My man Jeff Goodman of FoxSports says Kansas coach Bill Self and St. John’s coach Norm Roberts “are basically the only (D-1 coaches) actively recruiting (Lance) Stephenson” in Las Vegas.
Lance Stephenson Sr. previously said USC and UCLA were also on the short list, and Lance, the No. 2 shooting guard in the Class of 2009, has also mentioned Texas, Tennessee and Memphis.
Coaches aren’t allowed to comment on specific recruits, but Roberts told me earlier this week that he would love to land an impact player from the New York area.
“I think you always want to get the highest quality player that you can get, and you always want to get a guy that maybe can be an unbelievable difference-maker and there are a couple across the country,” said Roberts, who will visit Orlando, Las Vegas and California during the next 10 days and whose team has three scholarships for 2009. “There are some locally that aren’t too far away that of course you’d want to have them, and we’d love to add someone like that to our program.
“That could be the person that helps get you over the top.”
Self and his staff, including Jersey’s own Joe Dooley, are working on a number of high-profile targets, including Stephenson; St. Anthony standout Dominic Cheek, ranked No. 4 among shooting guards in the class; and Xavier Henry, a 6-foot-6 guard/forward from Putnam City (Okla.) High.
Henry says he’s down to Kansas, Memphis, UCLA and Texas, but we hear it will be between Memphis and Kansas. Both his parents attended Kansas.
**Louisville has offered 7-foot, 250-pound senior center Bawa Muniru of Madison (Ala.) Academy. He is also being recruited by Kentucky, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Duke, LSU, Minnesota, Tennessee State and LSU, according to Scout.com analyst Evan Daniels.
“Louisville is a great opportunity, plus you can’t beat playing for a guy like Rick Pitino,” Muniru told InsideTheVille.com. “He’s one of the big time coaches you could play for. So it’s a great offer.”
As a junior, Muniru averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks per game. He plans to take some visits and decide in the fall.
(Photos courtesy Washington Post and Jody Demling)
