Isaiah Briscoe

The 6-foot-3 Briscoe is the Rivals No. 16 player in the Class of 2015 and has been consistently recruited by Syracuse, Arizona and Florida, among others.

“With Ohio state and Indiana, me personally it’s an honor to hear from both of them,” George Briscoe told SNY.tv. “But secondly I wouldn’t be surprised if they make his top five down the road, both of them.

“Isaiah’s style of play, big point guard. I just wouldn’t count it out as them being in his top five down the road.”

He will also visit Florida in “late June,” his father said.

Briscoe averaged 15.1 points, 4.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals for the 32-2 Gray Bees and helped them reach the ESPN National High School Invitational final, losing to Montverde (Fla.) Academy.

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Matt Ryan

“His most recent offers were Davidson and Creighton in the last two weeks,” Alesi said.

Davidson joins the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2014-15 and Creighton joins the Big East this coming season.

With the addition of former UConn and Fordham assistant Patrick Sellers to their staff, Creighton is increasingly recruiting in the New York area.

“The obvious demographic where they need to recruit is the Northeast and particularly New York, with the schools in that conference,” Alesi said.

Ryan, whom Alesi called “the best shooter in [New York] City,” also holds offers from Holy Cross, Fordham, Quinnipiac, George Mason, Harvard, Boston University, Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Quinnipiac.

Alesi said Notre Dame, which this year joins the ACC, will follow Ryan this summer through AAU stops in Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Las Vegas. Assistant Martin Ingelsby is recruiting Ryan.

“They reached out and will be watching him pretty closely in July,” Alesi said.

Ryan played up with the New Heights 17U team this weekend as they reached the final of the Brooklyn Badgers Invitational at Baruch College, where they lost to Isaiah Whitehead and Juice.

Photo: LoHud.com

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The 6-foot-5 small forward from Greensboro (N.C.) Wesleyan Christian, will choose from among Georgetown, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville and Indiana during a 12:15 announcement at his school.

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FRISCO, Texas — Trey Lyles,

“I’m just  trying to focus on this last AAU season,” he told SNY.tv at the Nike EYBL stop here. “Have as much fun as I can, put the college thing on the background until my high school season.”

In February, the 6-foot-10 Canadian cut his list to Florida, Butler, Kentucky, UCLA , Louisville and Duke.

“Every school is even,” he said. “I hear from every school every week. I talk with every school every week. You know the fans are on me every day but every school is even right now. Nobody is going the extra mile above the other ones.”

Lyles plans to take officials to every school except Butler, which is the local school and joins the Big East this season. He will then sign in the spring of 2014.

“Yes, I will definitely take all six school visits,” Lyles said. “Probably the only one that I wouldn’t [take an official to] would be Butler because I am so close. But very other school I will be taking an official to.”

Butler, Creighton and Xavier will need to step up their recruiting in the new-look Big East and landing a player like Lyles would certainly be a big boost to Brad Stevens‘ prorgram.

“Great coach,” Lyles said. “They develop their plays. They’re starting to have a great legacy of winning.”

Kentucky is always in the mix for the top players, and is also hoping for the package of Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor, as well as Spiece Indy Heat teammate JaQuan Lyle and Cliff Alexander.

“Great legacy,” Lyles said. “Great coach. Players in the NBA. Fans are great. They develop their players and they make them work hard.”

Fellow SEC power Florida is also in the hunt.

“I know [Billy Donovan] is a good coach,” Lyles said. “I played against him when he coached the USA Team. He knows how to use his players. Great system. Great development. They’ve got guys in the league just now getting their shine. They’re making their players the best that they can be. Coach Donovan makes you feel like family. I talk to him almost every week, so he’s really trying to get me down there.”

New UCLA coach Steve Alford is also making a run at Lyles via assistant Ed Schilling.

“It’s really been Coach Schilling from Tudor that went up there,” Lyles said. “I played for him a couple of summer tournaments and stuff so he really knows me really well and I know him really well. So he has been the one recruiting me mostly.”

For now, Lyles is working his way back from a knee injury suffered at the end of his high school season.

“I sprained my PCL the last game of the high school season and was out for nine weeks…Coming off of injury you got to make sure you’re not going out there and playing your way into shape.”

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Which school that will be remains unclear, but a handful of big-time programs are in the mix for both 2014 stars.

“Everyone knows that we are gonna play together in college,” Okafor, a 6-foot-10 junior at Whitney Young (Chicago), wrote in his USA Today blog.

Among the schools in the mix for both players are Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Okafor said he’s heard from several of them recently.

