Five Star UK recruit Tobias Harris of Half Hollow Hills H.S. West (NY) is expected to sign his letter of intent later today, which is the last day of the early signing period. He will announce his decision live on ESPNU at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Tobias is officially considering the following seven schools: Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Syracuse, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
College basketball reporter Adam Zagoria says conventional wisdom means Harris will likely choose between Louisville, Syracuse, Tennessee, and West Virginia.Dan Lyons of Bleacherreport.com says Syracuse and Tennessee seem to lead the pack for the services of Tobias.
GoVolsxtra.com says Harris is believed to have narrowed his choices to Syracuse and Tennessee.Jeff Goodman from FoxSports.com tweeted that most coaching staffs in the hunt for Harris feel he will end up choosing Tennessee.
I cannot find any credible articles or reports that say Tobias will pick UK or that Kentucky is currently in the lead for his services. If Harris goes elsewhere, that will leave UK with only one early commitment- Stacey Poole. This would also make Tobias the third recruit who attended Big Blue Madness but went elsewhere, the other two being Kyrie Irving and Achraf Yacoubou.
Late on Tuesday evening, news broke that Harris traveled to Knoxville after concluding his visit to Georgia Tech to watch Tennessee dismantle UNC-Asheville. Harris told AllKYHoops.com “he just felt like watching them play and it was only two hours from Georgia Tech”.
Despite rumors to the contrary, he further explained to AllKYHoops.com that he was in Knoxville, but hadn’t committed to Tennessee. He claimed there was still no favorite and all seven schools were still being considered. Finally, he said the things about Kentucky that most stood out to him were the fans and atmosphere.
The reports about his last minute visit to Knoxville are a little reminiscent of the Kyrie Irving recruitment saga. Tobias may have committed to Tennessee tonight, but just doesn’t want to publicly announce it until Thursday on ESPNU.
There is one glimmer of hope that Harris to Tennessee might not be a done deal. The New York Daily News reported the Volunteers were expected to receive a commitment from four star forward Jayvaughn Pinkston of Bishop Loughlin (NY) sometime on Wednesday. Adam Zagoria quoted a Division 1 assistant basketball coach as saying "there was no way Harris and Pinkston are going to the same school". News concerning this potential complication unexpectedly changed today when Pinkston announced he was delaying his commitment until the late signing period. It's unclear if this decision was influenced by the impending commitment of Harris.
Even if Tobias doesn’t end up committing to Tennessee because Pinkston may eventually end up there, this isn’t necessarily good news for UK. Dan Lyons of Bleacherreport.com concluded his article by saying Pinkston's recent commitment to Bruce Pearl and the Volunteers seems to indicate that Harris may be a Syracuse commit in the near future.
While Harris’s final destination is still unclear, it’s probably safe to assume that it won’t be Maryland or West Virginia. The Terrapins recently gained a commitment from 2010 forward prospect Ashton Pankey and West Virginia just got a commitment from 2010 center David Nyarsuk.
I think it's fair to say most UK fans and recruiting analysts would be surprised if Tobias Harris commits to and announces for Kentucky. If conventional wisdom holds true, Calipari and the UK staff will be under tremendous pressure to deliver in the late signing period (April 14-May 19).
Article From : http://kybasketball.blogspot.com/2009/11/note-on-impending-commitment-of-uk.html
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