Kyrie Irving and Tobias Harris have been remarkably consistent throughout their recruiting processes.

Both high school seniors have insisted they will take all of their college visits before deciding.

Duke still looks like the leader for Irving, and Syracuse would appear to lead for Harris.

But both plan on finishing their visits despite having a great time at Kentucky’s “Big Blue Madness.”

“Yes, I plan to,” Irving said by text Saturday night after returning from Kentucky. “All the places that are on my list I can see myself playing at.”

That is good news for Georgia Tech and Seton Hall fans. The 6-2 Irving, out of Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, is set to visit Georgia Tech next weekend and Seton Hall Oct. 30 for its Midnight Madness event.

Irving has already visited Duke and Texas A&M.

As for the Kentucky visit in which he was joined by Harris, Gilchrist and Yacoubou, Irving said: “It was good. I had a really good time.”

Asked if he was still leaning toward Duke, Irving said: “I’m not leaning toward any school.”

The 6-8 Harris from Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West also had a great time hanging with Irving and the others.

“It’s been very good,” he wrote by text.

Harris has now seen Syracuse, Tennessee and Kentucky and still plans to visit Louisville, West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Maryland.

“I’m just looking for a school with a great atmosphere and good character guys I can get along with,” Harris said.

As for the 6-7 Michael Gilchrist and the 6-4 Achraf Yacoubou, who also visited Kentucky, both plan to visit Villanova next weekend for “Hoops Mania.”

Yacoubou says his top three are UConn, Kentucky and Villanova in no particular order, while Gilchrist, the top player in the nation regardless of class, is said to favor Kentucky and Villanova.

He has also visited Michigan and Rutgers in recent weeks.

(Photo courtesy Kelly Kline)

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Michael Gilchrist,

The 6-foot-7 Somerdale, N.J., native, who plays for Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick, also visited Villanova’s campus last year.

“What we are hoping to get out of this visit is more of the academic side,” Cindy Richardson, Gilchrist’s mother, told Keith Pompey of the Philly Inquirer earlier this week. “We already know what Michael is going to do for that program. . . . So we want to know what Villanova is going to do for Michael.

“We are going to find out how they are going to support Michael from a basketball standpoint and academic standpoint.”

Gilchrist has already taken unofficials in recent weeks to Rutgers and Michigan.

His mother told the Inquirer that he wants to take additional visits to Kentucky, UConn, Oregon, and Louisiana State before the season starts.

Gilchrist is slated to visit Kentucky for Big Blue Madness Oct. 16, but no other dates have been made public.

Many observers expect Gilchrist to ultimately sign with Kentucky or Villanova, but he says he’s open.

“I’m just having fun with my selection of colleges,” he told the Inquirer. “But it’s early. I’m just starting my process.”

ARMY HIRES CORNELL ASSISTANT

Army named Zach Spiker as its new coach on Saturday.

An assistant under Cornell head coach Steve Donahue the past five years, Spiker helped the Big Red to upper-division finishes in the Ivy League during each of his five seasons in Ithaca, N.Y. He was instrumental in helping Cornell’s recruiting efforts the last five years, culminating in the Big Red winning consecutive Ivy League titles the past two seasons. It marked the first back-to-back league titles for Cornell in school history and the first time a team other than Pennsylvania or Princeton copped consecutive Ivy League championships.

Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com reported that Spiker was selected over Arizona State associate head coach Dedrique Taylor and St. John’s assistant Fred Quartlebaum.

“We couldn’t be more excited to name Zach Spiker as the head coach of our men’s basketball program,” U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Buster Hagenbeck said. “Zach impressed us with his high-energy level, intimate knowledge of our program and well-conceived plan to deliver a championship to the Army program.”

“We conducted a national search and spoke to a tremendous pool of candidates,” Army AD Kevin Anderson stated. “Throughout the process, one individual clearly rose to the top.”

“Zach is highly regarded by some of the most well-respected coaches in the country. He is widely recognized as one of the true young talents in the coaching profession and someone we feel is ready to lead our program to a Patriot League championship,” Anderson added.

NEW YORK’S BIGGEST SECRET

The biggest secret in New York City high school hoops is a young man named Amadou Sidibe.

The 6-7 Sidibe is a sophomore at Cardinal Hayes in The Bronx and already holds a scholarship offer from Fordham. Sidibe was on Fordham’s campus Saturday for an unofficial visit along with teammate Fidel Yacoubou, a Wings transfer and the younger brother of Long Island Lutheran guard Achraf Yacoubou.

