DaJuan Coleman lives only about five minutes from the Syracuse campus, so it’s not surprising that he’s been to three games already this young season.
Coleman attended Syracuse’s 86-67 win over Canisius Sunday after hitting the home-opener against Northern Iowa and the exhibition against Le Moyne.
“It was pretty good,” Coleman said of the Canisius game. “They pulled away from them at the end.”
The 6-foot-10, 280-pound Coleman is the No. 3 center in the Class of 2012, per Rivals.
He initially said his “top five” consisted of Syracuse, Ohio State, North Carolina, Kentucky and Louisville.
Then he amended his list to say West Virginia and Georgetown were recruiting him hard as well.
“That’s my top seven,” he said.
He said he’s always considered Syracuse and North Carolina his dream schools, but isn’t sure where Carolina stands at this point.
“North Carolina was my dream school but I don’t know about North Carolina,” he said. “I’ve got to see where they’re at in a couple years, how good of a team they’re gonna be.”
Despite the public perception that Syracuse is his favorite, Coleman says nobody tops the list right now.
“I ain’t really got no favorites at this time,” he said. “I’m not leaning to one school right now.”
He said he hopes to decide a year from now, “going into my senior year” at Jamesville-DeWitt.
In the meantime, he wants to work on his mid-range game and running the floor better while helping his high school win another title.
“Win another state championship,” he said of his goal this season.
FREE THROWS
Mike Rice coaches his first home game at the RAC Monday night against Fairfield…St. John’s will open the Steve Lavin Era with two games in 40 hours, opening at 2 a.m. Tuesday at St. Mary’s on ESPN and then flying East to face Columbia Wednesday night at Carnesecca Arena…Freshmen continued to excel over the weekend. Duke’s Kyrie Irving of New Jersey had 17 points and 9 assists in a 97-60 win Sunday over Princeton. J.J. Moore of Pittsburgh had 19 points and 8 rebounds Saturday when Pitt dismantled North Florida, 95-49. N.C. State’s C.J. Leslie came off the bench to score 21 Friday night in the Wolfpack’s 82-69 win over Tennessee Tech…On the high school front, Cincinnati signee Shaquille Thomas poured in 38 points Sunday when NIA Prep beat West Point Military Academy, 85-76. Kelvin Amayo added 24.
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