“Yeah, I think so,” Calvin Lamb said by phone. “He’ll commit soon but he’ll sign in the spring.”

The 6-foot-4 Lamb has visited UConn, Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma and may still get out to see Arizona.

“Arizona, if it fits into the schedule I don’t see why not,” Calvin said. “He’s so busy with his games and Arizona’s busy, too.”

Lamb visited UConn over the weekend and Calvin said it went well.

“That was a really good visit. I can’t complain, really nice,” Calvin said.

Coach Jim Calhoun pitched the proximity of the campus to Queens, where the Lambs live.

“He said it’s close to home,” Calvin said. “He’ll be home but not too close to home. It’s easier for his parents to get to the games.”

Doron will return home on Saturday for the Thanksgiving break and Calvin said they will talk things over then.

“He comes home this weekend we’ll sit down and we can discuss everything when he gets home,” he said.

PITTSBURGH SIGNS THREE

Pitt continues to do well in the New York/New Jersey area.

The Panthers announced the signing of three players, guard Isaiah Epps (Plainfield, N.J./Hargrave Military Academy/Plainfield H.S.), forward J.J. Moore (Brentwood, N.Y./South Kent Academy, Conn.) and guard Cameron Wright (Cleveland, Ohio/Benedictine H.S.).

Epps, Moore and Wright will enroll at Pitt in August, 2010 as freshmen. Moore committed to the Panthers last Wednesday.

“We are extremely excited about Isaiah, J.J. and Cameron,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “All three are good players from winning programs and all three have an outstanding work ethic.”

WEST VIRGINIA ADDS 7-FOOTER

West Virginia signed David Nyarsuk, a 7-foot-1, 230-pound center currently attending MountainState Academy in Beckley, W.Va.

I saw him play last year for Chris Chaney at The Patterson (N.C.) and he was raw but very athletic. He averaged 10.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.

Nyarsuk came to the United States as part of the African Hoop Opportunities Providing an Education (A-HOPE) Foundation in 2008. A-HOPEis a non-profit charity that helps student-athletes from Africa, who donot have the means to advance their education in their home countries,with educational opportunities in the United States.

Nyarsuk is ranked No. 19 at his position by ESPN.com/Scouts Inc., and is rated as a 3-star by Rivals.com.

“We’re excited about David’s ability to be a game changer at thedefensive end of the floor,” Mounties coach Bob Huggins said. “His ability to changeshots around the basket, as well as run the floor, will fit well intowhat we want to do at both ends of the floor. David is an extremely hardworker which is what we have prided ourselves on.”

Nyarsuk joins Noah Cottrill, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard from Logan,W.Va., in this year’s recruiting class.

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JayVaughn Pinkston, a 6-6 combo forward from Brooklyn Bishop Loughlin considered the top prospect in New York City, will announce at 3 p.m. Wednesday at his school.

The Daily News reported on its Website Tuesday that sources indicated Pinkston would announce for Tennessee, but New Heights athletic director Kimani Young said, “Nobody confirmed that.”

Pinkston is expected to announce from among Villanova, Tennessee, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Marquette.

If Pinkston picks Tennessee, it could well have an impact on what Tobias Harris says at his announcement Thursday on ESPNU since both play the same position.

“There’s no way they’re going to the same school,” said a Division 1 assistant coach recruiting one of the players.

Torrel Harris, Tobias’ dad, said it would be Tobias’ decision, but that the two players could potentially coexist on the same team.

“They’re two different players,” Torrel said. “JayVaughn is a power forward and Tobias, he can do it all. I think if he [Pinkston] did go there [Tennessee], they’ll both play a lot.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the 6-8 Harris, a senior at Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, had finished up his final visit — to Georgia Tech.

“We had a great visit,” Torrel said. “Coach [Paul] Hewitt is a great teacher, a lot of teaching. In the practices, his players go really hard. He’s got a great group of guys, high-character players on the team. They get a lot of guys to the NBA. A lot of one-and-dones, two-and-dones.

“We met with the president of the school, met with the academic advisors. Just watched a lot of practices and films.”

Torrel said the family would spend the next several days picking a school from among Syracuse, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Louisville, Maryland and Georgia Tech.

