability is unbelievable,” said Taylor, who also coached future NBA players Jason Williams and Andrew Bynum. “At times, I’ve never seen anybody that I’ve coached score the way he can score in bunches. Melvin needs to get a little bit better handle, a little bit better defensively. I think Melvin at some point, with development at the right school, could be a pro.”

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(Photo courtesy NY Post)

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DeMatha Catholic guard James Robinson, for one, removed Miami from his list of four because the school is being investigated by the NCAA for the relationship rogue booster Nevin Shapiro had with Miami football players. Robinson ultimately pledged to Pittsburgh.

But St. Benedict’s Prep guard Melvin Johnson is still considering Miami among his final four, and will take an official visit there this coming weekend for Saturday’s football game against Ohio State.

“They explained what happened to them and what’s their consequences or whatever,” the 6-foot-3, 188-pound Johnson told SNY.tv. Tuesday during an open gym St. Benedict’s Prep. “It’s not too big of a deal on a basketball standpoint, just a past thing. And it’s a new coaching staff.”

First-year Miami coach Jim Larranaga was at the school Monday.

Miami has also offered Johnson’s teammates, 6-2 2013 point guard Tyler Ennis and 6-8, 215-pound 2013 forward Isaiah Watkins.

Johnson is also considering Virginia Tech, the College of Charleston and South Florida.

He took an official to Virginia Tech Sept. 2 for the football team’s 66-13 blowout of Appalachian State, and said he liked “the atmosphere, coaching staff and players.”

He also visited South Florida a week ago Monday.

“USF was great,” he said. “I also felt real welcomed by the coaching staff and players, and plus the area and facilities are beautiful.”

Johnson came to St. Ben’s from Rice High School after the latter closed down and he’s now part of a team loaded with future Division 1 players, including Ennis, Watkins, 2015 guard Isaiah Briscoe and 2013 forward Denzell Taylor.

“It’s easier,” Johnson said. “Just not having to work as hard on the offensive end. Just getting it done on the defensive end and you’re good.”

Asked to compare it to Rice, he said, “It’s a different experience, it’s a different experience.”

Though he’s excited about playing defense at St. Ben’s, he’s being recruited as a scorer.

“He can really shoot,” said one Division 1 head coach. “I mean, he can really, really shoot.”

Johnson plans to visit Miami and then make a decision “around October, early October.”

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(Photo courtesy NY Post)

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He also said, “In June I am goin to George Mason.”

****

George Mason signee Corey Edwards said new Miami coach Jim Larranaga talked to him about following the coach to Miami and that he is considering it.

“The coach from George Mason is talking about me going over to Miami,” Edwards said Monday by phone. “I told him it could be a possibility.”

The news broke April 22 that Larranaga was leaving George Mason for Miami.

Edwards said Larranaga called him “a couple days after he took the job.”

“He called me and we were talking about is it possible that you would come with me?” Edwards said.

On Saturday, former Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt became the new George Mason coach and Edwards said Hewitt is due to meet with Edwards and his family this week.

“Coach is going to come to my house on Wednesday and talk to me and my family,” Edwards said of Hewitt.

Asked where he was leaning, Edwards said, “I’m really kind of undecided right now. It depends on whether they’re going to let me out of my Letter of Intent and the discussions that me and coach have.”

He added: “Miami is a good school. It’s an ACC school. It could be the right school. Coach Larranaga is a good coach.”

Vaughn Gray, the St. Benedict’s Prep guard who committed to George Mason the same day Edwards did, said he would remain committed to George Mason.

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The meeting likely took place in Wisconsin, not Miami, as my source originally indicated.

Jeter, 41, said Tuesday he had not been contacted about the job and had no comment.

But Jeter worked under Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan for 10 of his 11 years as an assistant coach, and Eichorst came to Miami from Wisconsin.

The reigning Horizon League Coach of the Year, Jeter is 101-88 in six seasons at Milwaukee, and 61-43 in the league. His club went 19-14, 13-5 this season, finishing ahead of eventual national runner-up Butler.

Other names linked to the job are Mike Davis (Alabama-Birmingham), Tony Barbee (Auburn), Donnie Jones (Central Florida) and Billy Kennedy (Murray State).

Miami offered Harvard coach Tommy Amaker a five-year package believed to average $1.1 million, but he turned it down.