“I had a really good talk with Coach (John) Calipari about a week ago,” he wrote. “Kentucky has been hitting me up a lot lately. The talk with Coach Cal was cool. He was telling me about how he felt about last season and how that went. Then he was telling me about how he gets disrespected by a lot of the other coaches in recruiting, which is actually true because I’ve heard a few things myself.

“He really explained a lot to me and I learned a lot.”

Calipari has also made a priority to watch Jones, a 6-1 point guard out of Apple Valley (MN), who is considered the best point guard in the class.

Kansas, which just landed 2013 superstar Andrew Wiggins, is also involved for the Okafor-Jones package, as is Michigan State.

“I talked to [Kansas] Coach [Bill] Self two nights ago and I talked to [Michigan State] Coach [Tom Izzo the other night too. I love talking to those guys. It's always a cool conversation."

As for Wiggins, Okafor, a potential one-and-done, said he will be watching to see how things turn out at Kansas next year.

"A lot of people say that Kansas doesn't want a freshman to just come in for a year and have a huge impact then leave. I've never believed that, but I know Andrew will prove that it's not true so that's why it's big.

"I'll definitely be watching close to see how they handle a player of his talent level. I know Coach Self will do a good job with it."

Meantime, many observers believe that Okafor and Jones could land at Duke. Okafor is close with incoming Duke freshman forward Jabari Parker, a fellow Chicagoan.

"Coach [Mike] K [Krzyzewski] text me on Sunday on Mother’s Day and that meant a lot to me because he was checking on me because he knows that my mother passed,” Okafor wrote. “I thought that was really cool of him.

“All of the coaches at Duke hit me up; Coach (Jeff) Capel and Coach (Steve) Wojo. Ohio State coaches (Thad) Matta and (Jeff Boals) checked on me too. That definitely meant a lot to me to have them take time out of their busy days and check on me.”

Going forward, Jones and Okafor will team up this summer on the USA U19 team that will compete in the World Championship in Prague.

Wiggins is expected to play for the Canadian team, as we reported here.

“In June I’m headed to Team USA Camp in Colorado,” Okafor wrote. “That means I’ll miss most of the skills camps in June, but I can’t wait to play in Czech Republic. Me and Tyus will team up there so, like I said, that will be a better experience.”

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FRISCO, Texas — After nearly committing to North Carolina during a recent visit, Rashad Vaughn says he remains open in his recruitment.

“I went down there with my family and my coaches,” Vaughn told SNY.tv at the Nike EYBL stop here, reiterating comments he first made to Scout.com. “I liked the atmosphere of the Duke game and I have a good relationship with all the coaches. But I got back home and me and my parents talked about it, and we decided to just wait.”

The 6-foot-4 shooting guard out of Robbinsdale (MN) Cooper is the Rivals No. 6 player in the Class of 2014 and one of the most sought after recruits in the nation.

He said his current list includes Minnesota, Iowa State, Baylor, Louisville, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, UConn, Tennessee and others.

“Everybody is coming pretty hard,” Vaughn said. “I haven’t narrowed my list yet because it’s hard. But everybody [is] really coming had at me.”

New Minnesota coach Richard Pitino has made Vaughn a very high priority and recently had him on campus.

“I went down there and met with him,” Vaughn said. “We talked a lot. He’s a great guy. I feel he’s going to change the program around. I like how he plays and stuff and I’ve got a good relationship with him already and the whole staff.”

Ironically, Vaughn is being recruited by both Pitinos, with Louisville coach Rick Pitino also in the mix.

“I’m being recruited by [Richard's] dad, too,” Vaughn said. “So that doesn’t help him [Richard] that much. But he’s been under his dad and the coach from Florida [Billy Donovan]. That helps him that he’s got all of that experience.”

Kentucky is among the schools on Vaughn’s list, to nobody’s surprise.

He said he speaks with coach John Calipari and assistant Orlando Antigua.

“I talk with them a lot so I’ve got a good relationship with them, too,” he said.

New UCLA coach Steve Alford and his staff have also reached out to Vaughn’s father.

“They talked to my dad and then dad texted me,” Vaughn said. “So I don’t really know what coach he talked to. I just know it was a UCLA coach that had contacted me.”

UConn remains in the mix despite getting a pledge from 2014 wing Daniel Hamilton of California.

“No, that doesn’t have any impact at all,” Vaughn said.

There has been talk about Vaughn transferring for his senior season, possibly to Andrew Wiggins’s former school, Huntington (W.V.) Prep, but Vaughn said nothing is set as of now.

“No, not anything right now,” he said. “I don’t know where I’m going. For now I will probably be at the same [school]. But I don’t know where I’m going right now.”

And that is the case for both high school and college.

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For the second time this week, a Canadian small forward has made his college decision.

