by Alex Schwartz

Pat Chambers went into his old stomping grounds to land his first five recruits as the Boston University head coach. Yesterday he dipped into a new area to land maybe his best recruit yet. Malik Thomas '10 of Wadleigh (NY) has verbally committed to the Terriers, in news that I first saw on NYChoops.net. The 6'6 forward is the sixth member of BU's class of 2010.

"It felt it was the best place for me to go to," stated Thomas when I asked how he chose the America East school. Why does the lanky Big Apple baller feel that way? "Boston is close, but far from home. The school is perfect for me and the basketball team is perfect for my style of play." Malik listed Farleigh Dickinson and Stony Brook as his other finalists. Seton Hall and Quinnipiac were amongst the other schools that showed interest in Thomas, who will be able to relax a bit now that he has made his decision. "It feels relieving and good because now I can focus on the season and sit back until I graduate."

Thomas, who is the first player to commit to Boston University to not be from Philadelphia, does not have a relationship with his fellow future Terriers. Asked if it feels weird at all to be the lone non-Philly baller headed to play for BU, Malik responded, "Not at all because I'm [going to] eventually get to know them since they are going to be my teammates." The other seniors that have already selected Pat Chambers and Co. are Mike Terry, Anthony Mayo, Travis Robinson, Dominic Morris, and HJ Gaskins.

Another player with New York roots took his name off the board yesterday, but his commitment was much different. First reports came out in the morning that 6'8 wing Rod Odom '10 of Middlesex School (MA) had decommitted from Arizona, the school he had selected only about three weeks ago. Not long after, it was reported that the #121 ranked player in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125 had committed to Vanderbilt.

I reached Odom on Monday night, but was unable to talk to him for long, as he told me his phone was dying, and thus I did not get any quotes. Rod's decision leaves Daniel Bejarano (ranked #63 by Northstar Basketball) as Arizona's only 2010 commit, while he is now the third future Commodore in the class, joining Kyle Fuller and Josh Henderson. Odom is a major coup for Kevin Stallings and Co., as the Vanderbilt continues to climb up the ranks of the SEC.

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