The Knicks chose not to add Allen Iverson to their roster and will move forward without him.

“We’re not going to be making additions at this time to our team,” Knicks President Donnie Walsh said, according to The New York Times. “So I guess that ends the speculation about Allen Iverson. It really has nothing to do with Allen Iverson. It’s just a stage that our team is in right now: what we’ve been trying to do since we got here in building a team for the future. It did get interesting for a while because Allen’s a great player, has always been a great player.

“You’re 1-9, you’re going to start thinking, ‘Well, we got to get some help in here.’”

The Knicks had considered adding the 10-time NBA All-Star and four-time scoring champion to boost a team that has endured the worst start in franchise history and is 2-9 entering Saturday’s game at the winless Nets (0-12).

Neither Walsh nor head coach Mike D’Antoni spoke directly with Iverson before the decision was made, reports said.

As of Friday afternoon, Iverson had not made a public comment and hadn’t updated his Twitter account since Nov. 2.

The Knicks have cleared salary cap space to make a run at the vaunted free agent Class of 2010 that includes LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Still, they could have added Iverson on a one-year rental at the veteran’s minimum of $1.3 million without hindering their long-term plans. Had Iverson helped the team win a few more games and created a buzz around lifeless Madison Square Garden, it also could have made the situation more appealing for the free agents.

On the other hand, the Knicks had to consider whether adding Iverson would have poisoned the locker room culture and stunted the development of the young players they are trying to groom for the future, Danilo  Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and rookies Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill.

“We are always looking to improve the team, but Coach D’Antoni and I both feel an addition could hurt the development of the current players by taking away their minutes,” Walsh said, according to Tweets from reporters.

Another factor, according to Walsh, was the healthy return of 6-foot-11 center Eddy Curry. Curry looked good in his debut in Indiana Wednesday night, scoring 10 points in 11 minutes. He suffered a torn right calf muscle on the first day of training camp but then underwent a significant weight-loss program and looks better than ever. D’Antoni told reporters Curry will play more minutes against the Nets.

“That’s part of it, because Eddy is now on the team and we’ve got to develop a lot of attention to Eddy from a franchise standpoint, because he went out there in 11 minutes and I thought actually changed the game in a lot of ways,” Walsh said, according to ESPN.com. “Their big guys were having their way with us, which big men do because David [Lee] is not a natural center, and when Eddy went in — just the fact that he could take the ball and go at them — I could see they went back on their heels and they weren’t the same after that no matter who was playing. I thought he helped us win the game right there. He’s got a lot of talent, he’s got great size, you can see he’s worked on his body tremendously, so yeah, Eddy is a guy we’re very high on, and we wanted to work with him.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the Knicks were still considering adding Iverson, 34. At 6 p.m., Iverson passed through waivers, meaning the Knicks or another team could sign him.

But on Thursday evening the organization decided that it was not worth it because of the chemistry problems Iverson might create.

Iverson lasted only three games with the Memphis Grizzlies this season because he was unhappy coming off the bench. In New York he would likely have cost either Chris Duhon or Larry Hughes his starting job.

“If there’s more cons than pros, then we probably won’t do it,” D’Antoni said Thursday.

Knicks owner Jim Dolan was reportedly opposed to the move, but would have supported it had Walsh and D’Antoni been on board.

“I think to a degree we’ve been misleading, because we didn’t know what we were going to do,” he said.

Many fans, and even some in the media, were in favor of adding Iverson, but Walsh said he wasn’t concerned with that.

“I don’t think you can build a basketball team based on polls,” he said.

(Photo courtesy AP)

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NEW YORK — Tobias Harris

The 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior forward from Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West High School stepped out with his father, Torrel, and assumed his position on the set in a gray suit with an orange shirt.

About 30 Syracuse fans sat behind him in the restaurant and soon began to boo as he said, “I’m going to be playing my college basketball at the University of Tennessee.”

“Rough crowd,” Harris later quipped.

Harris chose the SEC school over Syracuse, West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland and Georgia Tech. He is ranked No. 5 overall in the Class of 2010 and No. 1 among power forwards.

“I liked the family atmosphere, the campus,” he said. “It was a place I could imagine going to if I wasn’t playing basketball. I can talk to coach [Bruce] Pearl about anything.”

