by Alex Schwartz

- Early in his freshman year, Dwayne Polee, Jr. '10 of Westchester (CA) committed to the USC Trojans. Not that long after, his father, who is also named Dwayne, was hired as the Director of Basketball Operations at the Pac-10 school by then-head coach Tim Floyd. When Floyd resigned last spring, the Mr. Polee stayed on staff, but the younger Polee soon chose to decommit, and his father recently resigned, according to numerous reports. Now Polee, Jr. has made his college choice once again, and this time he will be heading to the East to play his college ball. Multiple reports indicate that Polee has signed with St. John's, the first commitment of the Steve Lavin era. Polee is a major pickup for the new head coach of the Red Storm, as he is a phenomenal athlete and the 6'7 forward is currently ranked #95 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125. Polee is currently the lone member of the Red Storm's recruiting class.

- With Paterson Catholic (NJ) closing down, a number of talented players in limbo for next year. Derrick Randall '11 is going to South Kent (CT) for his final year of high school, and ZagsBlog broke the news that Kyle Anderson '12 is transferring to St. Anthony's (NJ). Several non-seniors have yet to make a decision, including Myles Mack '11, Jhamir White '11, Reggie Cameron '13, and Kavon Stewart '13.

- There is only one Division I program that has yet to hire a head coach, and that is Chicago State. A member of the Great West conference, the Cougars have been without a coach for quite some time after Benjy Taylor was let go after the 2009-2010 season came to a close.

- The other player in the class of 2010 who had signed with St. John's was Ron Roberts of St. Peter's Prep (NJ), but the two sides parted ways when Lavin was hired. After originally just missing out on the talented 6'7 forward in the early signing period, St. Joseph's has now landed Roberts the second time around, in news first reported by ZagsBlog. Roberts is the fifth member of the Hawks' class of 2010, the second from New Jersey. Roberts is ranked number eight in Northstar Basketball's New Jersey Class of 2010 Fab 50, while St. Joe's-bound Daryus Quarles is at number five. Phil Martelli is also bringing in the #118 player in the Terrific 125, in Langston Galloway of Christian Life Academy (LA). At one point, Quarles was ranked in the Terrific 125 as well, and while he is no longer in that elite group, he is still a high-caliber prospect. Talented Philadelphia-area native CJ Aiken of Plymouth-Whitemarsh (PA) is another talented player headed to the Atlantic-10 school. Pat Swilling, Jr. '10 of Brother Martin (LA), a standout on the gridiron as well and the son of a former NFL player, is the other member of the St. Joe's class.

- With Ron Roberts now off the board, and JP Kambola of St. Benedict's heading to prep school, according to Jeff Borzello of NBE Basketball Report, there are now only two players in the top 20 of our New Jersey Fab 50 left on the board, in #14 Mike Poole of St. Benedict's and #16 Ishaq Pitt of St. John Vianney. Ten other players ranked 21-50 are available as well: #21 Xavier Munford of St. Benedict's, #22 Daveon Boardingham of Shabazz, #25 Markese Tucker of Trenton Catholic, #34 Tim Crawford of Camden Catholic, #37 Willis Nicholson of Cherokee, #39 Gerry Wixted of Camden Catholic, #42 Frank Mitchell of Hillsborough, #46 John Caprio of Seton Hall Prep, #49 Daquere Hayes of Paterson Kennedy, and #50 Phil Henry of Cherokee. Many of the 25 Honorable Mentions are left as well.

- Only seven Garden State ballers in the class of 2010 have made an early college choice. Michael Gilchrist of St. Patrick's, is headed to Kentucky, Myck Kabongo of St. Benedict's—he is transferring to Findlay Prep (NV)—is going to Texas, Sidiki Johnson of St. Benedict's is committed to Arizona, Sterling Gibbs of Seton Hall Prep is a Maryland pledge, Rob Poole of Paul VI is bound for Siena, Derrick Gordon of St. Patrick's will go to Western Kentucky, and Chandler Fraser-Pauls of The Pennington School selected Lafayette for soccer and will also play hoops.

Note- photo on the left is of Dwayne Polee and photo on the right is of Ron Roberts; both are from http://scouthoops.scout.com/