Boynton to Florida; Scott on His Options

Kenny Boynton, the No. 2 shooting guard in the Class of 2009, made a verbal commitment to Florida on Thursday on ESPNU.

The 6-foot-2, 187-pound Boynton out of Plantation (FL) American Heritage chose the Gators over Duke, USC, Georgia Tech and Texas.

”Next year I feel I’m going to be a big piece of the team and we’re going to try to get to the Final Four,” Boynton told the Miami Herald.

Boynton joins 6-10 forward Erik Murphy of Southborough, Mass. and 6-9 forward Deshawn Painter of Chatham, Va. among Florida’s 2009 recruits.

Boynton took official visits to Florida, USC and Georgia Tech, going to Gainesville last weekend for a homecoming weekend in which the football team beat Kentucky.

”I took numerous visits to all the schools that were recruiting me and on my Florida visit I was very comfortable,” Boynton Jr. said. “Me and [coach] Billy Donovan, we have a great relationship and we just clicked.”

SCOTT ON HIS OPTIONS

As first reported here, Rice guard Durand Scott has narrowed his list to Pitt, UConn and Miami.

“All the other schools had something about them that I didn’t like, so that’s why they’re eliminated,” Scott told Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant, referring to UCLA and Tennessee, among others. “None of [the remaining] schools have things I don’t like.

“I don’t really have a timeline [for a decision],” Scott added. “UConn has a tradition. Academics are no problem for me at any school. It’s going to come down to where I feel comfortable. I could see myself playing at any of those schools. … Location doesn’t matter to me. I don’t really take that into consideration. I just want to play basketball.”

Anthony also reports that UConn commit Ater Majok will take an unofficial visit to the school this coming weekend.

Majok, a 6-10 big man from Sudan via Australia, had his paperwork reviewed by UConn officials and must now pass through the NCAA Clearinghouse.

UConn head coach Jim Calhoun said it might take longer for Majok to jell with the team than Stanley Robinson, who played with the team in the past and is expected to return for second semester.

“[We’re capable of a] national championship, but it’s going to take a lot of good things to happen,” he said. “It’s going to take A.J. [Price] returning to to the A.J. we know and better. It’s going to take Hasheem [Thabeet] dominating the games the way we know he’s capable of. It’s going to take Jeff [Adrien] to be the warrior that he continues to be. “It’s going to take Kemba [Walker] as a freshman to not be a freshman. It’s going to take Stanley coming back and then the team adjusting to a guy on the fly. He’ll be one of the easiest guys to do it because athletically he’ll be as quick as anybody. It’s his third year playing with us so I think it’ll be easier for him. Tougher for probably Ater.”