Kelvin Amayo wants to play in the Big East Conference but is uncertain if he will end up there.

Amayo’s teammates at Newark Nia Prep, Shaquille Thomas (Cincinnati) and Ryan Rhoomes (TCU), are both headed to the Big East (TCU beginning in 2012), and he wants the chance to compete against them.

“I want to play against Shaq and Ryan,” the Hillside, N.J., said Friday by phone. “I gotta kill Shaq and Ryan when they get to the Big East.”

Right now, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Amayo is considering Seton Hall, Towson and the College of Charleston. He will take officials next week to Towson (Tuesday) and Charleston (Thursday). (more…)

Newark NIA Prep combo guard Kelvin Amayo will take an official visit Thursday to Rice University along with coach Rudy King.

Alif Muhammad of NIA Prep said Louisville coach Rick Pitino also called Amayo Tuesday to express interest.

The 6-foot-5 Amayo is considering Rice and Towson, but Virginia Tech and Wyoming have also expressed interest.

Muhammad said Rutgers was no longer an option for Amayo.

Having lost Tyree Graham to injury and Mike Taylor to prep school, Mike Rice’s club is also considering Brewster (N.H.) Academy guard Eli Carter, Huntington (WV) Prep combo guard Maurice Aniefiok and 6-4 shooting guard Chris Adams of MACK Prep in Charlotte, N.C.

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UNION, N.J. — Kelvin Amayo turned up Sunday at Kean University to watch the St. Benedict’s-St. Patrick game with his NIA Prep teammates.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound fifth-year point guard shared the gym with Rutgers head coach Mike Rice, Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard and other coaches, which seems only appropriate since he’s being courted by various Big East schools.

“I have offers from Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Colorado, Iowa State, some more schools,” Amayo, a Hillside, N.J. native, said during a break in the action. “Arizona State just came in today, so I don’t have no favorite right now.” (more…)

NEW YORK — Jarelle Reischel wrestled hard with his college decision before announcing Wednesday.

The 6-foot-6, 208-pound wing from Point Pleasant Beach (N.J.) High had narrowed his options to Penn State, Rice and Seton Hall before ultimately choosing Rice.

“They really believe and care about me,” Reischel told ZAGSBLOG.com. “I think it’s an opportunity where I can play right away in Conference  USA.

“Coach [Ben] Braun is a great coach. He’s had a lot of success. He’s had 21 pros through his years. He has the experience. He knows the position I have to be to make it to the next level.” (more…)

Freddie Wilson, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound combo guard from New Haven (Conn.) Hillhouse, signed with Seton Hall, according to Hillhouse coach Ty Sullivan.

Wilson, who averaged 21 points, eight assists and five rebounds, also considered Fordham and Drexel.

“He’s a combination guard,” New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski said. “Very high energy. Quick, very aggressive. Never takes a step backward. He attacks the basket and is always in attack mode. Not a pure point, not a pure shooter, but very high energy. He can be a very good press player.” (more…)

Jarelle Reischel, a 6-foot-6, 204-pound wing from Point Pleasant Beach (N.J.) High, has shuffled his visits a bit.

Having already visited Rice officially, Reischel will visit Seton Hall Oct. 14, Georgetown Oct. 21, Penn State Oct. 30 and Temple at a date TBD.

“They’re all kind of equal,” he said Friday by phone. “I visited all of them unofficially. I’ll get a better feel for which school will lead after I take my official visits.”

Reischel was born in Hamburg, Germany because his father, Terry Carter, who was born on Long Island, was in the military. He is currently stationed in Kuwait. (more…)

Jarelle Reischel, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound wing from Point Pleasant Beach (N.J.) High, has settled on five schools.

He visits Rice Thursday, Georgetown (Oct. 8), Seton Hall (Oct. 14), Penn State (Oct. 28) and Temple (TBD), according to his high school coach, Nick Catania.

“They’re all in a pretty good position,” Catania said. “They’ve all worked pretty hard at it. That’s coming from him.” (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…)

UConn is holding a press conference at 10 a.m. on Friday to announce an update to the NCAA investigation of its men’s basketball program.

What the press release from UConn announcing the presser did not mention — and what The Hartford Courant first reported — is that assistant coach Pat Sellers and director of basketball operations Beau Archibald have resigned from the staff in the wake of the investigation.

Sellers did not immediately respond to a text message and a voicemail seeking comment. (more…)

Hit the Video Player at right for my interview with Kimani Young, the former St. John’s assistant and current AD at New Heights Youth.

Kimani has been on both sides of the college recruiting game and knows it as well as anybody. He’s in a unique position to be able to advise young men on their futures because he’s worked at the college level and the AAU level.

In this interview, Kimani breaks down the recruitments of his Big 3 seniors: JayVaughn Pinkston, Devon Collier and Ashton Pankey.

Of the 6-foot-6 Pinkston out of Bishop Loughlin, he says: “I think that Villanova is probably the perfect scenario for a kid like JayVaughn and many other kids in New York City, a place where winning has been there. A great academic institution. The coaching…But his options are still open.”

Pinkston will visit St. John’s for Red Storm Tip-Off on Thursday, and then he will go to Villanova’s “hoops-mania” on Friday.  Then he will probably go to Seton Hall the following weekend. He is also considering Tennessee and Marquette.

Kimani says Pinkston may wait until the late signing period. (more…)