All is quiet – almost too quiet – for the top prospects still on the board from the class of 2010.
Expect something to pop soon, and if anything, there’s news in 6-foot-3 Lake Clifton (Baltimore, Md.) guard Josh Selby’s Feb. 28 visit to Connecticut hinging on whether Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun is back by that time.
Elsewhere, two commitments broke with a Mountain West school picking up one of the best remaining point guards and Tennessee locking up a 2011 in-state commitment from one of the nation’s prolific scorers.
Weekly wrap
- LaBradford Franklin, 6-2 point guard from Great Oaks of Temecula, Calif., pledged to San Diego State and head coach Steve Fisher this week.
"It’s a big relief to finally feel the feeling I wanted to have about a certain school," Franklin said. "Before I called coach Fisher, I kept telling my dad, 'I’m ready. I’m ready to be an Aztec.'"
He was on campus for the SDSU-BYU game recently and expects to get back to campus before season’s end. Memories of SDSU weren’t a factor, nor were Fisher’s memorable time spent with the infamous Fab Five at Michigan in the early 1990s – although his father did reminisce with the coach about what was once considered the greatest class ever recruited. However, Franklin did share history with a current Aztec and he said it helped his decision some.
"I grew up playing with Alec Williams and we stayed in contact through the years," he said. "He was telling me everything that was so great about college there, and once he realized I was being recruited by them, we both thought it set up for a good situation."
Franklin says his senior season is a 'work in progress' after transferring from San Diego HS.
"I’m playing with new guys and we’re all working hard to try and do the best the school’s ever done in its history."
UCLA and Gonzaga were his other finalists.
- With the in-state recruiting wars heating up between Memphis and Tennessee following the Tigers’ monster class signed in the fall, the Volunteers scored a big one with the verbal commitment of 6-1 scoring guard Chris Jones from Memphis’ Melrose HS.
Jones, who burst on the scene at May’s Tournament of Champions, leading the event in scoring, had Bruce Pearl on hand for Melrose’s win over Germantown at the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration event sponsored by the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies at Fed Ex Forum.
"I feel really good. I’m comfortable with the coaches and the team and we have a real good bond," he said. "I fit right in with the program. They pressure the ball, play full-court man defense and push the tempo."
Jones expects to watch his future school in person Sunday when it plays Florida, and said he’s working on teammate Adonis Thomas to join him in Knoxville for their college years. The commitment comes on the heels of Memphis landing a 2011 commitment of its own in Anthony Norris, a 6-6 swingman dubbed by some the best athlete in the city of Houston’s loaded junior class.
News at the top
- Regarding Selby, he's already been to Connecticut unofficially, along with Indiana and Kansas.
With five official visits at their dispense, the family has tripped to Arizona already and also has another trip to Kansas lined up for Valentine’s Day, along with Kentucky, set for March 7, the Wildcats’ senior day vs. Florida. That leaves one official visit remaining, and it could go to Indiana, Syracuse, or possibly another school that is among the ones calling to see if they can get involved.
For now, the family is focusing on the above group of six schools and hopes to keep the Feb. 28 visit date with Connecticut if in fact Calhoun is back with the team at that point.
- Terrence Jones (Portland, Ore./Jefferson) is down to five and Doron Lamb (Mouth of Wilson, Va./Oak Hill Academy) is down to four. Jones cut Texas and West Virginia off his list that now holds at Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oregon, UCLA and Washington. Lamb is down to Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky and West Virginia and was just on the WVU campus last weekend with Oak Hill playing in an event.
On the trail
- A pair of top juniors recently made midseason transfers with LaQuinton Ross (Jackson, Miss.) and Jabari Brown (Oakland, Calif.) switching schools.
Ross left Callaway HS and is now at Life Center Academy (Burlington, N.J.) playing alongside Syracuse-bound senior guard Dion Waiters. Ross scored 25 points and had 13 rebounds at the Big Apple Basketball Invitational in a matchup with Hotchkiss School of Connecticut and Georgia Tech-bound Jason Morris. The 6-8 swingman is coming off a stress fracture in his foot that slowed him this past spring and summer.
With most of the hometown SEC recruiting him, schools from up North including Syracuse, St. John’s and Villanova have added recent interest following the move. Brown left Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) but is staying out West and is now at Oakland HS. He helped lead Salesian to a state title last year and transferred to Findlay for his junior year, but left following the City of Palms holiday tournament.
UNLV, Cal, Washington, Wake Forest, Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford and Marquette were all schools he mentioned interest from while at the City of Palms.
- Daryl Traynham, who was at both Maine’s Lee Academy and Maine Central Institute this season, returned home to Wise (Upper Marlboro, Md.) during holiday break. He’s making the trip to Massachusetts this week and is also considering Western Kentucky.
- Sticking with the midseason moves, two defections from the prep school ranks are now on college campuses.
Jesse Morgan started the year at South Kent (Conn.) and was originally a Seton Hall signee but is now at UMass. The 6-5 swingman and Philadelphia native won’t play until next season, however. He did not have a qualifying SAT score to play in the Big East, whereas the Atlantic-10 accepts partial qualifiers.
Brady Heslip enrolled early at Boston College after playing the first semester with New Hampton Prep of New Hampshire. Previously, he averaged 28 points and four assists per game at Burlington, Ontario's Nelson High School in 2008-09 and made a big splash at August’s Adidas Nations event in Dallas playing with Team Canada alongside Cory Joseph of Findlay Prep.