He added:  “We really liked Syracuse and all the other schools, but at the end of the day we liked Tennessee a little more….I’m ready to try to bring them to the Final Four.”

Harris called Pearl about midnight Wednesday to inform him of the decision.

“He was just floored,” Torrel said. “He was yelling, screaming. It was like the happiest day of his life.”

Harris became the story of the summer after transforming his body through a workout program in his hometown. He was one of the top players on the summer AAU circuit and soon became the object of desire virtually every major program in the nation.

“His potential is limitless,” said New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski. ”He’s always had a very high skill level for his size and he has a very sophisticated feel for the game.

“The only thing is he had such a coltish young body, he’s had to grow into his body. He’s done a great job of that working with a personal trainer. He’s made huge strides in terms of his agility and quickness and strength. The consequences of that is that he plays so much harder. I think he’s still growing. He’s 6-8, he may end up 6-10. I really think he can be a terrific player.”

Harris and his father made a surprise visit to Tennessee Tuesday night after taking their final visit to Georgia Tech. It was Tobias’ second visit to the SEC school, following an official visit that was the second of his seven visits. He and his father watched Pearl win his 100th game at the school.

“We went to the game and tried to be anonymous and sat way, way high in the stands,” Torrel said. “We had always liked Tennessee. When we saw the game, how they pressed fullcourt, how they run, how they play a pro offense, at that point we liked it.”

Torrel said Tobias went out to his high school Wednesday night to work out and then came home at about 10 p.m. and said: “I know the school I want to go to. I want to go to Tennessee.”

Bishop Loughlin forward JayVaughn Pinkston was set to announce Wednesday, likely for Tennessee, but then opted at the last minute to hold off, sparking speculation that Tennessee asked him to do so.

New Heights AD Kimani Young said that wasn’t the case, and that Pinkston simply wasn’t “100 percent certain.”

Harris said he would welcome the opportunity to play with Pinkston at Tennessee.

“He’s a great player,” Harris said.  “That’s his decision. The more better players you have the better chance you have to win a national championship.”

(Photo courtesy AP)

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GREENBURGH, N.Y. — -Allen Iverson

Knicks president Donnie Walsh has spoken to a “few people” about Iverson, including Charlotte coach Larry Brown, who coached Iverson in Philadelphia, but the Knicks have still not decided whether or not to pursue the 10-time All-Star if he does clear waivers.

“I’m still not decided and I don’t think we are decided,” Walsh said Thursday after practice.

Asked if he had a timeframe on when he would like to have a decision made, Walsh said, “Not really.”

That means there’s a chance nothing could happen Thursday night?

“Yes,” Walsh said.

Iverson, 34, and the Memphis Grizzlies parted ways Monday and the Knicks are investigating whether or not to add him to their roster. The Daily News also reported that the Miami Heat were interested in adding Iverson.

New York has an open roster spot and could offer Iverson the $1.3 million veteran’s minimum. Walsh said he wouldn’t spend his mid-level exception on him.

Iverson signed a one-year, $3.1 million deal with Memphis before the season but played only three games before leaving for what were termed personal reasons. Iverson appeared not to be happy coming off the bench.

Walsh said he had not yet spoken to Iverson, but head coach Mike D’Antoni would like to before adding Iverson to the roster.

“I think that would be good, yeah,” D’Antoni said. “Usually before you do that, you have personal contact with a player and make sure that everybody’s on board and excited and ready to go.”

D’Antoni said the addition of Iverson for a one-year rental type situation would be consistent with the team’s long-term plans, which include freeing up salary cap space for a run at LeBron James and other free agents next summer.

“It’s always a fluid situation and it’s fluid right now and we’re just trying to determine what is the best for the organization and these players,” D’Antoni said. “If there’s more cons than pros, then we probably won’t do it.”

He added: “He’s a heck of a basketball player and we know that. That’s what I want to comment on for now. We’ll try to figure out what’s best for the Knicks.”

Walsh said he and D’Antoni will make the decision and then present it to team owner Jim Dolan for approval. Walsh said Dolan had not expressed any reservations thusfar based on Iverson’s past.

“They haven’t because I haven’t put it forth,” Walsh said. “In every NBA franchise, before you make any kind of a move you talk to the owner.”

