Bynum at Halfway Point

The names of the top players in the country are quickly coming off of the board. Andrew Bynum, a 6-foot-11, 270-pound prospect from St. Joseph’s High School in Metuchen, N.J., could be next. He recently visited Georgia Tech and Georgia. This weekend, he’ll be in Chapel Hill for Late Night with Roy Williams. The weekend after that, Bynum will go back to UConn for his last visit.

Corey Thomas, Bynum’s older brother and quasi-spokesman, has made visits with his talented sibling over the last month, taking in the sites and sounds of the best programs in the nation. Bynum, the No. 28 ranked player in the nation by Rivals.com, is one of the most sought after players in the nation. He kicked off his official visits last weekend.

The first stop was at Georgia. Bynum met up with friends and current UGA commitments Louis Williams and Mike Mercer for the visit and the group took in a much anticipated football game against LSU.

“The place was amazing,” Thomas said. “Go Dawgs. That’s what they are all about down there. They love their football. We had a chance to go down there on the field before the game (against LSU) and those guys are huge. My brother is big but those offensive linemen looked like they are 450 pounds. It was a amazing. Football is definitely king down there.”

Bynum, a quiet and somewhat reserved youngster, liked the laid back atmosphere of Athens, his brother said.

“He said he could see himself in a city like Athens. It’s a lot like here. We are in between Princeton and Trenton, kind of a rural area,” Thomas said. “Athens is the same kind of place. It’s a college town with a city built around it.”

Then it was a trip back to Atlanta where they met up with Georgia Tech assistant coach Cliff Warren. Hooked up with Jarrett Jack at the ESPN Zone in Buckhead and then to P Diddy’s restaurant, Justin’s for dinner with Yellow Jacket center Luke Schenscher.

“I know Andrew really hit it off with Coach (Paul) Hewitt and coach (Willie) Reese,” Thomas said. “They talked about the past and about the future of their program and about how they develop the big men there.”

The Yellow Jackets coaching staff pounded home their success with big men over the last five years, pointing out the development of Schenscher, a one-time project and now a legit NBA prospect.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams is trying a different approach to the recruiting process. He’s going to the backyard and straight to the grill.

“We’ll eat some steaks with him right away,” Thomas said. “When he called the other day, he said there are some other coaches in the country that can out coach him but there isn’t a coach that can out cook him in the steak department. So we’ll see what that’s all about.”

Thomas said Bynum will still make an official visit to Connecticut on Oct. 22. The four-star center has unofficially visited Storrs in the summer and depending on the information gathered at North Carolina, the trip to the National Champions may not need to happen, Thomas said.

“If there are any questions still left unanswered, we’ll go back up there,” he said. “Right now, we are still planning on it.”

So how big is the trip to Chapel Hill anyways?

“It’s huge,” Thomas said. “Everyone knows that Midnight Madness is a big thing down there. UNC is huge. It’s what basketball is all about. Like Georgia was for football, North Carolina is the same for basketball. How can you turn that down? Seeing Michael Jordan’s locker and walking in those shoes; it’s huge. For Andrew, it’s a great opportunity to play for the Tar Heels.”

Thomas said Bynum plans on signing next month during the early period. The senior retook the SAT on Oct. 8. He also shined in a New Jersey all-star game, scoring 21 points on eight dunks. He and fellow AAU teammates Jaron Griffin and Anthony Farmer were also on the team for the victory over the North Jersey squad.