MiKyle McIntosh, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound guard/forward at Jackson (Ky.) 22 Feet Academy, pledged to Illinois State on Thursday.

His commitment wasn’t nearly the event that the Andrew Wiggins Decision was, but McIntosh, like Wiggins, is a Canuck.

“I have decided to further my education and make a significant impact at the next level by joining the University of Illinois State next year,” he Tweeted.

McIntosh is close friends with Illinois State guard Kaza Keane, who also played for Ro Russell at Christian Faith Center Academy and on the Grassroots Canada AAU team.

Kentucky reviewed McIntosh’s transcripts, a source told SNY.tv, but the situation did not work out and he is headed to Illinois State.

“His skillset has improved tremendously,” 22 Feet Academy coach Ryan Schmidt told SNY.tv earlier this year. “He plays point guard for us as well. He’s about as good as I’ve seen.

“He’s 6-6, 225 and his ball-handling ability is pretty phenomenal. He’s a streaky shooter. That’s what he wants to improve on. He has really good mechanics. When he gets to the next level, he has a chance to be a premier guard once he gets his shooting down.

“No one can guard him off the dribble. He gets half a step, and he’s so strong.”

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FRISCO, Texas — D’Angelo Russell is one of the top guards in the Class of 2014 and recently picked up offers from North Carolina and Florida to add to his stack of offers.

As of now, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard from reigning ESPN NHSI champion Montverde (Fla.) Academy is planning on taking a few visits in the coming weeks.

“I have a visit set up with Kentucky when I get back home and I’m trying to get up to Michigan State, Ohio State again, North Carolina,” Russell told SNY.tv. at the Nike EYBL stop here last weekend. “Those are the schools that I can think of that I have visits set up for.”

He does not hold a Kentucky offer as of yet.

Asked if he had a date set for the Kentucky visit, the Louisville native said, “No, sir. They said whenever I come home, just set it up.”

Russell’s former Montverde teammate, center Dakari Johnson, is part of the heralded six-man McDonald’s All-American class coming into Kentucky.

“Dakari makes it easy for you,” Russell said. “He’s got good hands. You get into the lane, dish it off, he’s finishing or he’s catching. He’s just always on the play, he talks, he’s a motor guy that can just bring so much energy and he’s a key player to any team that he’s on.”

Meantime, Florida was the latest school to offer, following on the heels of a Carolina offer.

“Coach [Roy] Williams is a winning coach,” Russell said of the Carolina coach. “His program is a winning program. It’s a big-time scholarship to have on the table. If it’s the right place for me to go, God will lead me that way.”

As for Florida, he said: “Talking about Billy Donovan, I haven’t watched Florida as much. I just know they are a winning school and Billy Donovan is great with his player development.”

Russell is a Louisville native and said he’s also being courted by the reigning NCAA champs.

“I mean, all the schools that are recruiting me, I’m high with now,” he said. “That they won the national tournament, I mean I felt like they were going to win it from the start. It was just a good group of guys and they were a family from the start. I don’t feel like that has raised them higher than any other school, honestly.”

Overall, Russell remains open and hasn’t trimmed his list as of yet.

“No, I mean it’s a million schools and my recruitment is wide open, so I don’t have any kind of scale to tell who is coming at me the hardest,” he said.

Because of that, he’s looking at waiting until the spring of 2014 to make a decison.

“Honestly,” he said, “I feel like I will commit as late as possible just so I can wait the class out and just make sure I go to the right school,”

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FRISCO, Texas — Emmanuel Mudiay, the No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2014, is currently working with a list of 10 schools but plans on cutting it down to five sometime in the future, but he may not sign until the spring of 2014.

The 6-foot-4 point guard has no timeline for trimming his list but has said he would like to visit Arizona, Baylor, Kentucky, N.C. State and SMU.

His list of 10 also includes Kansas, Louisville, Oklahoma State, St. John’s and Texas.

“I like all of them so far,” Mudiay told SNY.tv this past weekend at the Nike EYBL stop here. “It’s definitely going to  change towards the end of the summer. I’m going to cut that down to five or so.”

For now, he is eyeing a late decision next spring.

“Yeah,” he said, “I won’t be making my decision anytime soon.”

Asked who was contacting him the most right now, Mudiay pointed to five schools.

“I’d probably have to say Kentucky, N.C. State, Arizona and Baylor,” he said. “Those four, they are really hot right now. And SMU, SMU.”

Mudiay’s most recent in-home meeting with Kentucky coach John Calipari.

“Everybody loved it, but you know, you’re going to love every coach that comes in the house,” Mudiay said. “They’re going to say, that’s their job to try and get you to come to their school, so they’re going to do what they can to say, ‘We need you,’ stuff like that. Like I said, he’s a great person. I liked his vibe. He’s good with point guards, too.”