Conventional wisdom says Harris will pick from among Syracuse, Tennessee, Louisville and West Virginia.

If Pinkston chooses Tennessee Wednesday, we may know a little more about where Harris ends up.

“That’s not my decision,” Torrel said. “That’s Tobias’ decision. We haven’t talked about that.”

TERRENCE JONES LIKELY TO SIGN LATE

Linda Mashia-Jones, the mother of five-star forward Terrence Jones, said her son will likely wait until the spring to sign.

“It’s looking that way,” she said Tuesday. “I can’t say for sure unless he has a breakout tomorrow [Wednesday] and calls me and tells me he’s ready to make a decision.”

She added: “He’s still waiting. He still wants to wait.”

A 6-foot-8 forward from Portland (Ore.) Jefferson, Jones and his mother visited UCLA two weeks ago. He is considering UCLA, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and Kentucky.

The early signing period runs Nov. 11-18.

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The 6-foot-8 Smith told me during a recent interview that he had decided where he wanted to go from among Georgetown, UConn and Duke and he then told Borges he had a frontrunner.

He’s not saying which school is his leader, but Smith has taken officials to Conn and Georgetown and an unofficial to Duke.

He broke down the pros of all three schools in a recent interview with me.

“I liked the history of Duke, the great players that came through Duke, Carlos Boozer, Grant Hill and Elton Brand,” he said.

“UConn, the same thing, the history. I like Jim Calhoun, the head coach, and his experience of sending people to the NBA and the former players Caron Butler, Ray Allen and Rudy Gaye.

“Georgetown, I like them because of the same thing. [David] Wingate, Allen Iverson [went to the pros]. I like the head coach [John Thompson III].

“All three of the head coaches, I felt a great connection.”

Smith put up 29 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks on Friday as Oak Hill routed Winston Salem Prep 100-69.

As for the 6-4 Lamb, he is on UConn’s campus today (Sunday) and is considering Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona and UConn. He has visited every school but Arizona.

“I’m just looking for a good coaching staff, a winning school, good players that I can work around,” he told Borges. “A school that’s basketball-first.”

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We don’t know which program because Barnes is keeping his cards very close to the vest.

Barnes, ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2010 by Rivals and out of Ames (Iowa) High, will announce from among Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma, UCLA and hometown Iowa State.

The smart money says it’s either Duke or North Carolina.

“I would say I’ve just scratched the surface of how deep that lies,” Barnes told the Des Moines Register in reference to the hatred between those two Tobacco Road programs. “I kind of expected it would be that way, because they’re two of the top programs in the country and they’re only miles apart.”

The 6-foot-6 Barnes has connections to both schools, He and Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick guard Kyrie Irving are very tight, with Irving referring to Barnes as his “big brother” when he recently announced for Duke.

“I’ll let the Duke coaching staff handle that,” Irving told ESPNU. “Harrison’s like a big brother to me. We talk all the time, but mainly it’s not about Duke. He’s his own man and he’s going to make his own decision and whatever decision he makes I’m going to be happy for him.”

Barnes also has a friendship with North Carolina commit Kendall Marshall and visited the Carolina campus the weekend they had their alumni game featuring none other than Michael Jordan.

Fun,” the 6-foot-6 Barnes wrote in a text after that visit. “The atmosphere. The past and present were all together and it was fun to think of being part of a tradition like that.”

Brian McLawhorn, publisher of Devils Illustrated.com, told the Des Moines Register there might be an epic meltdown if Barnes picks North Carolina over Duke.

“That would be an end-of-the-world scenario,” McLawhorn said.

The potential end-of-the-world is only a few hours away now… 

BIG VISITS ON TAP

Several of the highest profile players in the Class of 2010 will take visits this weekend as a prelude to likely signing n the spring:

**Lake Baltimore (Md.) Clifton guard Josh Selby visits Indiana. He is also looking at Kentucky, Kansas, Miami and Syracuse.

“We’re going to sign late, because it’s only fair to give every school that he’s interested in an opportunity,” Selby’s mother, Maeshon Witherspooon, told USA Today. “We’re going to visit Indiana this week, and we’re working on setting a date to visit Kentucky and Syracuse.”

