Pete Thamel reports in today’s New York Times that Kansas is in Xavier Henry’s top 3 (with North Carolina and Memphis) and that CJ Henry is considering going to college next year.

Good genes have helped the Henry boys. Their father, Carl, played basketball at Kansas and their mother, Barbara, ran track and played basketball there. The strong Jayhawks ties have led to speculation that Kansas is atop Xavier’s list, but he said that the Jayhawks were tied with Memphis and North Carolina.

“I need to take my visits and learn more about the schools,” said [Xavier] Henry, who has a 3.8 grade-point average.

CJ Henry, traded from the Yankees to the Phillies last year in the Bobby Abreu deal, is playing the South Atlantic League (low-A) for the second year in a row. In about 650 PAs, he’s hitting 216/286/362 (AVG/OBP/SLG) and striking out once every 3.2 PA. He is in the last year of his contract.

Carl Henry said that it was written into his son’s baseball contract that the Phillies would have to pay for his tuition, meaning that a college program would not even have to give up a scholarship to take him. C. J. Henry said Kansas would be the place that he would probably go.

Getting a commitment from CJ Henry would be good for the program, especially if it gives the coaching staff flexibility in signing the necessary gaggle of recruits to replace the senior class and whoever decides to enter the draft at the end of the season.

I’d kind of pigeon holed Cole for some reason, but I like his attitude. Plus, if you rearrange the letters of his name, you can spell “Rich Old Lace” or “Chalice Lord.”

Which of you could possibly argue with that?

link

ALDRICH: DOMINANT

With the help of his 7-foot-5 wingspan, Aldrich has averaged almost four blocks a game over his four-year prep career.

“Playing strong defense, blocking shots and stopping possessions is a big part of who I am,'’ Aldrich said.

Even if Aldrich isn’t able to block a shot, his wingspan and athleticism often force opponents to alter shots. He has developed an ability to block the ball and take possession rather than swatting the ball into the stands. Knocking the ball out of bounds might draw raves, but it also allows the opponent to maintain possession of the ball.

“Blocking shots is like a lost art,'’ Aldrich said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten smarter. I used to commit a lot of fouls earlier in my career, but now I’d like to think that I stay out of (foul) trouble because I am wiser.'’

In his one meeting against Oden, Aldrich figured he had nothing to lose.

“He was the stud of the camp; he was the top dog picking on all of those other players,'’ Aldrich said.

“If he beats me, he is still the top guy. If I take his (rear) out, I’ve got everything to gain. I met him at the top of the three-point line and made him work hard to wear him out. I figured he might get 20 (points) on me, but he will earn it. He’d have to bust his (butt) to get it. I maybe gave up one or two dunks to him. I take that as a victory. He is a big, powerful kid.'’

Aldrich, Bloomington Jefferson’s all-time leading scorer, also is dominant on offense. He averages 22.5 points and 17 rebounds a game.

“Cole can change a game with his physical presence and athleticism,'’ Jefferson coach Jeff Evens said. “Easy baskets out of half-court offense are not easy for our opponents because of his presence in the post. He has good timing for contesting shots.'’

KU was a dark horse for a Reed, who I thought would choose UNC. The Kirk Hinrich syndrome is in full effect with Reed…he’s definitely under rated because he’s a shocky, white midwesterner.

BY RICK PLUMLEE
The Wichita Eagle

LAWRENCE - Burlington point guard Tyrel Reed will sign a letter of intent to play basketball at Kansas this afternoon during a news conference at the high school.

Reed, an All-State player last season, is rated as the 14th-best point guard among high school seniors by Rivals.com and a top 100 player overall.

Reed said last month that his list of schools had narrowed to KU, Stanford, North Carolina, Boston College, Oklahoma and Missouri.

This is a good pickup and he’ll be a fine player for KU.

This outstanding article breaks down the following recruits who will be at Allen Fieldhouse tonight.

Class of 2007: Cole Aldrich (committed), Kyle Singler, and Tyrel Reed

Class of 2008: Anthony Crater, Jordan Dumars (son of Joe), Malcolm Lee, J’Mison Morgan, Travis Releford, Jeff Withey, Tyler Zeller (brother of Luke)

Class of 2009: Tyler Griffey

*Late Night now occurs in the early evening

Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports notes that Nebraska is in the running for a couple of well-regarded coaches, but their chances of success depend on making a quick hire.

“Nebraska AD Steve Pederson has already met with Texas-El Paso coach Doc Sadler and reached out to South Alabama in an effort to find out the status of its coach, John Pelphrey. As reported by FOXSports.com on Thursday, Sadler and Pelphrey are two names that have emerged to replace former Cornhuskers coach Barry Collier, who left to become the athletic director at Butler last week.

According to sources, Pelphrey would be interested, because of his desire to eventually coach somewhere that he can recruit elite talent, coach a national program and consistently reach the NCAA tournament.

Pelphrey has watched his buddy, Billy Donovan, do it at Florida - but the big difference is that Nebraska doesn’t have much talent in its state while Donovan was able to recruit the Sunshine State and also go out of the area and lure big-time recruits.”

