Kyrie Irving

Could they be pairing up together in college, too?

“We’ve considered it. We’ve talked about it,” Irving said in a recent interview. “We’re trying to do it but right now we’re just open in our recruiting process.”

And what school might the dynamic duo wind up at?

“Me and Mike, we talk about Kentucky mainly,” Irving said. “Coach Cal [John Calipari], he’s a great coach. And the whole coaching staff when I got to know them at Memphis, I have a great relationship with them. It’s just a top program.”

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Irving is the No. 4 point guard in the Class of 2010 according to Rivals.

He transferred to St. Patrick from Montclair (N.J.) Kimberley prior to last year and helped the Celtics win the New Jersey TOC. He and Gilchrist became fast friends.

“We became best friends when I transferred in,” said Irving, who along with Gilchrist, will be at the LeBron James Skills Academy beginning Sunday. “When we played in the first tournament together, I just got to know him and things developed from there.”

Irving’s complete list looks like this: UConn, Georgia Tech, Duke, Indiana, Seton Hall, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Florida, Marquette and Kentucky.

He has taken unofficials to UConn, Indiana and Texas A&M and says he plans to take more in August.

Kentucky has connections to both players. Assistant Rod Strickland is Irving’s Godfather and William Wesley, aka “Worldwide Wes,” is a very close family friend of Gilchrist and his parents, and is also close with Calipari.

The 6-6, 190-pound Gilchrist is the consensus top player in the Class of 2011.

His mother, Cindy Richardson, emphasizes that her son is still young and not thinking about the recruiting process.

She said in a text message that it’s “not true” that Irving and Gilchrist are thinking of playing together.

St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle confirmed that Gilchrist is still open.

“I’ve talked to mom about Mike and the recruiting recently,” Boyle said. “When he was young he said he was going to Memphis and a lot of people automatically have him going to Kentucky now.

“She’s adamant that that’s not true and that he’s open to schools of high quality who have interest in him. It’s a little early I think.

“Now you have a lot of people calling, asking ‘Do I have a shot? Obviously, anybody would take him if they can get him.”

Boyle said Villanova coach Jay Wright, Georgetown coach John Thompson III and West Virginia coach Bob Huggins are among those who have expressed the strongest interest in Gilchrist and Boyle said he also needed to speak more with North Carolina coach Roy Williams.

Kentucky remains a strong player as well.

“Kentucky and Coach Cal, without question, are going to make a strong play for him,” Boyle said.

Could Kentucky land both players?

“I don’t know,” Boyle said. “Kentucky is recruiting both of them so that’s not an impossibility there. I do think Kyrie does want to go somewhere that he’s going to have a chance to get the ball and run the offense his freshman year.

“Will Kentucky have that available? I don’t know. You might have John Wall there a year or two.”

Boyle also added that Seton Hall had a legitimate shot at Irving and possibly both players.

“I think Seton Hall has a legitimate shot with Kyrie and we’ll have to see what happens,” Boyle said. “I think they’re in the mix. They’ve done a really good job recruiting him. Scott [Adubato] has been the primary contact with Kyrie. Scott’s from West Orange so there’s a connection there.”

Would the Pirates have a shot at Gilchrist, too?

“If they get Kyrie, they could,” Boyle said. “The good thing with Seton Hall  is they have a chance to have a good year this year. If that happens, that could change Michael’s state of mind. That’s not impossible.”

Roger Federer

Now Federer stands on the brink of history.

On Sunday he can break Pete Sampras’ all-time record by winning his 15th Grand Slam title against either Andy Murray of Scotland or American Andy Roddick.

Federer is just 2-6 against Murray, while he holds an 18-2 record against Roddick.

“I”ve had a lot of pressure every year so this is just another great opportunity for me to get into the history books,” Federer told ESPN. “Going for something that big this coming Sunday is quite extraordinary.”

Federer, who tied Sampras’ mark of 14 majors by winning the French Open last month, can break Sampras’ mark and set the all-time record.

“He might come around [to the final], he might not,” Federer said of Sampras. “I’d love to see him because he’s a good friend of mine.”