**Oak Hill (Va.) shooting guard Doron Lamb will visit UConn this weekend (Saturday-Monday) and will likely sign late. He has visited Kansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma and may still visit Arizona.

**Brandon Knight, the nation’s No. 1 prospect out of Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest, will visit Florida this  weekend. He has been to Kentucky, Kansas and UConn and appears to be signing late.

**Dix Hills (NY) Half Hollow Hills West forward Tobias Harris heads to Maryland today and Georgia Tech next week. He has already seen Syracuse, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville and West Virginia. His father says he will sign Nov. 18 and announce Nov. 19.

BEYOND THE X’S AND O’S CLINIC

The Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair, N.J. will host a clinic called “Beyond the X’s and O’s” on Nov. 20 from 8:30-noon. The speakers include former Nets coach Butch Beard, Rutgers men’s coach Fred Hill, Montclair State coach Ted Fiore and Seton Hall women’s coach Phyllis Mangina. All coaches will receive four hours of professional in-service credit. For more info contact David Kaplan at david.yogi@montclair.edu

(Photo courtesy AP)

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JayVaughn Pinkston, a 6-foot-6 forward from Bishop Loughlin considered the top prospect in the Big Apple, hasn’t picked a school yet and may or may not sign late.

“We cannot say definitively,” New Heights athletic director Kimani Young said Wednesday morning. “There’s still a possibility that he commits early.

“He’s still going through the recruiting process even as of this week to figure out if he’s decided 100 percent where he wants to go to.”

Pinkston, who recently led New Heights to the is8 championship by scoring a combined 59 points in the semis and finals, will choose from among Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Tennessee and Marquette.

Villanova appears to be the leader for his services.

“He’s thinking about it,” Young said of the recruiting process. “He’s not taking any more visits.”

***Doron Lamb, a 6-4 shooting guard from Queens who plays for Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, appears as if he will wait until the spring signing period. He has visited Oklahoma, Kansas and Kentucky and will visit UConn Nov. 15-16. He may also visit Arizona, but likely not until after the early signing period ends Nov. 18.

Pinkston and Lamb are among a group of elite 2010 prospects who may not sign until the spring. Guards Josh Selby and Brandon Knight and forwards Roscoe Smith, C.J. Leslie and Terrence Jones also may sign in the spring.

Selby will visit Indiana Nov. 14, while Knight will hit Florida Nov. 13. Leslie is also planning a visit to Florida, but no date has yet been set.

While that group may wait, several elite area players are poised to sign early.

***Tobias Harris, a 6-8 forward from Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, says he will announce on Nov. 19.

Harris has visited Syracuse, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville and West Virginia and will visit Maryland (Nov. 13-14) and Georgia Tech (Nov. 16-17) due up in the next week.

“When we finish all the visits, Tobias will decide,” Torrel Harris, his father, said recently. “Right now all of them are equal. Every one is better and better.”

***J.J. Moore, a 6-5 wing from Brentwood, N.Y., who plays at South Kent (Conn.), could announce at any time. He will choose from among Pittsburgh, Louisville and St. John’s.

**Russell Smith, a 6-2 shooting guard from The Bronx who also plays at South Kent, will visit Louisville this weekend and is expected to sign with the Cardinals once he receives a formal scholarship offer.

“They love him,” Russell Smith Sr. said. “That’s a good thing. Rick [Pitino's] been following him for a while, watching him play. They said they definitely want him.”

***Rod Odom, a 6-8 wing from Long Island who plays at Concord (Mass.) Middlesex, will sign with Vanderbilt Wednesday. He initially committed to Arizona and then changed his plans.

***Fuquan Edwin, a 6-6 wing from Paterson (N.J.) Catholic, signed with Seton Hall Tuesday night and faxed in his papers Wednesday morning.

**Rutgers recruit Austin Carroll says he will sign Thursday. Was too busy Wednesday with classes and road game 3 hours away.

**Ashton Pankey, a 6-9, 225-pound forward from New York who plays at St. Anthony, will visit Houston this weekend and will then decide between Houston and Maryland, which he visited last weekend.