I think Pelphry would be a coup for Nebraska, and the Florida comparison points this up. Jeff Goodman also notes that standout recruit Bill Walker will likely go to K-State if he lands in college at all, and that Billy Gillespie is taking large strides on the recruiting trail, having just robbed Texas and Florida with last week’s commitment from DeAndre Jordan.

Late last week, there was a bit of a furor brewing regarding Eric Gordon’s rumored de-commitment from Illinois. While I enjoy a good Illinois decommitment and the pandemonium that ensues all over the unpaved roads and grassy sidewalks of your average Illinois fan’s simple brain, it all sounded a bit too clean, especially since the writer that was floating the comments was about a thousand miles away from Mr. Gordon.

Well we’ve got a bit more clarity here from the Indy Star. And rather regale you with yet another boring plot summary, I’ll clip a great quote from EG’s dad:

“It’s like saying I’m committed to my girlfriend,'’ Gordon Sr. said. “But I can still look. I’m not dead.'’

I like how he ads “I’m not dead” to the end of the statement. Like a vestigial tail it’s just hanging there and we the listeners are stuck trying to understand what troubled history led to its inclusion. Because really, the whole point of the girlfriend metaphor is to suggest a soft commitment. But then he seems afraid of this girlfriend, because the whole dead thing implies…never mind.

Here’s a juicy bit of the article.

On Friday, a Web site called chicagohoops.com reported Gordon had walked away from his verbal commitment to Illinois. Later that night, the younger Gordon got on an Illinois basketball message board, said the story was untrue and assured fans he was still heading to Champaign. But in quotes published on peegs.com Saturday morning, Gordon again left the door open.

“Yeah, I’m still solid with Illinois, but I am thinking about IU, too,'’ he was quoted as saying. “At this point, nothing has changed. I have looked at them (IU) for a long time because they’re an in-state school. They have a good tradition and Coach (Kelvin) Sampson is a good guy, so I think because he is the new coach there that I should give them a look.'’

Why is this important to you, fair Jayhawk? Because Derrick Rose and Eric Gordon have discussed playing together at Illinois. And because if Eric Gordon backs away from Illinois, we might have a better shot at Rose.

The Lawrence Journal World’s Tom Keegan notes that an interesting plot line is developing with Self’s latest recruiting target out of Illinois, #3 rated Derrick Rose.

“I want to get Derrick Rose to go to Illinois with me,” Gordon told the Indianapolis Star. “I want people to see us play on the same team and see how good we are together.”

Gordon, who has known Rose for two years, has said he would join Rose’s AAU team for a tournament July 12-15 in North Augusta, S.C.

So what this amounts to is a two-on-one trap with Illinois coach Bruce Weber and Gordon trying to take the prize from Self. If it were a basketball game, my money would be on Weber and Gordon. It’s not. It’s a personality contest. That’s why my money’s on Self, based on nothing more than a hunch.

Given Self’s Julian Wright coup, Rose is clearly within reach. The question is, how adept is Self at breaking trick defenses? And the second question is, what color do IL fans turn after they’ve reached “livid?”

The LJW compiled a fine list yesterday. It’s here today if you missed it. Definitely check out the whole article for the rest of the story:

Derrick Rose, 6-4, G, Simeon High, Chicago: Rivals.com’s No. 3-rated player, has a list of KU, Illinois, Arizona, Indiana, Michigan State, North Carolina and others. The country’s No. 8-rated player, Eric Gordon of Indianapolis, says his goal this summer is to convince Rose to join him at Illinois.

Jerryd Bayless, 6-3, G, St. Mary’s High, Phoenix: Bayless, who asked out of his oral commitment to Arizona, still is considering UA as well as KU, North Carolina and Texas. He’s the country’s No. 9-rated player.

Kyle Singler, 6-8, F, South Medford High, Medford, Ore.: Ranked No. 6 overall, Singler has KU, Duke, UCLA and Washington on his list. Singler played well for the U.S. Under 18 national team last month.

Anthony Randolph, 6-10, F, Woodrow Wilson High, Dallas: The country’s No. 7-rated player, who has been compared to Chris Bosh and LaMarcus Aldridge, has a list of KU, Duke, Texas, UConn, Memphis, Illinois, Baylor, Georgetown and UCLA.

James Anderson, 6-5, G/F, Junction City (Ark.) High: The country’s No. 64-rated player has a list of KU, Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, UConn, Florida, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Tyrel Reed, 6-3, G, Burlington: The No. 58-rated player out of the small Kansas town still has a lengthy list, including KU, K-State, North Carolina, Purdue, Wichita State, Illinois, Missouri State, Iowa and Baylor.

P’Allen Stinnett, 6-3, G, Brewster Academy, New Hampshire: Originally from Las Vegas, the country’s No. 77-rated player has a list of KU, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas.

George Goode, 6-8, Raytown (Mo.) South: The country’s No. 78-rated player has received some interest from KU, K-State, Iowa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Marquette, Florida, Baylor and others.