“He’s an interesting kid. Nobody’s heard of him yet. He never played  AAU. He barely played any organized basketball,” said Hayes assistant coach Justin Simon.

“[Fordham assistant] Jared Grasso came into the gym Wednesday and offered him within like five minutes.”

Simon said Sidibe has a tremendous upside.

“He’s going to be our center this year,” Simon said.

“He’s a little raw. He has great touch. Long arms, blocks everything, great rebounder.”

Nobody knows area talent better than Grasso (pictured above left), who has established a pipeline from Jersey powers St. Anthony and Paterson Catholic to Fordham. But Yale coach James Jones is also high on Sidibe.

“Jared was the first guy to offer him,” Simon said. “But I brought him up to the Yale Elite camp and Coach Jones from Yale loved him.”

MURPHY GETTING LOOKS

Kamari Murphy, a 6-7, 195-pound junior from Bishop Ford; Dereck Millinghouse, a junior from Schenectady being recruited by Fordham assistant Steve Treffiletti; and John Baja, a sophomore from Fairfield Notre Dame, were also at Fordham today.

“I just played pickup games,” Murphy said by text.

He has a long list of suitors, including Virginia Tech, St. John’s, Hofstra, Wake Forest, Pitt, Virginia, Rutgers, Southern Illinois, Albany, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Providence, Marist and N.C. State.

“The two major schools that are showing me the most love are Providence and Virginia,” he said by text. “I’m highly interested in both.”

 RHOOMES TO PREP

6-8 Cardozo big man Ryan Rhoomes plans to spend the 2010-11 season at South Kent (Conn.), following in the footsteps of New York players Kevin Parrom, Omari Lawrence, Russell Smith, J.J. Moore and others.

 ”Yes, I am,” Rhoomes said by text.

Among schools showing interest in Rhoomes are West Virginia, St. John’s, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati and Providence.

FREE THROWS

Chase Plummer, a 6-5, 200-pound SF from St. Patrick, committed to UMBC…The New York Post has a very well done story today on the mass exodus at St. Raymond’s of the Bronx, which has lost eight D-1 caliber players in the last two years, and six this summer. The most recent to depart was 6-9 Arizona-bound junior wing Sidiki Johnson, now at St. Benedict’s of Newark. St. Ray’s coach Oliver Antigua has declined comment to various media outlets, including SNY.tv for this story I wrote last week about the mass exodus of talent from New York City.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Oct. 21 – Big East Media Day

Oct. 27 – Seton Hall Media Day

Oct. 28 – Rutgers Media Day

Nov. 3 - St. John’s Media Day

(Photos courtesy SI.com, Real Scout, US Army athletics)

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The 6-foot-2 Irving loved his visit to Duke this past weekend but still plans to take his next scheduled official visit to Texas A&M Oct. 9. After that, Irving is slated to visit Kentucky, Georgia Tech and Seton Hall.

“He’s going to Texas A&M Oct. 9 for sure. After that we’ll take it one-by-one,” Boyle said.

Multiple reports surfaced that Irving is close to committing to Duke and although that may well happen, he apparently hasn’t done so yet.

“Duke official was great! I enjoyed every single second…everything there fits me and is right for me…you never know what will happen,” Irving Tweeted after the visit.

GILCHRIST TO VISIT VILLANOVA

As for the 6-7 Gilchrist, the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2011, Boyle said Gilchrist was planning on visiting Villanova.

“I think he’s going to try to get out to Villanova this wekeend,” Boyle said.

Sources confirmed that Gilchrist will visit this weekend.

“It’s close to his house [in South Jersey] and he wants to get a feeling for how Villanova stands,” Boyle added.

Cindy Richardson, Gilchrist’s mother, previously said that her son talks about Kentucky and Villanova all the time, and Gilchrist told reporters at the LeBron James Academy this summer that those two schools were his top choices.

William Wesley, aka Worldwide Wes, is a John Calipari confidante who grew up across the street in Camden, N.J. from Richardson and remains a close family friend.

As for the Villanova connection, Villanova coach Jay Wright and Richardson have a strong relationship.

Still, Cindy told SI.com that those relationships don’t necessarily mean her son will play for either one of the Wildcats.

“There are no dots,” she told SI.com. “Wes’ relationship with John Calipari, that’s their relationship. Our relationship with coach Calipari is going to be the same relationship we want to extend to every other college coach. The difference is, coach Cal does his job. Coach Cal is actively recruiting Michael, but we want Michael to experience the same thing every other high school athlete has experienced. He has not decided on where he’s going to go.”

