Still no final determination on Derrick Caracter’s situation vis-a-vis Oklahoma City University.

The 6-foot-9 New Jersey native is apparently still deciding whether to transfer to the NAIA school from Louisville, or to go to another D-1 school and sit out a year.

“He’s not here,” OCU coach Tommy Wade told Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com. “From my conversations, not necessarily with Derrick but with his people, he’s still considering trying to transfer to a D-1 school and sitting out. We’re still in the mix, but the last day he can enroll is a week from today.”

Caracter had been offered an opportunity to return to the Louisville basketball team for the 2009-10 season, assuming he met various academic and athletic criteria set out by head coach Rick Pitino.

Caracter has hung up on both me and Goodman, so we’ll have to hear how this plays out from Wade.

Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon hired former Rice High School assistant and Gauchos AAU assistant Rasheen Davis as the staff’s video coordinator….and one wonders how this might impact Rice senior Durand Scott (pictured) in his recruiting.

“Rasheen is an outstanding addition to our program,” Dixon said. “He brings with him an extensive background both in coaching and administration. He will also be a tremendous role model for our student athletes.”

Scott and Rice coach Mo Hicks weren’t immediately available for comment. Read more…

Tennis’ best players have descended on the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing for the U.S. Open. Over the course of two weeks, men’s and women’s singles fields of 128 players will be halved seven times until there is one champion.

Check here for the latest news from SNY.tv.

For more on Venus and Serena, read my story on SNY.tv.

And check out the Federer-Nadal “Grapple in the Apple” feature here.

Rivals released its Top 150 for the Class of 2010 and there are several local ties for the New York metropolitan area, although we were surprised not to see Fuquan Edwin of Paterson Catholic and Ashton Pankey of St. Anthony on this list.

**6-foot-8 Canadian native and Texas commit Tristan Thompson of St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark is No. 5, after Josh Smith, Brandon Knight, Jared Sullinger and Harrison Barnes.

**6-3 Syracuse commit Dion Waiters, who will reportedly suit up at Burlington (NJ) Life Center Academy, is No. 20.

**Brooklyn native Doron Lamb, who transferred to Oak Hill Academy (Va.) from Bishop Loughlin, is No. 21. The 6-4 Lamb holds offers from Rutgers, Louisville, Georgia Tech and Xavier and interest from UConn, Seton Hall and Syracuse. Read more…

Tobias Harris may end up seeing every major Division I program in the nation before this summer ends.

The 6-foot-8 Long Island native visted Georgetown with his father on Tuesday after seeing Maryland Monday. Virginia is up today.

“It was another terrific day for Tobias at Georgetown University,” Torrel Harris said by email. “Tobias had a great meeting with (the) Georgetown coaches, reviewing game film of Georgetown games showing how Tobias’ style of play fits into Georgetown’s style. Read more…

Good news for Memphis in the Xavier Henry Sweepstakes.

CJ Henry, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard and Xavier’s brother, will enroll at Memphis and play guard for the school’s basketball team before continuing his baseball career with the Yankees next summer.

“This year I haven’t been playing as much because of injuries,” CJ Henry told NewOK.com. “I started thinking about it while I wasn’t playing. I decided to see where basketball takes me.”

Xavier Henry, a 6-7 wing considered a top five player in the Class of 2009, is reportedly down to Kansas and Memphis, but this news certainly has to make Memphis fans feel good. Memphis coach John Calipari was an assistant at Kansas when Carl Henry, the boys’ father, played there.

“He’s going to make his own decision like I did,” C.J. said of his brother. “I didn’t even talk to him about it but I asked him if it’s cool if I went to Memphis. It’s 50-50, that he goes to the same school and I’m even still there.”

Xavier Henry will visit defending NCAA champion Kansas the weekend of Sept. 19 and national runner-up Memphis the weekend of Sept. 26.

Speaking of Memphis, the Tigers hired both Bilal Batley, who was involved in the recruitment of Nolan Dennis, and Lamont Peterson, who trained Tyreke Evans, to staff positions.

The Tobias Harris World Tour made a stop at Maryland on Monday and Torrel Harris said his son had a “great meeting with head coach Gary Williams.”
 
The 6-foot-8 Harris also met Maryland’s academic advisor and strength and conditioning
coach.

“Tobias came away very impressed with Coach Williams and his coaching staff,” the father said. Read more…

Brooklyn Lincoln star Lance Stephenson is the top-ranked player in the Class of 2009 according to the new rankings by the Hoop Scoop.

Derrick Favors is ranked No. 2 in the class, followed by Kenny Boynton, UAB commit Demarcus Cousins and North Carolina commit Dexter Strickland of St. Patrick of Elizabeth.

St. Anthony of Jersey City star Dominic Cheek is No. 10 and Rice standout Durand Scott is No. 30.

North Carolina guard John Wall was rated as the No. 1 fifth-year player by the Hoop Scoop.

In other news and notes… Read more…

One of the best prep tournaments of the year is the Hoophall Classic that takes place each year over MLK weekend at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Here is the sked for the 2009 event, which runs Jan. 16-19.

We’re told the Jan. 19 tilt between Lance Stephenson and Brooklyn Lincoln and DeMarcus Cousins (left) and LeFlore (Ala.) will be shown on the ESPN family of networks. That same day, Dominic Cheek and St. Anthony meet Xavier Henry and Putnam City (Okl.) in a game that we’re sure will draw a big crowd. Kansas is recruiting both young men. Read more…