Gary Parrish

Here's Wednesday's Dear Gary ...

Dear Gary: On Friday you wrote that if Harrison Barnes chose UNC you would elaborate on your "reasons" why you changed your prediction to UNC at the last minute. I'm curious as to what these "reasons" were.

-- Luke

First. let me apologize for my empty promise, because I did write last Friday that -- against the advice of most recruiting experts -- I was picking Barnes to sign with North Carolina , and that if I was correct I'd share why I changed my mind from Duke. Naturally, I was correct. But I never shared why I changed my mind, and a bunch of you have asked me to do it, and, well, here you go.

I was at Kansas for "Late Night in the Phog."

So were Harrison Barnes and his mother and his sister.

I had the joy of spending about an hour with the family on that Saturday morning, right after Kansas finished practicing. Harrison wanted to get a workout in, so he worked out while I sat with his mother, Shirley Barnes, and we chatted for a good long while. The conversation reminded me why Harrison is such a well-adjusted young man, because his mother is simply tremendous. Smart, funny, engaging, informed. If every high-level recruit had a mother like Shirley Barnes, recruiting wouldn't be nearly the circus it has become.

Anyway, we talked.

And though I never asked her to share secrets (mostly because I knew she wouldn't), the one thing that stuck out from the totally casual conversation was how she seemed genuinely blown away by Roy Williams' decision to offer her son, wait on her son and promise not to recruit anybody else at his position, no matter what. As some of you may know, this is not how North Carolina normally operates, because it doesn't have to operate that way. UNC offers a kid, he accepts or the Tar Heels move on to the next best kid. They don't wait because they don't have to wait. Eventually, and usually sooner rather than later, an elite prospect accepts, and that's why North Carolina is North Carolina, the reigning national champions.

But for Harrison Barnes, Roy Williams was willing to wait.

This seemed to matter to Shirley Barnes.

And when I told her that Duke has taken a similar approach with certain prospects in recent years, Shirley reminded me that Duke was actively recruiting Roscoe Smith, i.e., another elite small forward from the Class of 2010. I just remember being struck by that comment, how she seemed impressed by UNC's decision to focus solely on her son while Duke recruited both her son and Smith. She brought it up, not me. And when I walked out of the gym I just felt, for the first time, that North Carolina was the team to beat for Barnes.
 
It's possible I read too much into those comments.

It's possible I read them perfectly.

Either way, that's why I thought what I thought.

And now, I think, we can all move on.

Here's Friday's Dear Gary ...

Dear Gary: Gee what a shock. YOU picking against Duke . A true rarity.

-- Jeff

I didn't predict/guess that Harrison Barnes will announce for North Carolina because of anything that has to do with Duke. I have my reasons, and one of those reasons is because one of the coaches involved in the recruitment (not a UNC coach, by the way) told me he thinks it'll be the Tar Heels. I also have another reason, and I'll share that one with you later, if I'm correct.

In the meantime, here's a text I just got from a coach involved in the recruitment:

"I honestly have no idea."

Pretty suspenseful, huh?

Harrison Barnes will announce his college decision Friday at 4 p.m. ET.

At this moment, nobody seems to know where he's headed.

Officially, the nation's top recruit is considering Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and UCLA, but most believe -- and I've forever reported -- the choice will be Duke or UNC. For the longest time, I've thought Barnes would pick Duke, team with Kyrie Irving and help Mike Krzyzewski get back to the Final Four. And he still might. But my final prediction is that Barnes will sign with North Carolina and become the next great Tar Heel.

To be clear, that's my prediction/guess, nothing more.

If I'm right, I'll explain why I switched to UNC later today.

If I'm wrong, we'll forget all about this and just remember that I predicted Duke a long time ago.

Either way, it's happening at 4 p.m. ET.

Far as recruiting announcements go, it doesn't get bigger.

Duke freshman Mason Plumlee fractured his left wrist Wednesday in practice and is out indefinitely.

"Mason took a hard fall in practice on Wednesday that resulted in the wrist injury," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "It was an unfortunate play but we are confident that he will make a full recovery. Mason is going to be a very good player for us and we look forward to him getting healthy and returning to the court."

Plumlee was a McDonald's All-American in high school.

He averaged 12.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in two exhibitions.

Duke opens the regular season Friday against UNC-Greensboro.

First things first: Kyrie Irving can't sing.

He's pretty awful, actually.

But it's still fun to see the Duke signee participating in a high school play -- a rendition of "High School Musical" -- and it's impossible to watch the clip courtesy of NJ.com (via Deadspin.com ) and not come away impressed. Too often, elite athletes think their too cool to get involved in anything that doesn't include dunking. But Irving willfully took himself out of his element and put himself on a stage with classmates, and for that he has my respect.

Anyway, click this link (and scroll down) to check it out.

(And cover your ears.)

This message has been removed by the administrator.

Bodog.com likes Kansas and Kentucky just as much as I like Kansas and Kentucky .

I visited the gambling site not because I'm a gambler, but because I wanted see the championship odds for certain schools. What I found is that Kansas (4-to-1) is the favorite followed by Kentucky (5-to-1). North Carolina (15-to-2) is third. Then it's Duke (10-to-1), Michigan State (12-to-1), Louisville (12-to-1), Texas (12-to-1), and Villanova (12-to-1).

Click this link (and scroll down) to check it out.

Shirley Barnes, the mother of top-ranked recruit Harrison Barnes, confirmed to CBSSports.com that her son will announce his college decision Nov. 13.

"H called the coaches," she wrote in an email. "They are aware that he's going to announce by signing his Letter of Intent on Nov. 13."