“He really liked Maryland and I know he wants to be able to compare Maryland to another school,” St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley said.

“He’ll make a decision right after his visit,” Young added.

**Three other St. Anthony players have already committed and are expected to sign early: Devon Collier (Oregon State), Derrick Williams (Richmond) and Eli Carter (St. Bonaventure).

Hurley said the school likely will host a signing event for all four players next Tuesday.

**St. Patrick senior guard Kyrie Irving  signed Wednesday with Duke and his teammate, Derrick Gordon, chose Western Kentucky.

**St. Benedict’s senior guard Aaron Brown will sign with Temple Wednesday, while his 6-8 teammate Gil Biruta will visit Rutgers this weekend.

**As first reported here, Rice senior guard Shane Southwell has committed to Kansas State and will sign Wednesday.

“I just received my papers,” he wrote by text.

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Harrison Barnes,

The 6-foot-6 Barnes has reportedly not ruled out any of the six schools he is considering — UCLA, Duke, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa State.

“I have enjoyed all of the officials, but it’s going to be good to make a decision next week,” Barnes told highschoolhoop.com in his diary.

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“It’s kind of 50-50 [whether he will sign early or late],” Linda Mashia-Jones said of her son’s plans. “He’s just undecided.”

A 6-foot-8 forward from Portland (Ore.) Jefferson, Jones and his mother visited UCLA this past weekend. He is considering the Bruins, along with Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington and Kentucky.

The early signing period runs Nov. 11-18.

“Hopefully [we will meet] by Wednesday,” Linda said.

Asked if there was a favorite, she said: “They’re all equal at this point.”

As for the UCLA visit, Linda said it went very well and she’s a fan of the nice weather in L.A.

“It was beautiful weather,” she said. “That definitely was a plus for me. It was nice to see some sunshine and get out of the rain.”

Terrence and Linda went to a Lakers game on their own Friday night and on Saturday Terrence watched a two-and-a-half-hour practice while Linda had dinner with head coach Ben Howland and his wife.

Forward Mike Moser, a fellow Portland native, and fellow freshman Tyler Honeycutt hosted Jones.

Linda said she liked how the UCLA campus is set up, with the dorms, athletic facilities and classrooms all near one another.

“I thought the UCLA campus was very student friendly,” Linda said.

Jones has one official visit remaining and could potentially go to Kansas or Arizona, but Linda said there were no plans for that at this point.

“That was our last official visit,” she said. “We have one more we could take but we haven’t scheduled anything and as far as I know there’s nothing in the works.”

JUST’IN-LOVE SMITH MAKES GOD SHAMMGOD PRESEASON LIST

Sources said Siena looked very strong in its scrimmage this weekend against Rutgers. Junior forward Ryan Rossiter of Staten Island had 23 points in 25 minutes and senior forward Alex Franklin scored 19. Mike Rosario (ankle) and Hamady N’Diaye (knee) did not play for Rutgers. Rosario will try to practice today (Monday), sources said. Rutgers opens the season Saturday against Marist at the RAC.

Speaking of Siena, the Saints have a player on their roster whose name is Just’in-love Smith.

Here’s his official bio if you don’t believe me.

“My mother said that she was `just in love’ with me, so that’s what she named me …. Just’in-love,” Smith, who is from East Greenbush, N.Y., reportedly said.

“I knew that kid for a whole year and didn’t realize that’s how you spelled his name,” said a source close to the program. “I thought his name was ‘Justin Love.’”

No, Justin Love is an artist in Brooklyn.

Smith has already made the Preseason Watch List for the 2009-10 God Shammgod Award.

PANKEY TO ANNOUNCE NEXT WEEK

Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony forward Ashton Pankey visited Maryland this past weekend and will visit Houston this coming weekend.

“He will decide and sign next week,” New Heights coach Jeff Rivera said.

(Photo courtesy Rivals, Siena Athletics)

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“We’re still working out the details,” Judge Johnston, the Ames (Iowa) High School activities director, said Thursday morning by phone. “There’s a lot of stuff going on out there in the Internet world.”

Barnes is considering defending NCAA champion North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, UCLA, Oklahoma and Iowa State.

