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Thomas Enjoyed KU Visit

Quintrell Thomas of St. Patrick took his latest official visit this weekend to Kansas. The 6-8 power forward said he was surprised how much he liked the school.

“I thought it would be a school in the middle of a farm. It’s not like that at all. There’s a lot going on there. I loved it,” Thomas told Gary Bedore of KUSports.com.

Thomas told Bedore the entire weekend was enjoyable, but he particularly liked playing pick-up basketball with the current Jayhawk players.

“They are really good. They never get tired,” Thomas said. “I wasn’t nervous, but I made a lot of mistakes. Everybody said they did the same thing when they were on their visits.”

Thomas' AAU coach, Derrick Bobbitt, made the trip with him and said Kansas is right in the mix.

Stephensons High on Seton Hall; Indiana Up Next

Lance Stephenson, one of the top players in the Class of 2009, took an unofficial visit to Seton Hall Saturday and his father, Lance Sr., came away raving about head coach Bobby Gonzalez and the program.

"It was a great visit," Lance Sr. said Sunday evening. "From a parent's point of view, Seton Hall is definitely on the rise and Coach Gonzalez, he's really enthusiastic and real passionate about what he's trying to do.

"At first, Seton Hall wasn't high on the list, but after talking to Coach Gonzalez and Coach Derm (Player) and visiting the players, they definitely made it a place where I would definitely consider sending him. It's definitely on his list now."

Stephenson, who poured in 36 points to earn Co-MVP of last month's Boost Mobile Classic in Rucker Park, is the second elite player to visit the campus in recent weeks, following senior guard Tyreke Evans of American Christian (Pa.)

"(Gonzalez) basically just laid down the facts," Lance Sr. said. "He has a proven track record when he was at Manhattan. He talked about when he had Luis Flores at Manhattan and he talked about how he worked so hard and did it with average players.

Taylor Enjoys Va. Tech Visit

Tyshawn Taylor, a 6-3 combo guard who plays for Bob Hurley at St. Anthony in Jersey City, enjoyed his official visit this weekend to Virginia Tech and is currently calling them his leader.

"I think I'm open but I really liked Virginia Tech," Taylor said Sunday evening. "Maybe it's just because it's the only school I've visited so far, but I really liked Virginia Tech."

Taylor will not take a visit next weekend and will then go to Georgia Tech Oct. 12 and Virginia Oct. 18 or 19. He still plans to make officials to Kansas and Marquette.

But right now he is high on head coach Seth Greenberg and his program.

"I felt real comfortable," Taylor said. "They welcomed me with open arms. They made me feel like I was part of the team. Those guys are a bunch of cool dudes."

Dominic Rutledge Update

Dominic Rutledge, a 6-foot-7 1/2, 230-pound senior forward from Edison (N.J.) Jobs Corps Academy, has narrowed his college choices to Marquette, St. Joe's, Pittsburgh, Providence and Auburn, according to his AAU coach, Galen Smith.

"It's between those five schools," Smith said. "Rutgers and St. John's and a couple other schools have called, but they're all getting involved late in the game."

Smith said Rutledge would make an official visit Wednesday to Marquette, and that he had visited all of the other schools among the five except Auburn. Marquette is also involved with Mookie Jones of Peekskill (N.Y.) HIgh and Tyshawn Taylor of St. Anthony (N.J.).

As for Rutledge, Smith said he averaged 17 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks this summer with Team New Jersey Elite, which also features St. Patrick big man Quintrell Thomas, who this weekend visited Kansas.

Going Out on a Limb with Controversial Quotes

Two quotes in the news really grabbed our attention over the last 48 hours and we wonder what you folks out there think. First off you have Rutgers English professor William C. Dowling, who made these comments in The New York Times to one of my old professors at Columbia, Samuel Freedman, one of the best journalists in the business:

"If you were giving the scholarship to an intellectually brilliant kid who happens to play a sport, that's fine," Dowling said. "But they give it to functional illiterates who can't read a cereal box, and they make him spend 50 hours a week on physical skills. That's not opportunity. If you want to give financial help to minorities, go find the ones who are at the library after school."

RU athletic director Bob Mulcahy said the comment was "blatantly racist" during an appearance at Wednesday's football practice.

"Professor Dowling's characterization of our student-athletes is inaccurate and inhumane," McCormick said in a statement issue by the school. "It also has a racist implication that has no place whatsoever in our civil discourse. Rutgers' student-athletes are men and women who succeed in balancing the demands of academic progress and athletic success. They may not have Professor Dowling's respect and support, but they have mine."

Landesberg Fallout; Visits, Commitments, 'Miracle' Movie

In the wake of Sylven Landesberg's commitment to Virginia Thursday, there will be fallout that impacts the two schools he did not choose, Georgia Tech and St. John's.