Meanwhile, Gilchrist is making a concerted effort to visit other schools.

He spent two days at Rutgers two weekends ago and then took an unofficial to Michigan this past weekend.

“He had an unofficial to Michigan,” Boyle said. “I know he had a good time and enjoyed it very much and got to see them workout. I know he’s impresed with Coach [John] Beilein’s ability. He’s one of the better coaching teachers in college basketball. Mike enjoyed getting to watch them in practice. At this point he’s excited going there.”

DANIELS TO WAGNER

Josh Daniels, a 6-6, 180-pound SF out of St. Patrick, has committed to Wagner. Daniels helped St. Patrick go 30-3 and win last year’s New Jersey’s Tournament of Champions.

“We’re just excited for Josh,” Boyle said. “We think Coach [Mike Deane] is an excellent coach. It’s a great fit for Josh. It’s a program that’s up and coming. He could definitely be a contributor early in his career, so we’re happy for him.”

SMITH SETS OFFICIALS

Roscoe Smith, the No. 6 small forward in the Class of 2010 out of Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, has set his official visits. The 6-foot-7, 185-pound Smith will take five visits beginning with Georgetown this weekend.

Oct. 2 – Georgetown

Oct. 9 – Duke

Oct. 16 – UConn

TBD – Florida

TBD – Kansas

BINGHAMTON COMPARISON INSULTS ZOO

If you haven’t yet read this Letter to the Editor about the Binghamton fiasco, it’s a must read.

As is this column by Gary Parrish on the Bingo situation.

(Photos courtesy Irving family, SI, Rivals)

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“Duke official was great! I enjoyed every single second…everything there fits me and is right for me…you never know what will happen,” Irving said on his Twitter feed.

Think the Cameron Crazies want Irving to pick their school?

Check out these photos courtesy of www.crazie-talk.com.

Irving saw Duke beat N.C. Central 49-14 in football and watched as last year’s basketball team was honored for winning the 2009 ACC title.

Kyrie is still slated to visit Texas A&M, Kentucky, Georgia Tech and Seton Hall and plans to think things over before making any decisions.

“I don’t think so,” he texted me before the visit, referring to a possible commitment.

Still, Duke remains the favorite going forward and Coach K has worked very hard by visiting St. Patrick several times in recent weeks.

“It is very appealing what they offer,” said Drederick Irving, Kyrie’s dad

“It’s a great academic institution that offers great athletics. You get the best of both worlds. That reflects what I represent and what Kyrie represents but we’re still trying to be objective about it because there are still other elite schools that offer that academic excellence.”

GILCHRIST ATTENDS INDIANA-MICHIGAN GAME

Irving’s St. Patrick teammate, Michael Gilchrist, the top player in the Class of 2011, visited Michigan unofficially this weekend.

Courtesy of this picture by Josh Helmholdt of the Michigan Rivals site, Gilchrist is seen watching the Wolverines down Indiana 36-33 at The Big House.

The 6-7 Gilchrist is thought to favor Kentucky and Villanova, but he also spent two days at Rutgers last weekend.

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“Yes, I did about an hour ago,” Wright said by phone.

Wright chose Pitt over an impressive slate of schools including Indiana, UCLA, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Cleveland State. Florida and West Virginia also showed interest.

“Pitt was constant,” Wright said. “Their system fits  my style perfectly. I’m a-pass first team player. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win.”

As a junior, Wright averaged 20.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 4.5 steals.

“He’s a really good defender,” said Rob Stircula, Wright’s coach with Benedictine. “He’s a slasher. He scores in contact. He’s a great passer. His basketball IQ is really, really high. We reconstructed his shot last summer. I think he’s going to be a good shooter.”

SELBY, ODOM, LESLIE TO VISIT UCONN

UConn will get a couple of key visits this week.

Josh Selby, who decommitted from Tennessee and is being courted by Kentucky, UConn and Louisville, will visit Connecticut on Wednesday, according to a source with knowledge.

Selby, the No. 2 point guard in the Class of 2010 out of Baltimore (MD) Lake Clifton, dropped 30 points on 8-17 shooting Saturday night as the USA East beat Brazil 89-74 Saturday at the Nike Global Games in Portland, Ore.

Rod Odom, a 6-9, 205-pound wing out of Concord (MA) Middlesex School, picked up an offer from UConn over the weekend and also plans to visit this week.