By winning the French, Federer won the career Slam and is now in the conversation with Australian Rod Laver as to who is the greatest player ever.

Sampras won Wimbledon seven times, but never won the French.

Federer captured Wimbledon five straight years from 2003-7 before losing last year’s championship to Rafael Nadal in what many people consider the greatest tennis match ever played.

Nadal was installed as the No. 1 seed this year, but withdrew with a knee injury.

Federer had extended his record of 21 staight Grand Slam semifinal appearances and has now appeared in six of the last seven major finals.

Haas took the first two sets from Federer in their French Open match this year, but Federer played the big points too  well in this one.

“I think Tommy was playing extremely well and since Paris that’s why I’m so happy that I came through,” Federer said. “I’m very happy with my performance and it’s unbelievable to be back in another Wimbledon final.”

GRAND SLAM SCORECARD

MAJOR VICTORIES

Roger Federer - 14

Pete Sampras - 14

Roy Emerson - 12

Rod Laver - 11

Bjorn Borg - 11

Bill Tilden - 10

WON CAREER GRAND SLAM

Fred Perry

Don Budge

Rod Laver

Roy Emerson

Andre Agassi

Roger Federer

(AFP contributed)

***

Venus and Serena Williams continued their domination of the tournament by cruising to the women’s doubles title with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the top-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

The sisters will meet for the women’s singles title on Saturday.

Venus is the two-time defending champion, having beaten Serena in last year’s final. Venus has won Wimbledon five times.

Serena captured the title in 2002-3.

Rutgers guard Mike Rosario had a game-high 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting but Puerto Rico lost to Greece 107-98 on Friday.

Fordham guard Jio Fontan added 15 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

In Puerto Rico’s first game Thursday, Rosario notched 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in an 80-73 win over Lithuania.

Fontan added 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Team USA improved to 2-0 Friday with a 71-55 victory over France in which Seth Curry of Duke had 12 points, Gordan Hayward of Butler had 11 and Ashton Gibbs of Pitt scored 10.

Kansas’ Tyshawn Taylor , the former St. Anthony of Jersey City star who could go to the NBA after this season, tallied 7 points and 5 assists.

**Rutgers football will play a home-and-home with UCLA beginning at Rutgers Stadium in 2016.

“We are excited for our football program and especially for our fans to be playing UCLA,” Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti said. “This series will have tremendous national appeal anchored in the two largest media markets in the country.”

Tyshawn Taylor

John Shurna of Northwestern and Terrico White of Mississippi tallied 11 each and DeAngelo Castro of Washington State scored 11 points each, while Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs and Georgia’s Howard Thompkins (pictured) scored 10 apiece. Gibbs also dished our four assists and had two steals.

“One thing we did pretty well was shoot the ball and we made some extra passes, made good decisions,” USA and Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We know we’ve got to get better as this tournament continues so this is the first one and hopefully we’ve got something to build on.”

**For my feature on Ashton and Sterling Gibbs, click here.

KEARNEY TO HOLY CROSS

Notre Dame associate head coach Sean Kearney got the nod as the new Holy Cross head coach, according to a report by FoxSports.com. Kearney was chosen over Pitt associate head coach Tommy Herrion and ABA coach Rod Baker.

Kearney, 49, has been an assistant to head coach Mike Brey at Notre Dame for nine years. A press conference is expected Friday.

ST. JOHN’S ELITE CAMP

The St. John’s Elite Camp is going on right now and the Johnnies have a number of talented locals on campus, including Kyrie Irving (St. Patrick), Jayvaughn Pinkston (Loughlin), Devon Collier (St. Anthony), Mike Taylor (Boys & Girls),  Myles Mack (Paterson Catholic, Kyle Anderson (Paterson Catholic), Kadeem Jack (St. Raymond’s) and Corey Edwards (Christ the King).

Speaking of Pinkston, he will remain at Loughlin and not attend Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, according to Kimani Young of New Heights. Pinkston had considered playing for Steve Smith at Oak Hill.

BIG EAST SKED OUT

The Big East schedule is out and Cincinnati plays at Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s and UConn so New York area fans will have plenty of chances to catch Lance Stephenson in person. I’m sure at least a couple of those games will appear on SNY.

Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin probably owes John Calipari a nice steak dinner or at least a round of drinks.

If Calipari hadn’t left Memphis for Kentucky, Lance Stephenson would probably have landed at Kansas instead of Cincinnati.

But after Calipari took the Kentucky job, Xavier Henry, a 6-foot-6-inch wing out of Oklahoma who had initially signed with Memphis, opened up his recruitment and ultimately landed with the Jayhawks.

Kansas put Stephenson on hold, throwing his recruiting process into total disarray.

“The plan all along was for Lance to go to Kansas,” Cronin said. “They obviously did a great job recruiting him. There’s just no way I’d have thought we were going to get him at that point.

Read the full story at SNY.tv.

**Read the LANCE STEPHENSON TIMELINE HERE.

**See the VIDEO INTERVIEWS WITH LANCE HERE and HERE.

The 6-foot-4, 175-pound Lamb told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com  that he’s “still open”, but that Kentucky “is at the top.”

He recently took an unofficial to Lexington.

“It was a great experience,” Lamb, the No. 5 point guard in the Class of 2010, said at the Paul Pierce Skills Academy in Boston. “The fans go crazy. I hung out with the coaching staff, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, and got to see the practice facility.”

Lamb has also visited Louisville and told Jeff he’s also considering Kansas, Oklahoma, Marquette and UConn.

MCFADDEN TO IONA

Mike McFadden, a 6-8, 225-pound four man from Newark Technology, has verbally committed to Iona.

Iona beat out Penn State, New Orleans, Robert Morris, Quinnipiac, Cleveland State, Tulane and Rhode Island.

“Yeah,” McFadden said. “I wanted to stay close to home and that was a good fit for me. They have a good education and I like the way their program is.”

McFadden is fully qualified.

“I should be able to play,” he said.

He becomes the fourth player in Iona’s recruiting class, joining Chris Pelcher, Rashard McGill and Ben Mockford.

Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin also has ties to Lincoln High School, having recruited former Lincoln star Sebastian Telfair when Cronin was an assistant at Louisville.

Here now is a timeline of the many twists and turns in the Stephenson recruitment over the past couple of years:

June 30, 2009 - SNY.tv breaks the news that Lance will commit to Cincinnati; UC issues a press release confirming the commitment Tuesday evening.

June 29 - The sexual assault case involving Lance and teammate Darwin “Buddha” Ellis is adjourned for a second time until July 15.

June 28 - ZAGSBLOG.com quotes a Big East coach as saying that Lance is on the verge of signing with Cincinnati and that it will happen Tuesday.

June 26-28 - Lance and his family take an official visit to Cincinnati. It’s his fourth official, following trips to Kansas, Maryland and St. John’s.

June 5 - Lance says during an event in Greenburgh, N.Y. that his final four schools are Arizona, Florida, Maryland and Memphis.

May 19 - Lance’s sexual assault case adjourned for first time until June 29

May 17 - Lance scores a game-high 25 points to lead the New York Panthers to a 76-65 victory over the Playaz Sophomores in the title game of the 2009 Is8/Nike Spring High School Classic in Queens, N.Y.

May 7 - St. John’s source tells ZAGSBLOG.com they are out of the Lance Sweepstakes.

April 26- Source tells ZAGSBLOG.com that Arizona is interested in Lance.

April 23 - Xavier Henry announces for Kansas.

April 10 - Kansas Coach Bill Self flies up to meet with Lance; Stephenson later takes his official visit to St. John’s.

March 31 - On eve of McDonald’s All-American Game, Lance tells SNY’s Brooklyn Sal he’s holding off on his decision. He had been expected to announce for Kansas, but says his final three are “St. John’s, Maryland and Kansas.”

March 28 - Maryland coach Gary Williams watches Lance and Maryland commit James Padgett play their final high school game, a  77-50 loss to Rice in a Class AA boys semifinal in Glens Falls, N.Y.

March 22 - ZAGSBLOG.com breaks the news that Stephenson is about to commit to Kansas.

March 21 - Lance and the Lincoln Railsplitters win their fourth straight PSAL title at MSG. No announcement is made after the game.

