by Alex Schwartz

- Tobias Harris is down to seven schools. The 6'8 power forward from Half Hollow Hills West (NY) is ranked #17 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125 after boosting his stock a great deal over the summer while running with the City Rocks. The combo forward informed me via text that the lucky seven schools are Maryland, West Virginia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Louisville, Kentucky, and Syracuse. The big shocker is that UConn is no longer under consideration. The Huskies were considered by many to be Harris' favorite, and him dropping the Big East school is almost as surprising as Kyrie Irving '10 ruling out Indiana with six other schools still remaining. "Narrowing a list of 11 storied basketball programs would be no easy task for anyone, let alone . . . a 17 year-old high school senior. Concluding home visits with each of the head coaches, I have selected seven schools which I hope to make my final decision from. I am very grateful to the many coaches and wonderful programs who have recruited me and dedicated their time to the process. I would like to visit these [remaining] schools and weigh my options before making the ever so serious decision of selecting a college. My family and I will work together to help . . . make the best decision," stated Harris via text.

- I first heard via Twitter from Recruit Recon that Jonathan Arledge '10, a big man from KIMA (DC), had popped to George Mason. This is a huge get for the Patriots, as Arledge is considered to be a player with a lot of potential and a high ceiling. The CAA school continues to recruit at what amounts to a high-major level under Jim Larranaga.

- Speaking of Recruit Recon, Brian Crownover is not only the site's lead recruiting analyst and a writer, but is an avid runner and has a blog to track what he is up to in that regard. Crownover updates his page almost daily and you should definitely check out Running Back in Time.

- Anthony Lee '10 of Eustis (FL) has committed to Temple, according to Rivals. The 6'9 center was receiving a lot of mid-major plus and some high-major attention after bursting onto the scene this summer with the high powered Nike Team Florida. This is a major pickup for Fran Dunphy and Co.

- Austin Hollins '10, a shooting guard out of Germantown (TN) has pledged to Minnesota, in news that was first reported by Memphis Roar. Hollins is a talented 6'3 shooting guard, and he has a basketball background. Austin's father is Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach Lionel Hollins.

- As mentioned above, Kyrie Irving has crossed Indiana off of his list. Duke is considered the be the heavy favorite for the St. Patrick's (NJ) standout. The Blue Devils have the 6'2 point guard, who is ranked #6 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125, on campus this weekend for an official visit. Do not be surprised if Irving commits to Mike Krzyzewski and Co. in the next several days.

- Binghamton has dismissed five of its best players from the team. I first heard this news via Twitter when Justin Young sent a "re-tweet" of a tweet from Pete Thamel. Soon after, ZagsBlog had an article up on the news. Amongst those who were removed from the reigning America East champs was star player DJ Rivera, as well as Malik Alvin and Corey Chandler, who had transferred to the school from Rutgers less than one month ago. Pete Thamel also reported that Tiki Mayben was expected to be dismissed from the squad on Thursday. Rivera, Alvin, and Mayben were top three on the team last year in points per game, steals, assists, and free throws made and were all top four in just about every category.

- UConn, according to Scout, has both Brandon Knight '10 and Andre Drummond '12 on campus this weekend. For Knight, it will be his official visit to Storrs. Knight and Drummond are both ranked #1 in their class by Rivals, and Knight is also #1 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125. Clearly this is a big weekend for Jim Calhoun's program.

Note- photo is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/