Maryland head coach Gary Williams had an in-home visit last Friday with Lance Stephenson and his family, according to two sources close to the situation.
One of the sources said Stephenson told Williams that he will decide by the end of the week.
“I think everything will probably come to a head by next weekend,” a third source close to the situation said. “Everything hinges probably on what Xavier Henry does.”
If the 6-6 Henry ends up at Kansas, Stephenson could wind up at St. John’s or maybe even Maryland, although that school had seemed to be out of it.If Henry lands at Kentucky or remains at Memphis, Stephenson could go to his first choice: Kansas. Henry told me last week that no visit date had yet been set to Kentucky, but if Henry were to get to Lexington Thursday and Friday, the whole Henry/Stephenson Sweepstakes could wrap up this week. Adding to the intrigue, both Kentucky coach John Calipari and Kansas coach Bill Self flew into New York to meet Saturday night with Xavier, C.J. Henry and Barbara Adkins at Xavier’s hotel. Henry was playing in the Jordan Brand Classic at Madison Square Garden. Calipari went first and Self second. One Kentucky source said the “meeting went well.” The 6-foot-5 Stephenson took an official visit to Maryland that met with some controversy after he was taken on a tour of the Under Armour facilities. Under Armour is owned and operated by Kevin Plank, a Maryland alum and booster.
Stephenson then appeared poised to commit to Kansas on March 31 before holding off at the last minute. PARROM GETS RELEASE
In other news, Kevin Parrom has gotten a release from Xavier and will explore his options, according to Cincinnati.com.
Cincinnati.com posted a text message from new Xavier coach Chris Mack that read: “I spent the entire day with Kevin and his family on Friday. Kevin, at this point, wants to take a step back and breathe. He wants to examine all his options and so we have granted Kevin a complete release.”
Parrom could opt to follow Xavier coach Sean Miller and assistant Book Richardson to Arizona. He could consider a Big East school like Providence. Or he could opt to remain at Xavier.
“I think Arizona’s a possibility,” a Big East assistant said. “I also think he’ll visit three or four Big East schools. My guess would be Arizona, Providence, St. John’s and Pittsburgh, maybe South Carolina.”
A voicemail left for Parrom was not immediately returned.
