I’m here at St. John’s for the “Summer in the City” event on the last day of the July recruiting period and some big name coaches are still working hard, including Kentucky’s John Calipari, Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl, Seton Hall’s Bobby Gonzalez, St. John’s Norm Roberts, Villanova’s Jay Wright, St. Joe’s Phil Martelli, Iona’s Kevin Willard and [...]

The July recruiting period begins this week and several high profile camps are taking place, including the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio;  the Reebok All-American Camp in Philly; and the Hoop Group Elite Camp  in in Reading, Pa.
The Nike folks don’t release the LeBron roster until Monday, but here are some of the [...]

New York point guard Lamont “Momo” Jones spent the last couple of days visiting Florida and will land in Arizona Thursday night.
The 5-foot-11 Jones got his release from USC after Tim Floyd stepped down and will likely land at Arizona or Florida. Memphis is also interested but sources say he likely won’t land there.
Jones’ Godfather [...]

Vincent Council and Beas Hamga both missed their recruiting visits to Rutgers for last Wednesday’s Pittsburgh game and are still deciding on their future destinations.
“He never made it to the Rutgers visit,” Vincent Council Sr. said. “So they’re going to reschedule another one.”
The 6-foot-2 Council plays at The Patterson (NC) School, the No. 1 prep [...]

A couple of tall African basketball players — Beas Hamga and Ibrahima Thomas – are back on the market.

Hamga, a 7-foot, 225-pound native of Cameroon, is considering transferring from UNLV to Ole Miss, South Carolina or Rutgers. He secured his release from UNLV.
“I know he’s going to visit Ole Miss and South Carolina and he’s [...]

Oklahoma State commit Karron Johnson and former Wadleigh (NY) star Curtis Loving have been dismissed from Mount Zion (N.C.) Academy and will enroll at Laurinburg (N.C.) Prep, according to a source.
Johnson, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound power forward, recently chose Oklahoma State over UAB, Memphis and Seton Hall. Loving is a 6-5 small forward. We hope [...]

St. Benedict’s Prep finished a perfect trip to the Marshall County HoopFest by beating Whitney Young of Chicago 69-55 Saturday night.
Texas-bound junior Tristan Thompson led the Gray Bees, No. 4 in the ESPN poll, with 22 points, Rice-bound guard Tamir Jackson added 16 points and sophomore point guard Myck Kabongo scored 12. Gilvydas Biruta added [...]

The Marshall County Hoop Hoopfest continues to be a good place for Dan Hurley’s St. Benedict’s Gray Bees to play.
A year ago, Tamir Jackson lit up Brandon Jennings and Oak Hill for 29 points in an upset victory on the ESPN networks.
This year, Texas commit Tristan Thompson (pictured) posted a double-double of 18 points and [...]

Here are a few notes from around the world of recruiting…
**Patterson (N.C.) head coach Chris Chaney says point guard Vincent Council of New York has offers/interest from Providence, Rutgers Charlotte and Arkansas and is “leaning toward Providence.” The 6-foot-2 Council is averaging 13 points and 10 assists for Patterson, ranked No. 3 in the National [...]

Spoke today to Fatah Muraisi, the adviser to Teeng Akol and John Riek and he had these quick updates on his guys…
**Akol, who once played at Our Savior New American on Long Island, was cleared by the NCAA on Monday and practiced for the first time yesterday with Oklahoma State. The 6-foot-11 native of the [...]