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Lakeem Jackson has committed to South Carolina. Coach Horn seems to be doing a good job early on. Here are some things passed along to us via e-mail as well


John Wall, the No. 1 Rivals recruit in the Class of 2009, says he plans to be one-and-done or two-and-done for college in order to help support his family, including his mom and two sisters.

“My dad (John Sr.) passed when I was 10,” Wall told SI.com.

“After he passed, I was the man of the house. I realized I wanted to go somewhere and get my family in a better situation.”

“If I go one-and-done or two-and-done,” Wall added, “I’m going back to school and finish regardless. I promised it to my mom.”

Memphis, Kansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and N.C. State are listed as Wall’s leaders at the moment.

Xavier Henry, the No. 2 prospect in ‘09, will visit Kansas, Memphis, UCLA and Texas but we hear it will come down to Kansas and Memphis.

Word is the 6-6, 214-pound Henry favors Memphis even though both his parents attended Kansas.

Kentucky is the favorite for Daniel Orton, a 6-10, 260-pound center from Oklahoma City (OK) Bishop McGuinness listed as the No. 2 center in the class.

Villanova and Georgetown are still recruiting 6-5 Montrose Christian small forward Terrell Vinson, but Duke is not.

Despite one recent newspaper report, Lance Stephenson is not considering Indiana and North Carolina is not recruiting him.

6-7 Birmingham (Ala.) forward Christian Watford likes Memphis and Louisville, but Kentucky, Indiana and Alabama are also in his Top 5, according to Jody Demling.

**Onetime Rutgers target Ricardo Ratliffe, a 6-8 power forward from Hampton (VA) Kecoughtan, is headed to prep school.http://www.zagsblog.net/

New Heights director Kimani Young checked in today to give an updated list of schools recruiting his top juniors.

JayVaughn Pinkston, Bishop Loughlin – Villanova, Rutgers, St. John’s, Fordham and Xavier have all offered.

QUOTE: “I feel like St. John’s and Villanova are doing the best job right now,” Young said.

Devon Collier, St. Anthony — Rutgers, St. John’s, Villanova, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Fordham

Ashton Pankey, St. Anthony — Rutgers, St. John’s, DePaul, Virginia, Fordham

QUOTE: “They’ll wait until next summer before deciding. They’re all continuing to improve. We’re going to be patient with this.”

USA DISMANTLES PUERTO RICO KEMBA SCORES 15

The 2008 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team (3-0) rolled over Puerto Rico, 106-64, Wednesday night at the 2008 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Formosa, Argentina.Five players scored in double digits, including University of Oregon freshman-to-be Matt Humphrey (Hales Franciscian H.S / Chicago, Ill.), UCLA freshman-to-be Malcom Lee (John W. North H.S. / Riverside, Calif.) and University of Connecticut freshman-to-be Kemba Walker (Rice H.S. / New York, N.Y.), who each scored 15; Travis Wear (Mater Dei H.S. / Santa Ana, Calif.) notched his third double-digit game with 13; while University of Alabama freshman-to-be JaMychal Green (St. Jude H.S. / Montgomery, Ala.) finished with 12 points.

The USA advances to the medal semifinals and will play Canada (2-1) today at 6 p.m., while Argentina (3-0) will play Puerto Rico for the right to advance to Friday’s gold medal game. All four of the medal semifinalists have qualified to compete in the 2008 FIBA U19 World Championship, slated to be played in New Zealand.In the day’s other games host Argentina defeated Canada 74-64, Venezuela (1-2) captured an 85-64 victory over the Bahamas (0-3), and Uruguay (1-2) earned a 63-51 win over Mexico (0-3).

“What really pleases me is that so many guys contributed to this,” said USA and Davidson College head coach Bob McKillop.

“Every guy on this roster played a role, had a part and was very instrumental to our success. It was a 40-minute effort. Our guys went from the opening tap to the end once again. For a coaching staff, we could want nothing more.”

TEAM USA ROUTS BAHAMAS ECHENIQUE POSTS 25 & 15

Team USA beat the Bahamas, 115-51, to win its second straight game at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Formosa, Argentina. 6-foot-10 Duke commit Mason Plumlee had a double-double of 14 points and 14 boards and North Carolina-bound forward Travis Wear was the leading scorer for the second straight game, scoring 15 points. Alabama freshman big man JaMychal Green tallied 13 points, Kansas freshman guard Travis Releford 11 and Villanova commit Maalik Wayns and UCLA frosh Malcolm Lee had 10 apiece. St. Anthony senior wing Dominic Cheek had 6 points on 3 of 7 shooting to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 turnovers.

“Our teamwork and our toughness was there from start to finish,” said USA and Davidson College head coach Bob McKillop.

“We distributed the ball very well, we defended very well and the guys have really accepted the concept that defense wins championships.”

Next up for the USA is a date with Puerto Rico on Wednesday.Meantime, 6-9 Rutgers freshman Greg Echenique put up 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go with 15 rebounds and six blocks in a 94-76 loss to Puerto Rico.

Think head coach Fred Hill isn’t excited about putting the St. Benedict’s big man on the floor with McDonald’s All-American Mike Rosario of St. Anthony?
http://emekanadavandcorny.blogspot.com/

Summer Roundup UConn incoming freshman Kemba Walker and hotly-recruited Class of '09 shooting guard Dominic Cheek have both made the cut and will play on the USA National Team that will compete in the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship tourney in Argentina later this month.Walker, the point guard from New York's Rice High, has developed a good rapport with Cheek, a 6-foot-5 shooter out of St. Anthony's High in New Jersey who's the No. 3-ranked shooting guard in his class, according to scout.com. The two know each other pretty well and have been teamed up quite a bit together during the U-18 trials.UConn is hot on the trail of Cheek, who has made an unofficial visit to North Carolina. Wake Forest and Villanova are thought to be high on Cheek's list, as well. Meanwhile, out at the LeBron James Skills Camp in Akron, Ohio, UConn commit Alex Oriakhi has raised some eyebrows with his intensity.

"His slide into the scout.com Top 25 was no accident, and he's bound and determined to remain there," wrote the website's national recruiting director, Dave Telep.

I Really Like Harrison Barnes...

The sensation of the AAU summer circuit this year has been none other than Harrison Barnes. With Kentucky, Indiana, and Iowa State leading the pack, and rumors that Duke, Kansas, and others are sure to follow, his recruitment is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Last week at the Kentucky Hoopfest, Barnes had some interesting words for Jodie Demling (as reported on his blog) that has instantly placed Barnes near the top of my most likeable recruits of all-time.

When asked about Indiana, Barnes responded:"With Indiana , I talk to coach (Tom) Crean a lot. We talk about Dwayne Wade and about how personally I stopped liking him. But he wants me to become a big fan."

Strong words, indeed! Any player that can tell a coach to his face that he stopped liking his franchise player, gets high marks in my book.Oh yeah, and by the way, Barnes also told Jody Demling, "I communicate with Kentucky frequently because I like talking to their coaches," Barnes said. "Coach (Tracey) Webster, he's a real good guy.Check the rest out on the Jodie Demling blog.

Thanks to contributing writer Brad King for some of the updates!