Gary Parrish

Who's the man most bothered by what happened at Madison Square Garden late Friday?

It has to be North Carolina coach Roy Williams, right?

I mean, Syracuse just ran his team off the court.

But second to Williams, I'm guessing, is Iowa State coach Greg McDermott, whose former player, Wesley Johnson, led the Orange to an 87-71 win over the Tar Heels while establishing himself as the star of a team that has rebounded from the exhibition loss to Le Moyne with wins over the Pac-10 favorite (California) and ACC favorite (North Carolina). Johnson finished with 25 points and eight rebounds against the Tar Heels; he was the best player on the court. When the Orange move into the top 10 of the Top 25 (and one) late Sunday, he'll be the main reason, making it difficult not to wonder if he could've done the same for Iowa State.

Think about it.

How good would a Wesley Johnson/Craig Brackins combo be this season?

Both are possible lottery picks in the 2010 NBA Draft.

Both are All-American candidates.

If McDermott had them to go with Lucca Staiger and Marquis Gilstrap, the Cyclones might've been the smart pick to finish third in the Big 12 behind only Kansas and Texas. As it is, Iowa State was picked eighth. And it's things like these that can change a coach's entire career.

What if Johnson never transferred? Could he have led Iowa State to the NCAA tournament last season? If so, would the "winning culture" created by an appearance have been enough to convince Ames High star Harrison Barnes to reject an offer from North Carolina and play at the school for which his mother works?

Obviously, we'll never know the answers to those questions.

But they are interesting questions, aren't they?

"We're so thankful to have him here from Iowa State," Syracuse guard Andy Rautins told ESPN's cameras right after the win over UNC. "He's helping this team in more ways than we could've imagined."

Indeed, Johnson is doing exactly that.

Now imagine what he could've done for Iowa State.

Here's Friday's Dear Gary ...

Dear Gary: North Carolina will beat Syracuse by at least 15 points tonight?

-- Hunter

If it'll make Syracuse fans calm down , then I'm for it.

But seriously, it should be fun, regardless of the outcome.

Evan Turner's second career triple-double was way different than his first -- this one coming in the form of 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 turnovers during Ohio State's 77-73 loss to North Carolina. Seriously, Turner turned it over 10 times, which is both remarkable and unacceptable. And though I'd still take him on any team I coached -- hey, I'm not stupid; the dude is super talented -- it became obvious once and for all Thursday night that Turner isn't playing point guard because he's a great point guard as much as he's playing point guard because he has to play point guard.

Ohio State has nobody else.

And while I suppose, deep down, I've always known that, it was easy to trick myself into thinking otherwise after watching Turner destroy Alcorn State and James Madison in the Buckeyes' first two games. Against those opponents, he looked great. But what many failed to realize (myself included) is that Turner would've looked great against Alcorn State and James Madison regardless of whether he played point guard or center or somewhere in between; he's just on a different level in terms of talent, capable of dominating at any position against that sort of opposition. But when Turner played point guard against similarly gifted guys for the first time Thursday night, the result was a performance most memorable for how he battled foul trouble and continuously gave the ball away.

It was rough.

It was not what I expected.

From Superman to Evan Turnover in a span of 40 minutes.

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 Monday's Dear Gary ...

Dear Gary: What do you think is the most interesting matchup this week? Personally I like the UNC/Ohio State game, but there are a few other good matchups. MSU/Gonzaga, Cal/Syracuse, Dayton/Georgia Tech, Kansas/Memphis, Butler/Northwestern. Also after Rider beat Miss State last week do you think they have a shot against Kentucky.

-- Patrick

I'm traveling to St. Louis for the Arkansas-Louisville/Memphis-Kansas doubleheader. Should be fun. But, like you, the game I'm most interested in actually watching is Ohio State-North Carolina because I want to see if Evan Turner can post video-game numbers on a legitimate opponent. Through two games, Turner is averaging 19.0 points, 17.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists. He's been awesome. So add me to the list of those anxious to see OSU-North Carolina. It's the best matchup this week, a matchup featuring two possible power-conference champions.

Jelan Kendrick committed to Memphis on Saturday, giving first-year coach Josh Pastner his third top 20 national recruit and by extension a class that is arguably the country's best.

Kendrick is a 6-foot-6 wing from just outside of Atlanta. He had previously stated he would wait until May to sign, but those plans changed during a weekend visit to Memphis. Kendrick is the third prospect ranked in MaxPreps.com's top 20 to commit to the Tigers. The others are Will Barton (No. 3 at MaxPreps.com) and Joe Jackson (No. 11 at MaxPreps.com). Memphis also has commitments from Chris Crawford, Antonio Barton and Hippolyte Tsafack.

North Carolina is the only other school with three top 20 recruits. The trio of elite prospects committed to the Tar Heels are Harrison Barnes (No. 4 at MaxPreps.com), Reggie Bullock (No. 5 at MaxPreps.com) and Kendall Marshall (No. 13 at MaxPreps.com).

Harrison Barnes committed to North Carolina on Friday, choosing the Tar Heels over Duke, Iowa State and three other schools. The 6-foot-6 wing from Ames, Iowa is widely considered the top prospect in the Class of 2010 because of his physical gifts and the impressive way he handles himself both on and off the court.

Barnes informed UNC coach Roy Williams and the current Tar Heels via Skype.

“I just wanted to let you know I’ll be joining you guys next year on the squad," Barnes said. "I can’t wait.”

Barnes' commitment ensures North Carolina will have another monster class; MaxPreps.com already had it ranked eighth nationally, even before Barnes signed. Meantime, the development is a tough blow to Iowa State, which had hoped to land the hometown product. Barnes' mother, Shirley Barnes, actually works at ISU. But the local connection wasn't enough to keep Barnes from signing with North Carolina.

"HB is a great kid," Iowa State coach Greg McDermott Tweeted shortly after the announcement. "I wish him well. I am disappointed just like our fans. Time to focus on a group of guys that love Iowa State! "

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.

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.

It's disappointing that college basketball's Opening Day isn't more eventful, or even an event of some kind. There's no Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game, no Black Eyed Peas concert, no nothing. Just four games that are, on paper, mismatches with Florida International's Isiah Thomas coaching against North Carolina serving as the only notable storyline.

That'll be fun until tipoff.

Then we'll have a blowout on our hands.

So, no, the nation is not buzzing about college hoops today.

Why would it?

But college basketball is here, regardless.

And for that, I'm thankful (even if I'm convinced there's got to be a better way to open the season).

Anyway, here's Monday's schedule:

• Florida International at No. 6 North Carolina (at 7 p.m. ET)
• Alcorn State at No. 16 Ohio State (7 p.m. ET)
• Albany at Syracuse (9 p.m. ET)
• Murray State at California (11 p.m. ET)

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)

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.

Harrison Barnes, Scout.com's top player in the Class of 2010, has narrowed his list of possible colleges.

That list (according to Scout.com):

• Duke
• Iowa State
• Kansas
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• UCLA

Barnes will reportedly visit UNC on Sept. 4-5.

No timetable has been made for his final decision.

Meantime, Xavier got a commitment from a Top 100 prospect on Sunday. Justin Martin, a 6-foot-7 forward from Indianapolis, committed to the Musketeers just before leaving from a weekend visit to campus. Scout.com ranks him as the 87th-best prospect in the country.