John Clay’s Sidelines

Heralded hoops recruit Tobias Harris signed with some school late last night, but won’t announce until today at 5:30 on ESPNU. Most think Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Syracuse, Maryland and Louisville (outside shot) were the top contenders for Harris, ranked No. 5 by Rivals. But no one seems to know for sure where the 6-8 forward out of New York will play his college basketball.

• Chip Towers of the AJC writes, “Speculation is that Harris is going to become a Vol because Jayvaughn Pinkston, 6-6 forward from Brooklyn, planned to announce his decision to play for Tennessee on Wednesday but abruptly canceled his press conference. So, the theory goes, the Vols must’ve gotten Harris and rescinded Pinkston’s scholarship offer.”
• Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard writes, “The Harris family has kept the decision a closely-guarded secret, limiting the flow of information regarding Harris’ schools, his visits and his favorites. So why take the trip to Knoxville? A last-minute face-to-face with Bruce Pearl before committing to the Vols? Or was this a red herring? Could Harris be ready to pick Syracuse or West Virginia or Maryland and the Tennessee trip was a ruse to throw everyone off the scent? “

• Testudo Times, a Maryland basketball blog, writes, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect the dots. Pinkston might’ve heard, whether it be from the Tennessee coaches or someone else, that Tobias is going to be a Vol - he very well might’ve informed Bruce Pearl when he was in Knoxville - and decided to hold off or go elsewhere for playing time reasons.”
• Mark Lelinwalla of the New York Dailey News reports on the Pinkston non-announcement, with relation to Harris, witing, “The Daily News reported on Tuesday that multiple sources expected him to sign a letter of intent to attend the University of Tennessee, choosing the Vols over Villanova and St. John’s, but sources with knowledge of Pinkston’s thinking say he reconsidered his decision, discussed it with his family and decided to hold off.”
• Meanwhile, Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel talked to Harris about attending UT’s Tuesday game. Harris said, “I just bought my own ticket, and sat in the upper deck,” said Tobias Harris, Rivals’ No. 5-rated player in the nation in the Class of 2010 and the Vols’ No. 1 recruiting target. “I was trying to keep it low key.”