March 20 - McDonald’s officials say Lance will announce March 31.

March 18 - Lance tells New York media he has decided on  his college choice, believed to be Kansas.

March 1 - Washington Post runs story saying Lance’s visit to Maryland and Under Armour facilities may trigger NCAA investigation.

Feb. 24 - Lance gives SNY exclusive interview, saying recruiting process is “hard.”

Feb. 20-21 - On official visit to Kansas, Lance watches Jayhawks beat Nebraska 70-53 and hears chants of “Rock Chalk Stephenson.”

“I can see myself fitting in their program,” Stephenson, who recently became New York  State’s all-time leading scorer, tells me. “They play as a team and they’re just willing to win, so I’m just going to see what they’re about and see how can I fit into the program.”

Feb. 15 - With 24 points against Thomas Jefferson, Lance becomes all-time leading scorer in New York State history, surpassing Sebastian Telfair.

Feb. 10 - Maryland coach Gary Williams watches Lance drop 50 points on FDR in Brooklyn Borough Championships.

Jan. 31- On official visit to Maryland, Lance takes infamous Under Armour tour and watches Terps beat Miami.

Jan. 15 - After watching St. John’s lose to UConn at MSG, Lance says he wants to bring St. John’s back.

Dec. 11, 2008 - Kansas Coach Bill Self watches courtside with a Diet Coke as Lance drops 32 points in an ESPN loss to Duncanville, Texas.

“He’s got the God-given body, and he’s blessed with quickness to go with it,” Duncanville coach Phil McNeely tells the Dallas Morning News prior to the game. “That’s a deadly combination.”

Oct. 3 - Lance and teammate Darwin “Buddha” Ellis are alleged to have groped a 17-year-old girl outside Lincoln High.

“He did absolutely nothing wrong,” Alberto Ebanks, Stephenson’s lawyer, tells The Daily News. “He categorically denies these allegations.”

Oct. 1 - Lance’s AAU coachs says he will visit Kansas and Memphis.

Sept. 25 - Lance visits St. John’s unofficially.

July 8 - Davidson coach Bob McKIllop cuts Lance from USA U-18 National Team.

“Usually someone that has been given that amount of attention he has had, they don’t have that sense of accountability in terms of competitiveness, and he really competes. He gets discouraged when a play doesn’t go the right way, either by himself or by a teammate. And he needs to transcend the play and go on to the next play,” McKillop says.

June 27 - At Steve Nash Camp, Lance says he would consider joining the Army or playing in Europe.

June 14- Lance Sr. says his son has a Final Four of Kansas, USC, UCLA and St. John’s.

March 31- Lance and Lincoln win back-to-back New York State Federation titles with win over Holy Cross.

January - First trailers for BornReady.tv come out.

“We decided to film Lance because he is the most talented and dynamic high school basketball player in the country,” said Justin Leonard, co-founder of Born & Bread. “He’s on pace to becoming the most decorated high school basketball player in the history of NYC. Even non-basketball fans will be compelled by the journey of a tight-knit family trying to make their dreams come true.”

January 11 - Stephenson suspended five days from Lincoln for fighting with teammate Devon McMillan.

“I’m real upset,” Stephenson tells The New York Post at Lincoln Thursday during the Railsplitters’ 76-52 win over Jefferson. “It happens, and I have to learn from this. College coaches think I’m a hothead over this. It’s real disappointing.”

Oct. 17, 2007 - Lance Sr. says he’s looked into Kansas, Indiana and USC, among others, for his son.

The 6-foot-3 rising junior shooting guard out of Brooklyn Boys & Girls is a star on the rise and holds a slew of major offers.

“It was good, it was a nice workout,” Taylor said by phone. “We didn’t scrimmage. We were just working out. There were a couple of former NBA coaches there.”

Among other players attending the camp were Jayvaughn Pinkston and Brandon Frazier of Bishop Loughlin; Myles Mack, Derrick Randall and Kyle Anderson of Paterson Catholic; and Myles Davis and Dallas Angler of St. Peter’s Prep.

“Before we went to lunch Coach [Jimmy] Carr took us on a tour of the campus. It’s very big and nice,” Taylor said.

