by Alex Schwartz

While Michael Gilchrist '11 of St. Patrick's (NJ) committing to Kentucky might have been the biggest news of the late signing period, the 6'7 combo forward cannot sign his Letter of Intent to attend the SEC power for another year. Meanwhile, there have been five players ranked in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125 that have committed in the first five days of the period, and those players are the ones that will impact college basketball this upcoming season.

On the first day of the late signing period, the current #1 ranked player in the Terrific 125, 6'3 combo guard Brandon Knight of Pine Crest (FL) ended the speculation and committed to Kentucky, to the surprise of none. The sturdy scorer also considered Florida, Kansas, Syracuse, and UConn, but he was considered Lexington-bound for quite some time. Knight is fourth consecutive elite point guard who will suit up for John Calipari, following in the footsteps of Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, and John Wall. Rose went number one in the NBA Draft, Evans was selected fourth, Wall is expected to go first this year. While Knight is a different player than those three, he is extremely skilled and will effectively run the UK offense, likely for one year. Knight became the third member of Kentucky's class, joining #18 Stacey Poole and elite big man Enes Kanter who is a top dozen prospect, but is unranked as of now.

Also on day one of the signing period, 6'1 point guard Ray McCallum of Detroit Country Day School (MI), the #37 ranked player in the Terrific 125—he will be making a large jump in the final rankings—did what people have suspected for the past few months and committed to play for his father at Detroit. McCallum will be an immediate stud in the Horizon League playing for his father, Ray McCallum, Sr. The steady floor general, a McDonad's All-American, joins Frank Williams and Jordan Manuel in the Titans' recruiting class, according to Scout. McCallum chose Detroit over Arizona, Florida, and UCLA.

Another big-time Michigander opted to stay in-state and play for pops on day one of the late period, as #45 ranked Trey Zeigler, a 6'4 shooting guard out of Mount Pleasant (MI) selected Central Michigan. Zeigler's father, Ernie Zeigler, is the head coach of the Chippewas. A solid wing with an impressive overall game, Zeigler went with CMU over schools such as Arizona State, Michigan, Michigan State, and UCLA. McCallum's teammate on Team Detroit on the AAU circuit this past summer, Zeigler joins Colin Voss, Nate VanArendonk, and Derek Jackson in Central Michigan's class, per Scout.

On Saturday evening during the first half of the Jordan Brand Classic Jordan All-American Game, 6'2 combo guard Josh Selby of Lake Clifton (MD), ranked #6 in the Terrific 125, selected the Kansas Jayhawks as expected. Selby, an explosive scorer and elite athlete, was at one time committed to Tennessee and the Volunteers did get back in the picture. Ultimately though, Bruce Pearl was not able to lure Selby to to Knoxville. Selby, a likely candidate to be one and done, also considered Arizona, Kentucky, and UConn. He is the second member of KU's class, joining Royce Woolridge.

During the second half of the JBC Game on Saturday, Doron Lamb, a 6'4 shooting guard out of Oak Hill Academy (VA) ranked #13 in the Terrific 125, also took his name off the board. Lamb, a New York City native, committed to Kentucky, becoming John Calipari's second addition of the late signing period and his fourth class of 2010 recruit overall. Lamb's other finalists were Arizona, Kansas, UConn, and West Virginia. The Wildcats came on strong in the past few months to land Lamb, a smooth scorer at the 2 spot, after Kansas had been considered the leader for a while.

Note- photo on the top left is of Brandon Knight, photo on the right is of Ray McCallum, and photo on the bottom left is of Josh Selby; all photos are from http://scouthoops.scout.com/