NEW ORLEANS — UConn junior power forward Alex Oriakhi is considering visiting North Carolina, Duke, Washington and Gonzaga, a source close to the situation told SNY.tv.
Carolina is losing frontcourt players Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Harrison Barnes to the NBA, while Duke will lose senior Miles Plumlee and possibly Mason Plumlee, a junior.
Washington loses Darnell Grant and assistant Raphael Chillious has coached Oriakhi at various Nike events and also on a trip to Brazil before Oriakhi went to UConn.
Gonzaga loses senior big man Rob Sacre.
UConn is currently banned from the 2013 NCAA Tournament and thus Oriakhi would be immediately eligible and would not have to sit out a season.
A key contributor on the 2011 UConn NCAA championship team, Oriakhi never got comfortable playing alongside Andre Drummond and often became the whipping boy for coach Jim Calhoun. After averaging 9.6 points and 8.7 rebounds in 29.1 minutes as a sophomore, he averaged 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds in 21.5 minutes this year.
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Iowa State guard Tavon Sledge will visit Iona next weekend. “At present, the focus is to see what he thinks of Iona,” Mike Moore, Sledge’s mentor, told SNY.tv “No other visits will be scheduled before the Iona visit.” … Rice guard Dylan Ennis is considering transferring to Villanova, Oregon, UVA, Virginia Tech, Memphis, Wake Forest or Cincinnati, per Tony McIntyre of CIA Bounce.
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