“He went to Syracuse [Friday night] for the [West Virginia football] game and now he will take his last visit to OSU,” Hart said by text.

“He has said all along that he will take all three visits and then decide. He’s a man of his word.”

Coleman already visited Kentucky last weekend for Big Blue Madness.

Coleman visited Kentucky along with 2012 pledge Archie Goodwin and uncommitted players Shabazz Muhammad, Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley.

Coleman took an unofficial to Ohio State the last weekend in August. The school has been working hard on Coleman, using Jared Sullinger to help recruit the big man.

“I think Sullinger is basically [saying] his school is just pushing me harder,” Coleman told SNY.tv in August. “That’s what I want. I like competition and stuff. They push me harder, give me the ball, put me in the right spot. You know, make me better as a player.”

He added:  ”Ohio State, I like how they use their big man and develop big men so that’s one thing about them.”

Hart said Coleman wouldn’t necessarily need to take an official to Syracuse because he lives right there and has been to campus many times.

Coleman told OrangeFizz.net that he plans on picking from among the three schools “by early November.”

(Photo courtesy Syracuse Post-Standard)

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“It was good,” Coleman told SNY.tv by text. “He was telling me about the past players he developed. And he said he liked the way I play and he can bring the best out of me because he knows I can do multiple things on the court.

“It was a really good meeting.”

Calipari has tracked Coleman for some time, even watching him the New York State Federation title game last spring.

Coleman may postpone his official visit this weekend to Ohio State and will then visit Kentucky the weekend of Oct. 14 for Big Blue Madness. He is also considering Syracuse, but no visit date is set.

“All three are pushing hard and the race looks fairly equal right now,” Albany City Rocks coach Jim Hart told SNY.tv.

Goodwin was Kentucky’s first pledge from the Class of 2012. They missed out on 6-8 Kansas forward Perry Ellis Wednesday when he chose Kansas, but the Wildcats are also in the mix for a number of top players, including Shabazz Muhammad, Mitch McGary, Alex Poythress, Devonta Pollard and Willie Cauley.

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DaJuan Coleman,

“It was good just to finally get out and see the [Ohio State] campus and staff,” he said by text. “The coaching staff was cool. I’m just looking at all my options and planning to see Kentucky, Syracuse and Florida.”

Coleman previously said his “top three” was Syracuse, Ohio State and Kentucky and that he will likely visit Kentucky Oct. 15 for “Big Blue Madness.”

Earlier this month, he said he had developed a friendship with Ohio State big man Jared Sullinger, who was recruiting him to the Buckeyes.

“I think Sullinger is basically [saying] his school is just pushing me harder,” Coleman said then. “That’s what I want. I like competition and stuff. They push me harder, give me the ball, put me in the right spot. You know, make me better as a player.”

He added:  ”Ohio State, I like how they use their big man and develop big men so that’s one thing about them.”

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But now that Coleman has spent more time this summer with Ohio State big man Jared Sullinger, the Buckeyes are on level ground with the Orange and the Wildcats.

“They’re definitely equal now that I did a little more research and stuff like that,” Coleman told SNY.tv by phone from the adidas Nations event in Los Angeles.

Coleman said Sullinger, whom he has known for several years, has pitched him the idea of coming to Ohio State, possibly to replace Sullinger after he heads to the NBA following his sophomore season.

“I think Sullinger is basically [saying] his school is just pushing me harder,” Coleman said. “That’s what I want. I like competition and stuff. They push me harder, give me the ball, put me in the right spot. You know, make me better as a player.”

He added:  ”Ohio State, I like how they use their big man and develop big men so that’s one thing about them.”

Still, Coleman has never visited the campus and said he’s in the process of trying to plot out visits.

He’s interested in visiting both Ohio State and Kentucky, which hosts Big Blue Madness Oct. 15.

“Yeah,” he said, “I think so.”

It appears as if it will come down to Syracuse, the hometown school, Kentucky or Ohio State when all is said and done.

“That’s my top three,” he said.

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HOUSTON — DaJuan Coleman knows John Calipari could have gone anywhere the day after Kentucky advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament.

But the Kentucky coach went from Tampa, Fla., to Glens Falls, N.Y., to watch Coleman play for a New York State championship.

“That means a whole lot because he could’ve watched anybody,” Coleman said Sunday after posting 12 points and six rebounds as the East fell to the West, 107-104, in the All-American Championship. “He didn’t have to come to see me. He could’ve picked anybody else but he picked me. That means whole lot to me and I was just happy to see him after he just got done with his game.”

The 6-foot-10 Coleman said he doesn’t have “an official top five,” but listed North Carolina, Syracuse, Kentucky, Ohio State and UConn.

He added there were “a couple more so I really don’t have an official five.”

Jim Hart, Coleman’s AAU coach with the Albany City Rocks, previously said Coleman’s list would likely come down to Syracuse and at least one other school since Syracuse is his local program.

“It’s going to be somebody and Syracuse,” Hart said last month. “If there’s five or six schools, the final two is probably going to be somebody and Syracuse.”

Of Syracuse, Coleman said, “They’re in the list. They’re one of my top schools.”

Coleman said he plans to play the summer AAU circuit and then go from there early in his senior season at Jamesville-DeWitt.

“I’m just looking at my options and just taking my time with it,” he said. “I just want to make the right decision for me and my family.”

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**Kentucky, Syracuse showing Coleman ‘the most love of late‘

So says his AAU coach, Jim Hart.

“It’s going to be somebody and Syracuse,” Hart said Wednesday. “If there’s five or six schools, the final two is probably going to be somebody and Syracuse.”

Could that “somebody” be Kentucky?

“Obviously, Kentucky and Syracuse are showing him the most love of late,” Hart said.

Click here to read the full story at SBNation.com.

(Photo, schedule courtesy Albany Times-Union)

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