Taylor holds offers from Indiana, Maryland, Providence, Pittsburgh, Louisville, St. John’s and Rutgers, according to Boys & Girls assistant Elmer Anderson.

“I really dont’t have any favorites right now,” Taylor said. “I’ll probably wait till the beginning or middle of my senior year to commit.”

When Taylor dropped 19 points, including five 3-pointers on Lance Stephenson and Lincoln in a 71-61 victory on Jan. 6, St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts was joined by Pitt associate head coach Tom Herrion and Rutgers assistant Craig Carter.

“Mike Taylor can really shoot the ball,” said recruiting expert Tom Konchalski. “He’s a terrific 3-point shooter.”

Taylor later hit the game-winner at the buzzer against Thomas Jefferson in the consolation game of the SNY Invitational in January.

Taylor heads to the St. John’s Elite Camp beginning Wednesday (today}  but won’t attend any of the major camps this summer.

“We want him to get ahead in his core classes so that next summer he’s free to go to every camp that he’s invited to,” Anderson said.

With Stephenson headed to Cincinnati for college ball, Taylor and his Boys & Girls teammates are dreaming of a PSAL championship.

“He was our nemesis for three years but we’re happy he’s gone and it’s Mike’s turn to bring a couple championships to Boys & Girls High School,” Anderson said.

***

FREE THROWS

Holy Cross will interview alum Rod Baker, the head coach of the Rochester franchise in the ABA, according to Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com. Notre Dame associate Sean Kearney and Pittsburgh associate Tom Herrion remain the favorites…Markus Kennedy, a 6-8, Villanova-bound forward, is in search of a school after Living Faith Academy in Cherry Hill, N.J. closed down, according to Alex Schwartz. Kennedy could return to St. Patrick of Elizabeth, but is also considering Penn Wood (Pa), Neumann-Goretti (Pa.) and Academy of the New Church (Pa.)

PIERCE & STOUDEMIRE ROSTERS

The Paul Pierce and Amar’e Stoudemire Nike Elite Camps took place earlier this week. Here are the rosters.

PAUL PIERCE HIGH SCHOOL ROSTER

27 Harrison Barnes 6-8 209 84 ½ 2010 Ames/Ames, IA
15 Will Barton 6-6 161 81 ½ 2010 Lake Clifton/Baltimore, MD
30 Daniel Bejarano 6-3 ½ 204 77 2010 North/Phoenix, AZ
11 James Bell 6-5 ½ 217 80 ½ 2010 Montverde/Orlando, FL
4 Wayne Blackshear 6-5 205 82 ½ 2011 Morgan Park/Chicago, IL
23 Gerard Coleman 6-5 168 81 ½ 2010 Tilton/Boston, MA
21 Trevor Cooney 6-4 185 75 2011 Sanford/Wilmington, DE
33 Andre Dawkins 6-4 ½ 196 80 2010 Atlantic Shores/Chesapeake, VA
2 Crandall Head 6-3 186 80 2010 Crane/Chicago, IL
10 Keala King 6-5 ½ 180 76 ½ 2010 Dominguez/Los Angeles, CA
20 Trevor Lacey 6-1 ½ 187 77 2011 Butler/Huntsville, AL
22 Doron Lamb 6-3 ½ 183 78 2010 Oak Hill/Laurelton, NY
12 Justin Martin 6-6 191 82 2010 Lawrence North/Indianapolis, IN
14 JT Terrell 6-3 165 81 2010 Cummings/Burlington, NC
28 Ralston Turner 6-5 ½ 193 77 2010 Muscle Shoals/Muscle Shoals, AL
3 Frank Williams 6-5 151 79 2010 Raytown/Raytown, MO
7 Trey Ziegler 6-5 183 81 2011 Mount Pleasant/Mount Pleasant, MI

