Words. Bryan Horowitz

Watching Jay Williams address the completely enrapt New Hampton Prep basketball team late Sunday night at the Hoophall Classic, it was clear he was firmly in his element. Basketball has obviously always been a big part of Williams’ life, but you could make a case he’s never been quite as immersed as he is now.

As an ESPN college basketball analyst, Williams splits his time between calling games and working on studio shows, while also commentating for the network’s rapidly expanding interest in high school ball. The latter assignment gives him the opportunity to take part in one of his favorite pastimes: mentoring young athletes. There isn’t a player on any level that doesn’t have the utmost respect for the former No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft, and he commonly takes time to pull players aside and offer a few words of wisdom. MORE >

Words. Aron Phillips

Whenever you have Chris Paul involved, it’s not hard to find other elite guards around. I mean, wouldn’t they want to learn from the best? So at this weekend’s CP3 Elite Guard Camp, some of the best guards in the country from high school and college will be on display in his hometown of in Winston-Salem, N.C. MORE >

Words. Jason Jordan

It’s not that Winter Park (Fla.) senior Austin Rivers doesn’t understand the general sentiment of those who want to hop off the Duke Blue Devils bandwagon now that its dynamic freshman point guard, Kyrie Irving is sidelined with a serious toe injury. Rivers just don’t believe that Duke is done without Irving.

Rivers, a Duke signee for the 2011 class, said that even if Irving is out for the season, Duke “has a legitimate chance to repeat as national champs.” MORE >

Words. Jason Jordan

Jason Jordan has fielded all of your e-mails and tackles each of these questions and more in this installment of “Mail Day with JJ.” MORE >

Words. Harrison Barnes

As he navigates through the hectic recruiting process, HighSchoolHoop’s top-rated player, Ames High (IA) swingman Harrison Barnes has agreed to chronicle his thoughts for us during each of his five official visits. First was North Carolina, then Oklahoma, followed by Kansas. Now Barnes shares his experiences from his official visit to Duke last weekend …

My flight got into Raleigh/Durham at 11:45 p.m. on Thursday. I had Coach Wojo (Steve Wojciechowski), Coach (Nate) James and Coach (Chris) Carawell waiting to pick me up. MORE >

Words. dimemag

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that St. Patrick’s High (N.J.) point guard (and Bounce Magazine cover guy) Kyrie Irving told us last night that he was “leaning toward Duke.”

Remember we reported a while ago that Irving, who is rated the No. 6 prospect in the High School Hoop Top-50, would commit to Duke either during his official visit to Durham, which happened this past weekend, or shortly thereafter. It appears he’s going with the latter.

We caught up with Irving last night and asked him the tough, straightforward questions about his big visit, which included a matchup against former Duke great Jason Williams. MORE >