Great slice of life interview here with guards Kyrie Irving and Josh Selby done by Daniel Poneman of Illinoishsbball.com.
They grabbed the guys before they won the gold medal over Canada at the recent Nike Global Challenge.
“I do have aspirations of playing on the USA team in the future when I get older so this where I get started,” said Irving, who was named MVP of the event. “This experience, I couldn’t do it any differently, especially playing with him [Selby] and other great players on our team.”
Selby, who decommitted from Tennessee, is currently on the UConn campus for an official visit. NO other visits are yet planned, his high school coach, Herman Harried, told me today. Harried said Selby might also wait until the spring.
“The reason I decommitted from Tennessee was because I wanted to make sure it was the perfect decision. I committed too early. I only looked at two schools,” Selby said, referring to Louisville and Tennessee.
Kentucky, Memphis, Syracuse, Texas and Kansas are also in the mix.
“Every school is in the picture, even (NCAA Division II) schools,” Selby told the Louisville Courier Journal. “It’s going to take a long time before I commit again. I am wide open.”
Selby’s mother, Maeshon Witherspoon, is on record saying she has spoken briefly with John Calipari confidante William Wesley and that Kentucky is definitely in the mix.
“Anybody with a basketball brain and knows what Calipari has done — you have to consider Kentucky,” she told Jody Demling of the Courier Journal. “It doesn’t mean it’s a done deal, but you have to consider Kentucky.”
Irving’s Godfather, Rod Strickland, is a Kentucky assistant but so far Irving has announced plans only to visit Indiana and Duke, possibly in September. He said he’ll cut his list to five after the Boost Mobile Elite 24 game here in New York Aug. 21.
“I have Kentucky, Duke, Indiana, Texas A&M, Seton Hall, Notre Dame and Virginia,” he said. “Those are the main schools right now, and Georgia Tech.”
At that point, Selby jumps in and says, “The ‘I’ word,” presumably referring to Indiana as Irving’s leader.
After Selby tugs on Irving’s shirt, Kyrie continues: “As of right now all schools are balanced. After Elite 24 that’s when I’m going to narrow it down to five and take my official visits.”
I’ll be at the Elite 24 next week, so check back here for more updates late next week.
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