Tyrone Shelley, 6-6, Crawford High, San Diego: The country’s No. 47-rated player, who scored 76 points in three quarters of a game last season, likes Washington, Arizona, KU, UConn, Illinois, Boston College, UCLA and Oklahoma State.

Isaiah Rusher, 6-8, Bellaire High, Houston: The country’s No. 147-rated player likes LSU, KU, Oklahoma, Florida and UConn.

I’m pretty darn impressed by this. Notable is the fact that Jayhawk Sherron Collins hopped over UNC recruit Tywon Lawson. Darrell Arthur also makes it into the top 10.

Congrats to Self and Co. for yet another amazing recruiting class.

CLASS OF 2006 FINAL TOP 100

1. Greg Oden, 7-0 C, Indianapolis (IN) Lawrence North- OHIO STATE
2. Kevin Durant, 6-10 WF, Rockville (MD) Montrose Christian- TEXAS
3. Thaddeus Young, 6-8 WF, Memphis (TN) Mitchell- GEORGIA TECH
4. Chase Budinger, 6-8 WF, Carlsbad (CA) La Costa Canyon- ARIZONA
5. Brandan Wright, 6-9 BF, Brentwood (TN) Academy- NORTH CAROLINA
6. Spencer Hawes, 6-11 C/BF, Seattle (WA) Prep- WASHINGTON
7. Gerald Henderson, 6-5 WG, Merion Station (PA) Episcopal- DUKE
8. Sherron Collins, 5-11 PG, Chicago (IL) Crane- KANSAS
9. Tywon Lawson, 5-11 PG, Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill- NORTH CAROLINA
10. Darrell Arthur, 6-9 BF, Dallas (TX) South Oak Cliff- KANSAS

Link to top 100 from Eric Bossi.

The LJW page featured a Darrell Arthur blurb this morning:

Darrell Arthur, a 6-foot-9 forward from Dallas’ South Oak Cliff High, tells rivals.com he likely will make an unofficial visit to Arizona this week prior to heading to Chicago for the April 9 Roundball Classic. He said he would make the trip with his mom and AAU coach.

Arthur told sportsstarsoftomorrow.com that LSU had tried to get involved this week. He’s also considering KU, Texas and Baylor.

Of Arizona, Arthur said: “They weren’t recruiting me as hard as they started off. I didn’t know they were still interested, but now they’re really trying.”

Given how long Bill Self has been recruiting this kid, I don’t think it would be an overstatement to say that Arthur isn’t exactly thrilled about coming to KU.

There’s some chatter on 810 WHB that Darrell Arthur will be a Jayhawk next year. Arthur is the best unsigned player left in the class of ‘06, and while I’ve questioned our need for him, I’ll certainly trust Self to know what this team needs better than I do.

In any case, picking up DA, who’s been ranked anywhere between about 8 and 18 in next year’s class, would give Coach Self yet another monster recruiting class.

I also know that some of you are disappointed that KU is sharing a Big 12 title, particularly since we lost to UT, but I am going to pull a “Stop the Insanity!” here. First of all, 7 weeks ago, a lot of you thought we wouldn’t make the tournament. Second of all, if you look at the common opponent-common venue games, we were 9-1 and they were 8-2. If you really feel strongly about it, why don’t you ask our players to give their championship rings back.

The Big 12 tournament will be interesting. I think our first game will probably be the toughest of all the top three seeds, but I think we should beat either OSU or ISU without too much difficulty. I’m not really anxious to play ISU for a third time, as they’re always physical and tough, but at the same time OSU will present a lot of issues with their defense. I’d personally rather we face another tough perimeter defense because I think that preparation will be good for us later, but hey, what does it matter what I think?

Here are the matchups in case you missed them:

THURSDAY’S GAMES

No. 8 Texas Tech vs. No. 9 Kansas State, 11:30 a.m.

No. 5 Colorado vs. No. 12 Baylor, 2 p.m.

No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Iowa State, 6 p.m.

No. 6 Nebraska vs. No. 11 Missouri, 8:20 p.m.

FRIDAY’S GAMES

No. 1 Texas vs. 8-9 winner, 11:20 a.m.

No. 4 Texas A&M vs. 5-12 winner, 2 p.m.

No. 2 Kansas vs. 7-10 winner, 6 p.m.

No. 3 Oklahoma vs. 6-11 winner, 8:20 p.m.

Oh, and congratulations to Bill Self and Brandon Rush for winning their respecive “of the Year” honors in the Big 12. Granted it’s only one newspaper at this point, but the AP and the coaches will soon follow.

Tim MacMahon at the Dallas Morning News says that he ran into Bill Self today in Dallas. I guess this means that Slim Shady is a priority:

Kansas coach Bill Self and assistant Kurtis Townsend made a beeline for South Oak Cliff after beating Baylor last night. They were wooing SOC star Darrell “Slim Shady” Arthur when I stopped by the school this morning.

It’s the second time I’ve seen Townsend at SOC in the last week. The 6-9 Arthur, who is considering Kansas and a handful of other schools, is ranked as the nation’s top unsigned recruit by Rivals.com.

Link to the whole thing.