FREE THROWS

D’Antoni said he was encouraged by the performance of Eddy Curry, who had 10 points in 11 minutes in his first game this season.

“Real encouraged,” he said. “For two or three things. One, after a year and half or two years without playing, I think that’s great.  You see it helps us with our second unit, it gives a focus of where the ball should go. And I think that he can only get better from here.”

If Curry can return and play meaningful minutes at the center spot, it would allow David Lee to move to the four.

“That definitely could happen,” D’Antoni said.

(Photo courtesy AP)

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Cleveland Melvin

Melvin, an East Baltimore, Md., chose UConn over Seton Hall and DePaul. South Florida and TCU also offered.

“A 6-8 kid that can move like he can, you gotta take a commitment from him,” Hurd said. “What their intrigued by is his athleticism. The kid flies around the floor and attacks the rim. We’re working on developing his perimeter game to the arc. He’s got a decent game to 16 feet or so. We want to get him out another three feet. That’s really going to make him a threat.”

Melvin joins 6-9 C Michael Bradley of Chattanooga, Tenn., and 6-4 SG Jeremy Lamb of Norcross, Ga., in UConn’s 2010 recruiting class.

(Photo courtesy New England Recruiting Report)

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12:30 - Knicks practice in Greenburgh,  N.Y. Knicks are coming off just their second win of the season last night in Indiana and the Allen Iverson buzz grows stronger every minute.

12:30 – Press conference for Newark Invitational in Newark. Bob and Dan Hurley and players from St. Anthony and St. Ben’s will be on hand to promote this stacked event Jan. 30, which includes a showdown between Duke-bound point guard Kyrie Irving of St. Patrick and Memphis-bound point guard Joe Jackson of Memphis (Tenn.) White Station.

6 p.m. - Iverson due to clear waivers and become a free agent. Is he a Knick by later today or tomorrow?

6 p.m. – Tobias Harris will announce his college choice at the ESPN Zone in midtown. The 6-foot-8 Harris out of Dix Hills Half Hollow Hills West High has already decided and will announce for either Tennessee, Syracuse, West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland and Georgia Tech. I’m thinking I may hit this and then hoof it quickly down to the Garden for…

7 p.m. – Syracuse vs. Cal in the Coaches vs. Cancer event at MSG. Will Jim Boeheim be celebrating Harris’ commitment to the Orange or lamenting his commitment to Tennessee or West Virginia?

9:30 p.m. – North Carolina vs. Ohio State at MSG. Second semifinal features former St. Patrick star Dexter Strickland and new-look defending NCAA champs against Evan Turner and the Buckeyes.

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Tobias Harris has made his college decision and will announce it at 6 p.m. Thursday on ESPNU.

“The decision has been made at 11:56 p.m. [Wednesday],” Torrel Harris wrote in a text. “The Tobias college world tour has ended. We appreciate all the great coaches who recruited Tobias.”

The 6-foot-8 Harris, a senior at Dix Hills (N.Y.) Half Hollow Hills West, will announce for one of the following schools: Syracuse, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisville, West Virginia, Maryland and Georgia Tech.

Harris and his father made a surprise stop at Tennessee on Tuesday night on their way back from the Georgia Tech visit.

“We made an unexpected visit to watch the game and congratulated the coach [Bruce Pearl] for his 100th win in the SEC and then we left,” Torrel said.

Tennessee routed UNC Asheville 124-49 for Pearl’s 100th win at the school. He became the second-fastest coach in school history to reach that mark.

Harris visited Maryland over the weekend and Georgia Tech from Sunday-Tuesday and was supposed to wrap things up there. Instead, he went back for another look at Tennessee. He had already taken his official there.

Combine this with the fact that Bishop Loughlin forward  JayVaughn Pinkston opted Wednesday to hold off on announcing – presumably for Tennessee — and it sure makes for some interesting developments.

Kimani Young of New Heights told me Pinkston simply wasn’t “100 percent” certain about his college choice and opted to wait. Makes sense.