“Coach [Pat] Sellers called my dad on Friday [to offer],” Odom said by phone. “It was good. It’s definitely a great opportunity. It’s a great school and they a have a winning tradition so it’s a good look.

“I’m going up to UConn sometime this week, Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Odom, the No. 18 small forward in the Class of 2010, said his list currently consists of UConn, Louisville, Boston College, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Arizona, Miami, Georgia Tech and Harvard.

He has already visited Harvard, Boston College and Georgia Tech.

“I’m cutting it down to five by later this month,” he said.

Asked when he might decide, Odom said, “Probably middle to late September.”

Another player who plans to visit UConn is C.J. Leslie, the No. 8 power forward out of Raleigh (NC) Word Of God Christian Academy.

The 6-8 Leslie told Rivals the schools showing him the most love are Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida, Maryland and UConn.

“UConn, they’d love to have me,” he said by phone recently. “They think highly of me. I probably will take a visit there.”

Asked when he might cut his list, Leslie said: “I’m gonna narrow it down in August.”

LAURY OUT AT WESTERN KENTUCKY

Alex Schwartz of Northstar Basketball got a nice update with David Laury last week at St. John’s.

The 6-8 Laury said he wasn’t cleared to play at Western Kentucky and then felt homesick, which is why he came home.

“When I got to Western Kentucky, I wasn’t really comfortable,” he told Schwartz. “I withdrew and they gave me my release. . . I wasn’t interacting with the coaches and players enough. . . They asked me what was wrong and I told them I wasn’t comfortable.”

Laury, 19, said he may spend another year at NIA Prep and is hearing from Southeastern Missouri State, Iona, and UMES.

HARRIS HASN’T COMMITTED

Despite rumors that Tobias Harris has committed to Georgia Tech, his father said it’s not true. “No, we haven’t committed. We’re a long way from committing,” Torrel Harris said Sunday night. “Torrel also said Tennessee wants Tobias to visit Sept. 12, but no official visit date has yet been nailed down…

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Virtually every Big East assistant I spoke with had interest in Moore.

Now he is in the process of planning his visits.

“This week we’re going to set up a schedule to start planning visits,” said Hunt Bresky, Moore’s mentor. “Nothing has been scheduled, although we’re hoping that by the end of August we’ll do a few unofficial visits.”

Bresky said the list looks like this right now: UConn, Pittsburgh, Louisville, St. John’s, Providence, Marquette, Rutgers, Florida and Oklahoma. Seton Hall was “just getting in on it.”

Gary Charles, Moore’s AAU coach with the New York Panthers, added: “We’re going to try to do an unofficial to a couple of places like Marquette and Pitt and get to these other schools also.”

How good can Moore be?

“I think J.J. has the chance to make money one day,” Charles said. “I think he has all the tools. He just needs time and I think it’ll happen for him.”

Here are a few more Panthers updates:

**6-8 Ryan Rhoomes of Cardozo High has strong interest from Virginia Tech, Pitt, Cincinnati, Temple, George Mason, VCU and Drexel.

**6-8 SF Rod Odom of Concord (MA) Middlesex School recently picked up an offer from Louisville and told CardinalSports.com he’s considering Boston College, Vanderbilt, UConn, Louisville, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Arizona and Harvard. Odom said he plans to take an unofficial to Louisville soon.

**6-foot junior point guard Sterling Gibbs of Seton Hall Prep has offers from Villanova, Oklahoma, Seton Hall, Rutgers and St. John’s.

“Sterling is wide open,” Charles said. “Obviously, he’s only a rising junior so he can take his time.”

(Photo courtesy Minick Photography)

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Michigan beat No. 4 UCLA on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. Seton Hall upset No. 19 USC in Puerto Rico that same night. And last week, VMI beat Kentucky at Kentucky.

But order was restored — at least somewhat — on Friday when No. 10 Duke avoided another upset bid by the Wolverines in a 71-56 victory in the championship of the 2K Sports Classic to benefit Coaches vs. Cancer at the Garden.

Read the full story here.

But it wasn’t easy until the second half.

That’s when Duke outscored Southern Illinois 54-35 to cruise to an 83-58 victory in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic to benefit Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden. Duke will face Michigan for the championship Friday night at 7, with UCLA meeting Southern Illinois in the consolation game at 5.

Read the full story here.

Michigan upset No. 4 UCLA in the late game. Read about it here.