Gary Harris, the No. 6 shooting guard in the Class of 2012, hasn’t cut his list but says five schools are recruiting him the hardest.

“Haven’t cut any yet,” he said by text.

The 6-foot-4, 195-pound guard out of Fishers (Ind.) Hamilton Southeastern said Indiana, Michigan State, Louisville, Notre Dame and Purdue are “recruiting me the hardest.”

Still, Harris said Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua has also been in touch “a little bit.”

As for when he may decide, Harris said he he plans to discuss his recruitment with his parents over the summer and has “no timetable” at the moment.

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Even as he is being wooed by Maryland to replace Gary Williams, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey is working on an extension with the Irish, according to a report.

Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune, citing a source, wrote that Brey “has a contract extension in the works to remain with the Irish.”

Brey’s last extension reportedly came in July 2008. (more…)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Ben Hansbrough for Big East player of the year? How about national player of the year, an award his brother won two seasons ago?

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey started the drums beating for his team’s emotional leader after Hansbrough scored 25 points despite a tough start to lead No. 9 Notre Dame to a 76-69 win over Rutgers on Sunday.

“When you step back a bit, look at this, and get away from the preseason hype machine, certainly he is a Big East player of the pear candidate as well as national player of the year,” Brey said. “Flat out. I mean, we are in the Top Ten and he has driven us into that position and we are in the hunt for the league title. It is starting to be really evaluated. Some people say ‘Let’s see what he does next game.’ Well, he did it again.”

Click here to read the full story at SNY.

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Ishaq Williams has made his choice.

The 6-foot-6, 220-pound DE/TE from Brooklyn Lincoln has verbally pledged to Notre Dame over Syracuse and Penn State, a Lincoln source told SNY’s Sal Miciotta.

“Ishaq is Irish,” his father, Shaun Williams, reportedly posted on Twitter.  “See you in South Bend.” (more…)

Maurice Aniefiok, one of the top uncommitted guards in the country, is planning some upcoming visits, including a trip to Arizona State later this month.

Joe Boncore, Aniefiok’s mentor, would like the 6-foot-5, 210-pound combo guard to visit Tempe sometime between Dec. 23-29, when Huntington (West Va.) Prep has no games scheduled.

“That’s the week he can visit,” Boncore said. “We want him to take visits.” (more…)

Team Takeover lost in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Peach Jam, but head coach Keith Stevens believes his squad should have won the whole thing.

A year later, his Washington, D.C.-based team went a perfect 8-0 en route to winning the inaugural Elite Youth Basketball League at the Nike Peach Jam with a 70-62 victory over the St. Louis Eagles.

The game was taped Thursday and shown nationally on ESPNU.

“It’s definitely a good experience being that it’s the first time that they ever had this particular league,” Stevens said. “To be able to accomplish something like this in such a short time was definitely a good experience.”

Junior point guard James Robinson went a perfect 10-of-10 from the line and finished with a team-high 24 points. Duke-bound wing Michael Gbinije added 19 points. (more…)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Luke Harangody and Scottie Reynolds both tested the NBA waters a year ago and both opted to return to the Big East for their senior seasons.

Now Harangody and Reynolds are hoping to find their way on to an NBA roster as the draft approaches June 24.

“I had no regrets at all,” Harangody said Thursday after a group workout at the Nets’ facility before representatives of more than 20 NBA teams, including Larry Bird of the Indiana Pacers and Danny Ainge of the Boston Celtics. “It was great to come back for my senior year. I would do it all over again. I got my degree, which is awesome and I never looked back.”

Read the full story at SNY.

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The fourth annual SEC/BIG EAST Invitational will be held Dec. 8 and 11 in Louisville and Pittsburgh.

The two-night men’s college basketball event begins with a doubleheader Wednesday, Dec. 8, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, featuring Arkansas vs. Seton Hall at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, followed by Kentucky vs. Notre Dame at 9:30  on ESPN.

On Saturday, Dec. 11, at the brand new CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Rutgers will take on Auburn on ESPN2, followed by Pittsburgh vs. Tennessee on ESPN. Game times for the Pittsburgh site will be announced at a later date. (more…)

Ryan Arcidiacono drove to the hoop for a reverse layup last Friday night at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in North Carolina when an opposing player undercut him and sent him flying to the floor.

“The kid shoved me and took my legs out and my face hit the ground pretty hard,” recalled Arcidiacono, a 16-year-old rising junior at Neshaminy (Pa.) High School. “It just hurt. It felt like I had a golf ball in my face. I had blood on my hands. It was just gushing blood.”

It was after midnight when Gene Rice, Arcidiacono’s AAU coach with the PA Playaz, took his 6-foot-4, 190-pound point guard to the Wake Forest University Medical Center where he took eight stitches in the forehead.

“The doctor said if it was his kid he wouldn’t let me play [the next day],” Arcidiacono said. (more…)

Despite swirling rumors around Mike Brey, Notre Dame officials say he remains the program’s head coach.

“Mike Brey is the basketball coach at Notre Dame,” university spokeswoman Bernadette Cafarelli said Tuesday afternoon by phone.

Various Internet sites indicate rumors are swirling around campus that Brey will be dismissed because of a violation of the university’s code of conduct.

If I learn more, I will post it.

(Photo courtesy Notre Dame Athletics)

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