Calipari’s history with getting point guards into the NBA Draft lottery is well documented and he also has a history with big guards like Mudiay.

“Calipari, he’s tough on his guards and that’s one thing,” Mudiay said. “I look towards having a coach that’s real tough, that can challenge me. That’s what I like to play on and when somebody challenges me, that’s what I like. That’s one thing he has in him, he challenges a lot of gurads. He’s got the one-and-done thing, so that’s important to me.

“He said it himself, it’s not like he’s coaching a team anymore, he’s helping families. That’s what he said. He’s a great person, though, him and his coaching staff.”

Of course, Calipari is also recruiting 2014 point guard Tyus Jones, who is down to seven schools.

But Mudiay said he and Jones can’t coexist on the same team.

“I highly doubt we would play together,” Mudiay said. “I’m a point guard. That’s what I see myself as. I’m not a combo guard. I want to play point guard and I’m sure he wants to play point guard, so I don’t see myself and him being on the same team.”

Among his other top targets, Mudiay also strong feelings about Baylor, which is relatively close to his home in Dallas.

“You know, they’re a Christian school, that’s one thing,” Mudiay said. “It’s about an hour and a half from my house. That’s important, too. They’re good people. Coach [Scott] Drew. I love his demeanor. I like the way he coaches. Coach [Jerome] Tang, they’re all good people. He’s like my brother, Isaiah Austin. He was going to enter [the Draft] but you know he had surgery, so he came back for his second year and he said he loves it out there.”

Mudiay is also a huge fan of SMU coach Larry Brown, the only man to win NBA and NCAA titles.

“I love that man,” he said. “That’s like the father of basketball, really. He teaches me, even though I ‘m not committed there. He still talks to me like I went to that school. He teaches me a lot. He’s like a father figure towards a lot of people. So that’s one thing that’s really big. He’s somebody that I can talk to [about stuff] other than basketball as a coach so far. That’s something big, too.”

Mudiay is also developing a relationship with Arizona’s Sean Miller.

“Yeah, I took my visit during school when we played in Arizona,” Mudiay said. “It was an unofficial visit. Great campus, great people. Loved the atmosphere over there, so it’s definitely cool.”

Reigning NCAA champion Louisville is also recruiting Mudiay, although he hasn’t yet established a strong bond with Coach Rick Pitino.

“I really haven’t talked to Coach Pitino himself like that, but I’ve talked to the assistant,” he said. “Good people. I mean, they won the championship so that’s something big. I definitely want to win a championship wherever I go my first year. That would mean a lot to me.”

Mudiay’s Texas Pro team went 0-4  here and he wants to get back on the winning track in an attempt to qualify for the Peach Jam.

“Being a winner, man,” he said. “With school, we win, but AAU here is a whole different team than school ball.

“We’re not as big, not as talented, but the one thing I appreciate about these guys is they always want to play hard. I’m just going to keep working to be a better leader at all times.”

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So says Tom Konchalski, who has been covering high school recruiting since the 1960s and has authored the High School Basketball Insider since 1979.

According to Konchalski, UCLA scored the greatest recruiting class ever when it landed Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. out of New York’s Power Memorial Academy in 1965.

“Yes,” Konchalski told SNY.tv. “I still think because the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the proof of the recruiting is in the winning, and no one ever won bigger than Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor. Eighty-eight and two on the varsity, 21-0 on the freshman team.

“Had he not had the scratched cornea and the 103 fever, he would’ve been 90-0 and 111-0.”

Alcindor led Power Memorial to three straight New York City Catholic championships, a 71-game winning streak, and a 79–2 overall record.

While at UCLA, Alcindor joined the Nation of Islam and became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He led the Bruins to three straight NCAA titles from 1967-69 and won three straight Final Four Most Outstanding Player awards.

Still, Konchalski says that Kentucky already has the “deepest” recruiting class ever with six McDonald’s All-Americans in Julius Randle, Andrew and Aaron Harrison, Marcus Lee, James Young and Dakari Johnson.

Adding Wiggins — who will announce Tuesday for Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky or North Carolina — to that group would only make it that much deeper.

“It certainly is the deepest class,” Konchalski said. “It is with or without Andrew Wiggins. No one’s ever had six McDonald’s All-Americans in one class.”

But whatever Kentucky accomplishes in the next two years, Konchalski still maintains that Alcindor by himself represented the greatest recruiting class ever.

“Yeah, just because look what he did,” Konchalski said. “Look what he did. These guys don’t stay four years the way Alcindor stayed. Would they run the table for the let’s say one year or two years? No, they’re not going to do that.”

**For previous articles on Andrew Wiggins, click here.

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