by Alex Schwartz

There has been almost no break from commitments this month and it seems like every few days I am posting a commitment catch-up article. That is what happens when players are finally able to take official visits to the schools that have been recruiting them. Here is the rundown of the most recent pledges.

- The biggest news came just hours ago when Jeff Goodman broke the story that Khem Birch '12 of Notre Dame Prep (MA) committed to Pitt. Birch, who is from Canada, is the #7 ranked player in the NBE Class of 2012 Post-Summer Top 50 and is the second highest ranked 2012 player to commit, behind #5 Baylor-bound Isaiah Austin of Grace Prep (TX). Pitt is now the only school with commitments from two ranked players in the class of 2012, joining #26 Steven Adams, who attends Scots College in New Zealand.  

- The highest ranked 2011 player in the NBE Post-Summer Class of 2011 Top 150 to commit in the past few days was #29 Dorian Dinney-Smith of IC Norcom (VA), who selected Virginia Tech according to Jeff Borzello of March Mayhem All Season. Like Arkansas, Virginia Tech now has commitments from four ranked players in this year's class. Headed to Blacksburg to play for Seth Greenberg along with Finney-Smith are #76 CJ Barksdale of George Washington (VA), #108 Marquis Rankin of Hargrave Military Academy (VA), and #131 Robert Brown of Clairmont (FL).

- Via our Twitter account on Tuesday, Northstar Basketball was one of the first to report that Rashad "Ky" Madden '11 of East Poinsett County (AR) was going to commit to Arkansas at his Wednesday press conference. That indeed ended up being the case as the #40 player in the NBE Post-Summer Class of 2011 Top 150 pledged to the Razorbacks over Baylor and Ole Miss. Madden is the fourth commitment (the third from the Arkansas Wings Elite AAU team) for John Pelphrey in the crop of rising seniors, and all four are ranked in the top 80, including three in the top 45. The other future Hogs are #80 Aaron Ross of Parkview (AR), #42 Hunter  Mickelson of Westside (AR), and #13 BJ Young of McCluer North (MO).

- UCLA got its first 2011 commitment over the weekend, in news I first saw on Scout. Norman Powell of Lincoln (CA), the #64 ranked player in the NBE Post-Summer Class of 2011 Top 150, popped to the Bruins.

- The other top 100 player in the NBE Class of 2011 Post-Summer Top 150 to make his pledge recently was #100 Jermaine Sanders of Rice (NY). ZagsBlog was the first media outlet to report that the Big Apple wing was headed to Cincinnati, joining #124 ranked Shaq Thomas of NIA Prep (NJ).

- ZagsBlog was also the first put out the news that Rutgers landed its sixth commitment in the class of 2011 this weekend when Mike Taylor of Boys & Girls (NY) made his pledge to the Scarlet Knights. Taylor joins Malick Kone of Blue Ridge (VA) and four players ranked in the NBE Post-Summer Class of 2011 Top 150 in #77 Jerome Seagears of Flora MacDonald Academy (NC), #81 Kadeem Jack of South Kent (CT), #88 Myles Mack of St. Anthony's (NJ), and #107 Derrick Randall of South Kent (CT).

- Multiple reports indicate that Brett Kingma '11 of Henry M Jackson (WA) committed to Oregon. According to Scout, he is the third 2011 commitment for Oregon, joining Bruce Barron of Brehm Prep (IL) and Austin Kuemper of Westview (OR).

- Dave Telep of Scout was the first to report that Tavon Sledge '11 of Half Hollow Hills West (NY) was headed to Iowa State. Sledge is the third commitment for the Cyclones in 2011 according to Scout, joining Elgin Cook of Bay View (WI) and JuCo standout Tyrus McGee of Cowley County (KS).

- According to a number of reports, Josh Oglesby '11 of Cedar Rapids (IA) announced his commitment to in-state Iowa at a press conference this afternoon. Scout lists him as the first commitment for new head coach Fran McCaffery in the Hawkeyes' class of 2011.

- It was from Eric Bossi of Rivals that I first saw that Fred Mattison '11 of Westside (SC) had made his college decision and is staying in-state. Mattison will take his game to Winthrop at the next level.

- Robert Morris kicked off its 2011 recruiting class with a pair of commitments . According to multiple reports, David Appolon of Imhotep Charter (PA) popped to RMU and not long after, Andy Toole added a commitment from Keith Armstrong of Fishburne Military Academy (NC).

- Scout reports that Terrence Williams '11 of West Mecklenburg (NC) is staying close to home and will play for Charlotte at the next level. He joins Mike Thorne of Trinity Christian School (NC) in the 49ers' class of 2011.

- I left off a pair of mid-major commitments that came out not too long ago and so I'm putting them here. John Manning '11 of Chantilly (VA) is reportedly headed to St. Louis and Edson Avila '11 of Thomas Jefferson (NY) has reportedly committed to Manhattan.

- Only two players in the class of 2014 have made their college commitments and both of them are from Indiana and bound for Indiana University. According to reports, Trey Lyles of Arsenal Tech (IN) popped to the Hoosiers, joining James Blackmon of Bishop Luers (IN) in Tom Crean's early 2014 haul.

Note- from top to bottom, photos are of Khem Birch, Rashad Madden, and Trey Lyles; all photos are from http://scouthoops.scout.com/