PAUL PIERCE COLLEGE ROSTER

No. Name Hgt. Wgt. Wingspan Class College
6 Marshan Brooks 6-4 197 83 ½ Junior Providence
8 Patrick Christopher 6-5 ½ 218 81 ½ Senior California-Berkley
32 Manny Harris 6-5 ½ 183 78 ½ Sophomore Michigan
9 Ricky Harris 6-1 ½ 191 75 Senior Massachusetts
1 Cory Higgins 6-4 ½ 183 79 Sophomore Colorado
19 Demetri McCamey 6-2 ½ 201 76 ½ Junior Illinois
18 E’Twaun Moore 6-4 189 79 Junior Purdue
5 Ryan Thompson 6-5 223 80 Senior Rider
37 Edwin Ubiles 6-6 ½ 198 82 Senior Siena
13 Greivis Vasquez 6-6 200 79 Senior Maryland

AMAR’E HIGH SCHOOL ROSTER

18 Travis Carroll 6-9 219 80.5 2010 Danville/Danville, IN
16 Rakeem Christmas 6-9 222 88.5 2011 North Catholic/Philadelphia, PA
19 DaJuan Coleman 6-8 281 85.5 2012 Jamesville-DeWitt/Syracuse, NY
20 Malcolm Gilbert 6-11 214 88 2011 Academy of New Church/Smyrna, DE
21 Tobias Harris 6-8 210 83 2010 Half Hollow Hills West/Dix Hill, NY
15 James Johnson 6-9 ½ 212 84 2010 Samuel Morse/Mildomar, CA
22 Perry Jones 6-10 ½ 220 86.5 2010 Duncanville/Duncanville, TX
14 Markus Kennedy 6-8 ½ 268 83 2010 Living Faith Christian/Philadelphia, PA
23 Alex Kirk 6-9 ½ 226 87 2010 Los Alamos/Los Alamos, NM
24 Meyers Leonard 7-0 215 87 2010 Robinson/Robinson, IL
25 Nate Lubick 6-8 ½ 222 82.5 2010 St. Mark’s/Southborough, MA
26 Fabricio Melo 7-0 274 87 2010 Sagemont School/Weston, FL
27 Johnny O’Bryant 6-8 218 86 2011 East Side/Cleveland, MS
12 Adreian Payne 6-9 215 84 2010 Jefferson/Dayton, OH
13 Dwight Powell 6-10 212 84 2010 IMG Academy/Melrose, MA
28 Jared Sullinger 6-9 262 83.5 2010 Northland/Columbus, OH
29 Okaro White 6-8 180 83 2010 Clearwater/Clearwater, FL
11 Patric Young 6-9 222 85 2010 Paxon School/Jacksonville, FL

AMAR’E COLLEGE ROSTER

30 Cole Aldrich 6-11 242 90 Junior Kansas
31 Jeff Allen 6-7 258 86 Junior Virginia Tech
32 Keith Benson 6-10 ½ 215 88 Junior Oakland
5 Denis Clemente 6-0 163 71.5 Senior Kansas State
33 Dwayne Collins 6-7 ½ 236 88.5 Senior Miami
34 Yancy Gates 6-9 274 87 Sophomore Cincinnati
35 JaJuan Johnson 6-10 208 86 Junior Purdue
36 Jerome Jordan 7-0 ½ 245 90 Senior Tulsa
2 Jeremy Lin 6-3 ½ 193 75 Senior Harvard
37 Greg Monroe 6-11 243 86 Sophomore Georgetown
3 Jerome Randle 5-10 165 68 Sophomore California
38 Larry Sanders 6-10 217 90.5 Junior Virginia Commonwealth
4 Calvin Stoudemire Sophomore LeMoyne-Owen College
39 Tony Woods 6-11 232 86.5 Sophomore Wake Forest
**Height measured in sneakers and weight measured without sneakers

(Photo courtesy FiveBoroSports.com)

Xavier Henry is staying at Kansas. Lance Stephenson is headed to Cincinnati. And Lance will not end up at Kansas in place of Xavier.

After meeting with his family and Kansas coach Bill Self Tuesday night, Henry texted various outlets to let them know he will be a Jayhawk for at least next season.

“I’m going to Kansas,” Henry texted to FOXSports.com late Tuesday night. “That’s final.”

As reported earlier, Carl Henry had initially told a Kansas City radio station that his sons could end up at Kentucky instead of Kansas.

All seems settled — at least for now.