(That's next Friday, if you don't have a calendar handy.)

Barnes is a 6-foot-6 wing from Ames, Iowa.

He'll pick between Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and UCLA.

His final visit will be to Iowa State this weekend.

It's Opening Night in the NBA, and there are a combined 28 former Duke Blue Devils and UCLA Bruins on NBA rosters, according to research done by Duke recruiting coordinator Dave Bradley.

Here's how it breaks down:

1. Duke (14)
1. UCLA (14)
3. Connecticut (13)
3. North Carolina (13)
5. Arizona (10)
5. Kansas (10)

Kyrie Irving, as expected, committed to Duke on Thursday.

"I'm pleased to announce that I will be committing to Duke," Irving said on live television. "I'll be a Blue Devil next year."

Scout.com ranks Irving as the No. 2 point guard in the Class of 2010.

He was also considering Kentucky and Texas A&M.

(Note: Credit SNY's Adam Zagoria with the scoop. He had this nailed two days ago, wrote it and had to deal with Irving refuting his story publicly . As a journalist, I can tell you there's nothing more frustrating than having an accurate story refuted. So it was nice to see Zagoria vindicated, and Irving probably owes him an apology via Twitter, at least.)

Kyrie Irving has said he will announce his college decision Thursday.

Barring a surprise, he'll pick Duke.

MaxPreps.com ranks Irving as the No. 19 prospect in the Class of 2010 while two other reputable recruiting sites have him in the top 10. He's a 6-foot-1 point guard from New Jersey. In addition to Duke, Irving is also officially considering Texas A&M and Kentucky.

Kyrie Irving publicly refuted a report early Wednesday that claimed he is committed to Duke.

Naturally, he did it via Twitter.

"I have not committed to duke!!!" Irving Tweeted. "Don't know what's going on with all these supposed sources."

The "supposed sources" were anonymous sources who spoke to Adam Zagoria of SportsNet NY (SNY), one of whom said, "He’s definitely going to Duke, and if he doesn’t announce it [Wednesday] he’ll probably announce it Thursday.” Again, Irving refuted this. But it should be noted that he's long been considered a future Blue Devil, so much so that I wrote a column about how the point guard from New Jersey could be one of the keys to returning Duke to the Final Four.

There were some significant recruiting developments this weekend.

Here are some of them:

Irving visits Duke: Kyrie Irving, ranked fifth in the Class of 2010 by Scout.com, visited Duke, then Tweeted about it. "Duke official was great! I enjoyed every single second," he wrote. "Everything there fits me and is right for me...you never know what will happen ." Duke has long been considered the favorite to land Irving, a 6-foot-1 point guard from New Jersey. Still, Texas A&M is among the schools hanging around, primarily because Aggie assistant Scott Spinelli was college roommates with Irving's father, Drederick Irving.

Selby narrows list: Josh Selby, famous for decommitting from Tennessee in July, has narrowed his list of potential schools to six, and UT is not one of them. The final six are Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Baylor, Miami and Syracuse. All indications are that Selby -- a combo guard ranked 14th in the Class of 2010 by MaxPreps.com -- will make a final decision in the Spring.

Jones narrows list: Class of 2010 standout Terrence Jones trimmed his list of potential schools to seven -- specifically Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma, Washington and Oregon. MaxPreps.com ranks Jones as the No. 12 prospect in the Class of 2010.

USC gains fifth Class of 2010 pledge: Kevin O'Neill accepted a commitment from Maurice Jones, according to Scout.com's Evan Daniels. Jones is a 5-7 point guard who reportedly averaged 28 points and 13 assists last season in high school. He's the fifth Class of 2010 prospect to commit to USC despite an ongoing NCAA investigation.

Scout.com's top-ranked player in the Class of 2010, Harrison Barnes, has scheduled his remaining visits.

They are:

• October 2: Oklahoma
• October 9: UCLA
• October 16: Kansas
• October 23: Duke
• November 6: Iowa State (unofficial)

Each prospect is allowed five official visits.

Barnes -- a 6-foot-6 wing from Ames, Iowa -- has already visited North Carolina officially.

Cameron Clark committing to Oklahoma wasn't the only recruiting development from this weekend.

Here are some others:

Rivers visits Duke: Class of 2011 star Austin Rivers visited Duke despite supposedly being committed to Florida. As Bruce Weber can attest -- you haven't forgotten the Eric Gordon recruitment, have you? -- there is no way to interpret this as a good thing for the Gators. Rivers taking that visit makes him by definition no longer genuinely committed to Florida, and it's only a matter of time before he acknowledges as much publicly. Scout.com ranks Rivers as the No. 4 prospect in the Class of 2011. He is the son of Celtics coach Doc Rivers

Wroten tears ACL: While Rivers was touring Cameron Indoor Stadium, fellow Class of 2011 star Tony Wroten Jr. was tearing his ACL in a football game, according to the Seattle Times . The paper reported that Wroten will have surgery this week and need seven-to-nine months of rehab, meaning he's done with football and basketball for the year. Scout.com ranks Wroten as the No. 8 prospect in the Class of 2011.

Quick hitters: Stacey Poole, a 6-foot-5 wing from Florida, told Scout.com that he'll likely pick between Kentucky and South Carolina by the end of the week. Poole is ranked 58th in the Class of 2010. ... Kyrie Irving, ranked fifth in the Class of 2010, eliminated Indiana from his list of possible destinations. The New Jersey point guard is still considering Duke, Kentucky, Georgia Tech and Texas A&M. ... One of the nation's top junior college prospects, J.P. Olukemi, committed to Oklahoma state. He's the fourth OSU commitment for the Class of 2010.