Various reports have had the 6-foot-6 Barnes announcing Nov. 12 or 13, and Johnston said Nov. 13 was the target date.

“We’re shooting for that date [Nov. 13] but still that’s not even confirmed,” Johnston said.

“He’s going to take his last unofficial visit to Iowa State [this weekend] and then we’re going to finalize the details after that,” he added. “There’s still some moving parts working into the decision of the exact announcement and timing and ESPN all that.”

ESPNU has hosted announcements for various high school stars.

Johnston said he hopes to know when the announcement will take place by Monday.

“I’m hoping the first thing Monday morning we’ve got a final decision,” he said.

(Photo courtesy Justin Hayworth/Des Moines Register)

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After talking with both players and their fathers, it appears that neither player has made up his mind about college.

The 6-foot-7 Smith has visited UConn and Georgetown officially and Duke unofficially. The date for his official visit to Duke has not been set yet. He will choose from among those three schools.

“I’m going to think about it for a while,” Smith said.

He broke down the pros of all three schools.

“I liked the history of Duke, the great players that came through Duke, Carlos Boozer, Grant Hill and Elton Brand,” he said.

“UConn, the same thing, the history. I like Jim Calhoun, the head coach, and his experience of sending people to the NBA and the former players Caron Butler, Ray Allen and Rudy Gaye.

“Georgetown, I like them because of the same thing. [David] Wingate, Allen Iverson [went to the pros]. I like the head coach [John Thompson III].

“All three of the head coaches, I felt a great connection.”

As for the 6-4 Lamb, he just returned from an official to Kentucky and after speaking with his father, Calvin, Sunday morning, I caught up with Doron Sunday night.

He has visited Oklahoma, Kansas and Kentucky and said all three schools remain “equal” in his mind.

Lamb, a Queens, N.Y., native, still hopes to visit UConn and Arizona, likely in November since Oak Hill has a game Oct. 30.

“I think I’m going to visit UConn and Arizona,” he said.

Asked if he knew exactly when, he replied, “I don’t know.”

As for the Kentucky visit, Lamb said: “It was good. I enjoyed it. The team was cool, the coaching staff was cool. I watched two practices.

“[Kentucky coach John Calipari] said I would fit in well with the system because of my offensive ability. I have a good flow with my offense.”

As for what comes next, Lamb said he will wait and see.

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “Wait and see how it goes.”

Calvin Lamb told me earlier that his son faced a “tough choice” because all  of the options were so appealing.

“I think it’s going to be a tough choice for him,” Calvin said Sunday morning after he settled into his plane flight home from Kentucky.

“There are so many good systems and universities that are recruiting him. It’s going to be tough.”

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Lamb, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard out of Queens, N.Y., who plays at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy and is ranked No. 3 nationally at his position by Rivals, has now taken officials to Oklahoma, Kansas and Kentucky.

“I think it’s going to be a tough choice for him,” Calvin said Sunday morning after he settled into his plane flight home from Kentucky.

“There are so many good systems and universities that are recruiting him. It’s going to be tough.”

When I recently asked Lamb if he had a leader, he said: “It’s a three-way tie out of Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma.”

UConn, Arizona and St. John’s are also recruiting Lamb but Calvin said no new visits have been set. Lamb cannot visit any school next weekend because Oak Hill begins its season, so he would have to wait until November to visit another school.

“We’re not just considering those three schools that we visited,” Calvin said.

As for Kentucky, Lamb wasn’t able to go for Big Blue Madness the previous weekend when UK hosted Achraf Yacoubou (who later committed to Villanova), Kyrie Irving (who later committed to Duke), Michael Gilchrist and Tobias Harris.

Lamb was at Kansas that weekend.

During his trip to Kentucky, things went well.

“The visit was nice,” Calvin said. “We spent time with the coach [John Calipari] and the team and watched the practices. We had dinner and talked.”

Calvin said Calipari told them that Doron “knows how to get to the basket off the dribble” and that Kentucky’s system will “really open it up for him.”

As for what comes next, Calvin said he will have to consult with his son.

“I will wait to see what Doron wants and we’ll go from there,” Calvin said.

He added: “I don’t know when he wants to decide. I really don’t.”

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