Vincent Council, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound point guard from New York, will visit Rutgers this week and will attend the Pittsburgh game on Wednesday at the RAC.
“I’m going on the 30th,” Council, who plays for Chris Chaney at The Patterson (NC) School, wrote Sunday in a text message.
Council is also supposed to visit Central Florida the [...]

A couple of tall African basketball players — Beas Hamga and Ibrahima Thomas – are back on the market.

Hamga, a 7-foot, 225-pound native of Cameroon, is considering transferring from UNLV to Ole Miss, South Carolina or Rutgers. He secured his release from UNLV.
“I know he’s going to visit Ole Miss and South Carolina and he’s [...]

It was a Big Day for the Big East, with UConn and Syracuse both winning nationally televised games, St. John’s rolling into the finals of the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden and Rutgers getting another strong performance from its freshmen studs.
**I was at MSG, where the Johnnies routed Marist 65-44 to advance to [...]

John Riek is expected to get cleared by his doctor to play basketball next month, but still hasn’t heard from the NCAA Clearinghouse on his eligibility at Cincinnati.
In that respect, his situation is similar to that of Melvyn Oliver at Seton Hall and Ater Majok at UConn.
“On Jan. 19 he should get cleared to play [...]

Spoke today to Fatah Muraisi, the adviser to Teeng Akol and John Riek and he had these quick updates on his guys…
**Akol, who once played at Our Savior New American on Long Island, was cleared by the NCAA on Monday and practiced for the first time yesterday with Oklahoma State. The 6-foot-11 native of the [...]

Here’s my interview with Cincinnati guard Deonta Vaughn, who is averaging 13.3 points and 4.5 assists for the 5-1 Bearcats. Vaughn, who tallied 19 points and six assists in Saturday’s 67-65 victory over UNLV, discusses Mike Williams, Rashad Bishop, John Riek and Cincinnati’s chances in the loaded Big East.

The NCAA early signing period will come and go without a single player from Oak Hill Academy signing.
Head coach Steve Smith said Wednesday that he doesn’t expect 6-foot guard Lamont “Momo” Jones of New York City or 6-9 forward Keith “Tiny” Gallon to sign early.
“No, neither of them is signing,” Smith said. “I don’t think [...]

John Riek will be cleared to start running in a few days and expects to join the Cincinnati basketball team in December.
“He just gets clearance this month to start running,” said Riek’s adviser, Fatah Muraisi. “On Nov. 5 he’ll get the green light to start running. He’ll be joining the team in December.”
The 7-foot-2 Riek [...]

John Riek has received a qualifying ACT score and he could be ready to play at Cincinnati when the Big East campaign begins.
“He did get a qualifying score,” said Riek’s adviser, Fatah Muraisi. “We hope he’ll be there [at Cincinnati] sometime in December.”
Riek may also take the TOEFL — the Test of English as a [...]

Click above for video clips with Villanova coach Jay Wright, Louisville coach Rick Pitino, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey and Georgetown coach John Thompson III.
**Read the full story here about how deep the Big East is this season, with 10 teams possibly headed to the Big Dance.
**Read about UConn coach [...]