As for Georgia Tech, Landesberg's AAU coach, Gary Charles (the best-dressed man in New York hoops?), says Paul Hewitt's staff will now focus on 6-4 PG Iman Shumpert and 6-5 St. Anthony PG Tyshawn Taylor (above).

"The people they are going after are Iman Shumpert and Tyshawn Taylor," Charles said at the Landesberg press conference. "Even though they didn't get Sylven, I think they could still wind up with an excellent player."

Charles is very high on Taylor, whom he first noticed at the Reebok Camp Next at Fairleigh Dickinson in 2006.

Landesberg on His Decision

Sylven Landesberg stayed up past midnight Tuesday meeting with his parents, Steve and Ingrid, as well as his AAU coach, Gary Charles, in order to make the most important decision of his life.

It was Wednesday morning before Landesberg, a 6-6, 200-pound shooting guard from Holy Cross High in Queens, ultimately settled on Virginia instead of Georgia Tech or local favorite St. John's.

"I felt that all three schools were able to offer the same thing, but I was the most comfortable at Virginia," Landesberg said Thursday during an elaborate press conference in the school's gym. "The group of guys that they had, I felt like I fit in really well with them. When they showed me the campus, I felt like that was my kind of lifestyle over there."

Landesberg, who averaged 25.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists, said he first called the coaches from Georgia Tech and St. John's on Thursday afternoon from the office of Holy Cross coach Paul Gilvary.

"The real tough thing was telling a great guy like (St. John's coach) Norm Roberts and his coaching staff, and the coaching staff at Georgia Tech that I won't be attending there," Landesberg said. "That was the hardest thing I had to do in my life."

Seton Hall Still in Mix for Evans

Tyreke Evans will likely make a college decision in the coming weeks, and his brother Reggie says Seton Hall is still in the mix, along with Louisville, Villanova, Memphis, Texas and UConn.

"Coming in, they definitely were a longshot," Reggie said of Seton Hall. "I didn't have nothing to give Seton Hall, not even a wink. Tyreke probably felt the same way. But Coach (Bobby) Gonzalez and (assistant coach) Derm Player were peristent. We're not too proud. He narrowed it down but they came strong. They said, 'You got a teammate named (Mike) Glover here.' Those dudes were longshots but now he's kind of glad he looked at them. (Gonzalez) is a great dude, man.

"The stuff they said and the coach had to offer was brilliant and 'Reke is actually remembering Gonzalez."

Reggie said the family has no future plans to visit Seton Hall or have any visits with Gonzalez or Player.

"We know what they have to offer," Reggie said. "He can go and make a decision right off of that."

K-Jones' RU In-Home Update; Quintrell Thomas Notes

Rutgers head coach Fred Hill and assistants Darren Savino and Craig Carter made the visit to Mount Vernon, NY, on Tuesday to try to land yet another standout player from that high school, 6-7 forward Kevin Jones.

"Everything went great," said Gerard Jones, Kevin's older brother. "They still kept it formal even though we've known each other for a long time.

"Rutgers was actually the first school to offer Kevin a scholarship going into his sophomore year."

Kevin's former teammate at Mount Vernon, Mike Coburn, is currently a freshman at RU, so the coaches are familiar with the program.

The RU coaches came to watch Kevin work out in an open gym and shoot around before visiting the high school and ultimately the Jones' family in their home.

"We went over film work and they showed Kevin the different positions where he would be playing," Gerard said. "He could play the 3 or the 4, they are interchangeable in their system."

Rutgers is in the mix with several players from the Class of 2008, including Mookie Jones of Peekskill (N.Y.) High, who will will make an official visit to campus Oct. 18 for the football game with South Florida; 6-8 forward Quintrell Thomas of St. Patrick; and 6-5 shooting guard Pat Jackson of Boys & Girls.

Landesberg to Virginia

Sylven Landesberg won't make his college choice official until a 3 p.m. press conference Thursday at Holy Cross High in Queens, but all signs point to him choosing Virginia over St. John's and Georgia Tech.

Tough luck for Johnnies coach Norm Roberts and Jackets coach Paul Hewitt.

The Daily News reports that the arrest of a gunman with a rifle Wednesday on the St. John's campus swayed Landesberg away from the New York school. He previously enjoyed his Virginia visit.

"I felt like I fit in pretty well," the 6-6, 195-pound Landesberg told Chris Wallace of CavsCorner.com after his visit to the campus earlier this month. "They were a great bunch of guys, and they were talented, too. When people think of Virginia basketball they just think of Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds, but there's a lot of talent on that team.

"Now I know why they say the ACC is one of the toughest conferences out there," he added. "Those guys compete. I mean we were just scrimmaging but all the guys were really competing."

Landesberg already has one friend at Virginia in football wideout Kevin Ogletree, who attended Holy Cross and is friends with the family.

Landesberg averaged 27 points, 12 rebounds and four assists a game last year as a junior. Rivals has him ranked No. 55 overall in the class of 2008.