At any rate, after seven visits Harris has decided based on a slew of factors his father mentioned:

A. Strong academics in my major (Entrepreneur/Sports Management)

B. The “feel” for the school, teammates, coaches

C. Winning program

D. Trust with coaches

E. Family within the team

F. Unselfishness of team players

G. Players’ coach

H. Program that Tobias wants to take to the next level

I. Top basketball schedule in the country

J. A team that will allow Tobias to be a point forward and plays an uptempo NBA style

K. School that’s well respected.

L. School that Tobias can make an immediate impact at

M. Coaches that can help push Tobias to improve his overall basketball game for the NBA

N. School that can help Tobias improve his defense for the next level.

O. Good student body

P. Good academic advisors

Stay tuned…

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Two.

Think about that.

Baseball isn’t typically played in November and it’s now 19 days into that month. (And we’re five days from my birthday in case anyone’s counting.)

The Yankees won 2 games in the World Series in November and until Wednesday’s win, the Knicks, Nets, Giants and Jets had combined to win one game — yes, one — in the month of November.

I know, I know. This stat was given on WFAN Tuesday and ESPN picked it up Wednesday morning. I’ve been using it all day. What an incredible stat.

Anyway, good job by the Knicks (2-9), who got 26 points from Al Harrington, 13 in the fourth quarter.

A much lighter Eddy Curry made his season debut and looked effective in scoring 10 points in 12 minutes in his first game of the season. Curry has been out after tearing his right calf muscle on the first day of training camp.

Of course, the elephant in the room is 34-year-old Allen Iverson, who becomes af free agent Thursday evening and whom the Knicks are actively considering signing for the veteran’s minimum ($1.3 million).

Howard Beck, the New York Times Knicks beat writer, posted this quote on his blog Thursday afternoon from a Knicks source in regards to the team’s interest in Iverson.

“It’s a given,” the source said. “They’re going to make the biggest play for him.”

While Iverson might cost Larry Hughes or Chris Duhon his job, some of the Knicks appear in favor of the move.

“I think it will help things,” Harrington said, according to the AP. “You got a guy who’s a proven scorer, probably a Hall-of-Famer. He can only do positive things, I think, to this team.”

That’s right. How much worse can it get?

This team needs an attraction to put fannies in the seats at MSG. It needs scoring. It needs a proven winner. It needs AI.

Sure, he’ll take some shots away from Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, but he’ll also drop 30 or 40 a few nights and light a spark under this team.

Can’t you just see him chest-bumping Curry after a dunk as Brandon Tierney mentioned tonight on the post-game show?

Can’t you see him bringing a few extra wins?

He’s a one-year rental for a team going nowhere. Why not go for it?

And hey, when the Knicks visit the winless Nets (0-12) on Saturday, who do you think the Yankees will be rooting for?

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Roberts is a 6-foot-7, 205-pound combo forward out of Bayonne, N.J. who plays at St. Peter’s Prep and for the Playaz Basketball Club. He chose the Johnnies over St. Joe’s.

“I signed to St. John’s today,” Roberts wrote by text. “I loved the coaches, the players, the atmosphere, the facilities and the campus. I had an offer from St. Joe’s but I wanted to fulfill my dream of playing in the Big East.”

Roberts led the Marauders in scoring (17.4 points per game), rebounding (11.0) and blocked shots (3.0) as a junior last season. He was selected as a first team all-county and all-league performer in 2008-09 for a Saint Peter’s squad that finished 23-3 as county champions and ranked seventh in the state.

“Ronald will be a great addition to our program. He is an outstanding young man who will give us versatility at the power forward and small forward positions,” said Johnnies coach Norm Roberts. “Ron has a great upside, and he comes from a terrific basketball family.”

St. John’s had previously tried and failed to land forwards Tobias Harris, Devon Collier and JayVaughn Pinkston. Harris will announce Thursday. Collier committed to Oregon State and Pinkston will wait until the spring.

JOSEPH CUTS LIST

Findlay Prep guard Cory Joseph has cut his list to five schools and won’t sign until the spring signing period.

“I cut it down to UConn, Texas, Villanova, Minnesota and UNLV,” Joseph wrote in a text.

He plans to visit UNLV the weekend of Dec. 11. The Rebels host Kansas State Dec. 12.

Joseph’s older brother, Devoe, is a sophomore guard at Minnesota.

Tristan Thompson, Joseph’s Findlay teammate and fellow Canadian, just signed with Texas, and Myck Kabongo, a junior guard at St. Benedict’s Prep also from Canada, has also verbally committed to play for head coach Rick Barnes.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Joseph had previously listed Florida and Mississippi State, but opted to take his fifth and final official to UNLV.