MANHATTAN: The school offered the job to LIU coach Jim Ferry, but the two sides could not agree on the financials. Sources said Ferry was seeking in the neighborhood of seven years at $350,000 per, and the school is willing to pay more like $175,000, plus about $200,000 for the staff.

The administration is now split between Rhode Island College coach Bob Walsh and Louisville assistant Steve Masiello, sources said.

Walsh is by all accounts a good man and a good coach, having come from Timmy Welsh’s coaching tree at Providence. In five years prior to this one, the New York native went 114-35 at the Division III school. He has been in the mix for the head job at Marist, Iona and St. Francis and has the backing of Associate AD Shawn Brennan, who knows him from their time together at Iona, where Walsh was an assistant. Yet because he’s coming from a D-3 program, he faces a perception problem.

Masiello, who was born in New York, grew up in Westchester and coaches under Rick Pitino, has the backing of athletic director Bob Byrnes, as well some of the top AAU guys in New York.

Gary Charles of the New York Panthers said he would like to see either Masiello or Rutgers assistant Van Macon get the job.

“The New York Panther organization would be happy with either Steve Masiello or Van Macon,” Charles said. “I think both of them would do an extremely good job there. I’ve known both of  those young men for a long time so I can’t pick one over the other.

“For the sake of Manhattan College, they need to get a New York person who has recruited New York and knows all the players. Steve is from Westchester. When he was at Louisville, he recruited Edgar Sosa, Samardo Samuels, Earl Clark and Francisco Garcia. Everyone in New York knows Steve Masiello.

“And Van Macon, that goes without saying. He was at Hofstra for nine years and everyone knows and loves Van. To me, those two guys are no-brainers.

“Sometimes I think the administration makes this harder than they need to. At the end of the day it’s about players. Hire the coach that’s going to get you players. That’s the bottom line. I don’t care how good of an X’s and O’s coach you are, those guys can get you players. End of discussion.”

In the midst of this stalemate, Arizona assistant Book Richardson, another New York guy who recruited Kevin Parrom, Lamont “Momo” Jones and Sidiki Johnson to Arizona, has emerged as a last-minute candidate, sources said.

Manhattan assistant Scott Padgett has also been mentioned, and would provide some continuity between the current players and new staff.

Word is the administration will think things over for at least the weekend.

“It seems wide open at this point,” one source close to the situation said.

MIAMI: From Day One, Kansas State coach Frank Martin has been most closely linked to this vacancy, created when Frank Haith suddenly left for Missouri. He is a Miami native and sources have said Miami would be his “dream job.”

Still, Martin said in a Sporting News radio interview with Tim Brando on Tuesday he has not spoken to or been contacted by anyone regarding the position, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

He said, “if people want to throw my name out there, I look at that as a compliment and I look at that as being lucky and fortunate that I’m in a good place right now and that people out there respect what we’ve done here.”

Shakey Rodriguez, a Florida high school coach and one of Martin’s mentors, told TheMercury.com that Martin would listen if Miami came calling.

“At this time I know [Martin] is happy at Kansas State but he would listen to Miami,” he told TheMercury.com.

Still, he sounded dubious that Miami could make it happen given the fact that it has an interim AD and has shown an inability to fully support its basketball program in a football-mad environment.

“I don’t know that Miami, not having an A.D. present, is prepared to put together the kind of package that would sway him in this direction,” Rodriguez said.

Martin is also not a squeaky clean candidate.

He was fired from Miami High’s coach in 1998 after the FHSAA ruled the school had illegally recruited, the Sun-Sentinel reported. The school was fined $2,500 and forced to reimburse $5,000 in expenses.

At Kansas State, the NCAA suspended New York product Curtis Kelly for six games for taking clothing at a local apparel store, and guard Jacob Pullen got three games for the same offense.

The Sun-Sentinel also pointed out that Martin hit guard Chris Merriewether on the arm with the back of his hand.

Amid all this, acting AD Tony Hernandez told the Sun-Sentinel: “At this point, we’re considering everybody. We’re going to take it on a case-by-case basis. But I assure you that integrity and ethics will be a high priority in the search.”

UNLV: AD Jim Livengood announced on Tuesday that the four finalists were Mike Dunlap, Ernie Kent, Dave Rice and Reggie Theus.

Rice, a UNLV alum and the associate head coach at BYU, and Theus, the former UNLV star, are considered the favorites.

“We have completed the interviews of the four finalists,” Livengood said Friday. “All of the candidates did an outstanding job and all would certainly be great choices for UNLV and our head coaching position. We now want to spend the next couple of days continuing with a thorough review of the interview process and further consult with the president [Neal Smatresk].

