Kilpatrick Sets Officials (UPDATED); Southerland “A Beast”

There appears to be some confusion surrounding the recruitment of Sean Kilpatrick.

Ryan Hurd, the head coach at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., said the only official visit Kilpatrick had set up through the proper channels was an Oct. 24 trip to Providence.

Yet Gerard Jones, who is advising Kilpatrick, says the 6-foot-5, 210-pound shooting guard from White Plains, N.Y. will also visit Cincinnati the weekend of Oct. 11.

“The only one scheduled is Providence Oct. 24,” Hurd said.

“He is planning to visit Cincinnati (Oct. 11),” Jones said Tuesday.

Jones said Kilpatrick holds offers from Providence and Cincinnati and that Marquette was interested.

Hurd denied an Internet report saying Kilpatrick held offers from Cincinnati, Pitt, Marquette, Kansas State, Central Florida, Missouri and Arkansas.

A source within the Pittsburgh basketball program confirmed that no offer had been made to Kilpatrick.

“Absolutely not,” the source said.

“None of those schools besides Providence have been in to see him,” Hurd added. “We’ve had eight open gyms. I am expecting Cincinnati will be in in the near future.”

Hurd said Kilpatrick needs to focus on his academics and listen less to “advisers.”

“There are a lot of people in his life who need to worry about more about his academics than basketball so he can make some choices when it comes to basketball,” Hurd said. “There are a lot of people claiming to be his advisers. He has parents who are perfectly capable of letting him make that decision.”

Hurd also said Syracuse commit James Southerland, a 6-7 forward and former Cardozo player, was behaving like a new man.

“James Southerland is a completely different human being this year and is ready to be a beast,” Hurd said. “His overall level of maturity and attention to detail (has improved). His work ethic is off the charts. He’s up every morning running at 6 a.m. He’s in the gym constantly and preparing for the SAT (Oct. 4) almost to the level of obsession.”

The coach added that former Rice guard Mohammed Lee was “playing very well.” Pitt has shown interest in him.

Notre Dame Prep will be in New York for two games in the Big Apple Challenge run by Jason Curry in January.