Florida Out for Lance, Maryland the Leader?

Lance Stephenson told me last week he had “three more weeks to make my [college] decision.”

Lance said he didn’t have a specific date in mind to announce, but his sexual assault case resumes June 29 in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

Stephenson said he was considering Arizona, Florida, Maryland and Memphis, but Gary Parrish is reporting that Florida is out of the mix.

“[There’s a] zero [percent] chance we take him,” a source close to the Florida program told Parrish.

Arizona coach Sean Miller is on record saying he would likely keep his recruiting class at three and not add a fourth player.

And Memphis coach Josh Pastner remains interested in adding talented players, but doesn’t seem to have a clear picture on what Stephenson’s intentions are.

That leaves Gary Williams at Maryland, assuming Stephenson ends up in college.

I know I have gone on record before saying Maryland was out of it, but Williams has now been in this thing the longest of any of the coaches involved.

At one point it was Kansas, Maryland and St. John’s. When that was the case Bill Self and Norm Roberts had put in the most time with Lance.

But Williams has now been involved since last fall/winter, longer than Arizona, Florida or Memphis.

“I talk with Coach [Gary] Williams, Coach [Keith] Booth and Coach [Chuck] Driesell, they’ve just been there,” Lance Stephenson Sr. said last week. “Maryland is going through their process where they want to pick a player and they’re not putting any rush on us. They want Lance to be sure if he does want to go to Maryland, that he really wants to be there. Maryland has been really patient in working with the family.”

I don’t believe any college commitment can happen until this sexual assault case is resolved, which may or may not happen June 29.

There is also the issue of the BornReady.tv Website, which Parrish and others say will trigger an NCAA investigation as soon as Lance enrolls at college.

“The people from Born Ready did the documentary in compliance with the NCAA and we made sure that everything was done right and it was legal to do it,” Lance Sr. said.

The Washington Post reported that compliance officers said “a school likely will look into any prospective athlete’s affiliation with a Web site to determine whether the relationship produced compensation for the athlete or his family, whether a third party like an agent or financial adviser was involved and what prompted the company producing the Web site to form the relationship in the first place.”

While many observers speculate that Stephenson will ultimately end up in Europe, Lance and Lance Sr. remain consistent in their position that Lance will not go abroad.

“I know everybody wants to know where Lance is going to go but the questions will soon be answered,” Lance Sr. said.