“The hope is to be able to make a decision sometime on Sunday. We would then announce that decision at a press conference on Monday.”

Haith, 45, replaces Mike Anderson, who departed last month to take the Arkansas job.

As of late Sunday night, Haith had not informed his staff of his decision to move to the Big 12 from the ACC.

Haith went 129-101 in seven seasons at Miami, 43-69 in the ACC.

A Queens, N.Y. native, Haith is a former Big 12 assistant under Rick Barnes at Texas.

One name likely to surface as a potential replacement at Miami is Kansas State coach Frank Martin.

The 44-year old Martin is a Miami native who earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Florida International in 1993.

PETERS DECOMMITS FROM OU

By ALEX KLINE

When Oklahoma decided to part ways with head coach Jeff Capel, a number of people were surprised, including the recruits.

Last week, Lon Kruger left the UNLV Rebels to take the vacant spot in Norman.

On Sunday night, 2012 Oklahoma commit Richard Peters decided it was time to part ways. At first, Peters was optimistic about the addition of Kruger, but soon realized it wasn’t the right fit.

“I’m just letting you know I’m decommitting from OU and re-opening my recruitment,” Peters said in an email. ”It was a hard decision but this is what’s best for me. I’ll still be keeping tabs on OU.”

A 6-foot-10 center out of Westwind Prep in Arizona, Peters is highly touted for being a big inside presence. A native of Canada, he is currently back home preparing for the AAU season with Team Takeover Canada.

Team Takeover has their first tournament this weekend at Boo Williams in Virginia and Peters’ recruitment is sure to be a hot topic. “I want to go into AAU season a free man and start to rack in new offers and interest.”

The big man had offers from UConn, Louisville, Miami, Florida State and Georgia before choosing the Sooners. He also has one school who stands out the most to him.

“I have no true favorites at the moment but Washington is high on the list,” he stated. ”As for now, my favorite is still going to be Oklahoma. I just wanted to open up my recruitment because of the coaching change and not close the door on other options. I just got off the phone with the new assistant, Ben Betts, minutes ago and the love is strong.”

Peters says his tie to Washington is due to a relationship build with assistant coach Raphael Chillious. The two have known each other since the Westwind product was 16-years old and playing in the Jordan Brand Classic International game. Chillious was on the coaching staff for his team.

While the situation may not seem like the best at the moment, Peters seems optimistic about his future.

“It is what it is,” he said. ”Things take a bad turn sometimes.”

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Ajayi said he’s recently added offers from Arizona, Miami and Virginia Tech to a list that previously included Loyola Marymount, Florida, Seton Hall, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

Ajayi will take officials to LMU Feb. 14-16 and Florida Feb. 23-25.

He also plans to visit Seton Hall and Tennessee officially, and then decide between Arizona and Miami for his fifth, and final, official.

“I’m going to take all the five,” he said Friday by phone from Atlantic City, N.J.

Ajayi, a native of Lagos, Nigeria, said his mother is already in New Jersey and will trip with him to LMU. When his father comes later this month, he will go on the other visits.

“When my mother’s here, I’m going to LMU,” he said. “When my father’s here, I’m going to Florida and Seton Hall and Tennessee.”

Maxpreps.com lists Ajayi as averaging 9.5 points, 15.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, although he did struggle in two recent games at the Big Apple Invitational at Baruch College.

He had 5 points and 3 rebounds in a loss to Andre Drummond and St. Thomas More, and 4 points and 9 boards in a loss to a Philly Friends’ Central club featuring standouts Amile Jefferson and Devin Coleman.

Ajayi previously told ZAGSBLOG Seton Hall was his favorite in part because his brother lives 10 minutes from campus.

He says he’ll huddle with his family before making a decision.

“I’m waiting to sit with my parents and talk and make my decision after my visits,” he said.

(Photo courtesy MaxPreps.com)

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PISCATAWAY, N.J. – When Mike Rice first got the Rutgers job he found an opening early in his non-conference schedule.

“Half of the BCS seemed to be on my desk of people wanting to play us,” Rice joked about his under-manned team that features nine scholarship players.

Even though he inherited a schedule that included Ivy League favorite Princeton and MAAC favorite Fairfield as the first two outings, Rice went ahead and picked Miami for the third game.

Click here to read the full story.

It was a tough homecoming for New York guards Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant. Read about that here.