He is the No. 3 point guard in the Class of 2010.

FORDHAM HOSTING RECRUITS

Fordham snapped a 12-game losing streak to Sacred Heart Wednesdsay night with a 76-66 victory at Rose Hill Gym.

Chris Gaston, who played for both Bob and Dan Hurley at St. Anthony and St. Benedict’s, respectively, put up 22 points and 13 boards and former St. Anthony star Jio Fontan added 17 points and 7 assists. Brenton Butler scored 15 for the Rams (1-2) and Alberto Estwick, another former Bob Hurley product, added 12.

Fordham has hosted a bunch of stellar recruits in recent days. 6-5 senior guard Jayon James of Paterson Catholic, Sean Grennan, a 6-foot junior guard from Monsignor Donovan (N.J.), and 6-2 junior guard Xavier Munford of St. Benedict’s were at Wednesday’s game.

James; Paterson Catholic junior point guard Myles Mack; 6-7 PC sophomore guard Kyle Anderson; Jason Boswell, a 6-4 freshman wing from St. Patrick; Tiquan Goodlet, a 6-1 junior point guard from St. Anthony; Emmanuel Andujar, a 6-5 junior wing from Rice; Josh Gomez, a 6-9 junior post from Rice; and Theo Boyomo, a 6-9 senior from Kent (Conn.) School, were all at Fordham last Friday for the game against Maine.

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**First off, how about this loaded schedule that North Carolina has in the next couple of weeks? The defending NCAA champion Heels could play five ranked teams in an eight-game span.

They face No. 15 Ohio State Thursday in the Coaches vs. Cancer semis at MSG and could then face either unranked Syracuse or No. 13 Cal in Friday’s title game.

After two tilts against Gardner-Webb and Nevada at home, the Heels host No.2  Michigan State Dec. 1 and visit No. 4 Kentucky Dec. 5. After a home game with Presbyterian, the Heels play at No. 3 Texas Dec. 19.

“Perhaps I took one more game this year than I probably should have for this team,” Carolina coach Roy Williams said.

“You look at the poll and you have Michigan State, Texas, Kentucky 2, 3 or 4 and we’re playing all three of those and only one of them in the Smith Center. It is something that is difficult but the Texas game is the last one I took, but the idea of playing the first college basketball game in the Cowboys Stadium was intriguing to me. And looking back on it and looking at it as we get closer and closer, I said maybe I shouldn’t have done that but we’ll see how it works out.”

The Heels host Marshall, Rutgers and Albany before playing at the College of Charleston to close out the non-confernce. They begin ACC play Jan. 10 against Virginia Tech at home. 

Carolina hosts No. 9 Duke Feb. 10 and plays at Cameron Indoor to end the regular season March 6.

“We have played really good schedules but I think it’s important to be tested before you get into conference play because when you get into conference play I think you have to raise your play another level even over those big-time national games,” Williams said.

**Speaking of Duke and Carolina, I asked Strickland his thoughts on the recent commitments of former teammate Kyrie Irving (Duke) and Irving’s close friend Harrison Barnes (Carolina).

Strickland and Irving teamed up to lead Elizabeth (NJ) St. Patrick to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions crown in 2009, the program’s third in four years. This year the Celtics are ranked No. 1 in USA Today’s preseason poll and, with Irving, Michael Gilchrist, Derrick Gordon and Kevin Boyle Jr., are favored to win a fourth in five years.

Strickland on Irving’s decision: “I wasn’t surprised really because we’re close friends so we talked about it. I just told him before he picked to make the right decision and if you’re comfortable with it that’s a good school for you.”

He added: “I think it’s a good pick for him I just hope that that system doesn’t change who he is as a player. He’s a good scorer looking to score and I know Coach K is going to want to run the program and make him fit into the system. I told him to just to stay on top of your game and just focus and have a good time at Duke.”

 Strickland on Barnes’ decision to announce for North Carolina via Skype on ESPNU: “Honestly, everybody was surprised. Coach Williams was surprised himself. [Barnes] did a good job of keeping on a straight face and not letting anybody think he was going here or think he was going to another school.

“I was surpsried. When he called us on the Skype I was really surprised and I’m happy also.”

(Strickland Photo courtesy UNC Athletics)

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