Four visits set up for Ebanks

Devin Ebanks, one of the true elite players still uncommitted in the class of 2008, has four official visits on his calendar and hopes to end his recruitment in a month's time.

The five-star wing was released from his National Letter of Intent from Indiana when Kelvin Sampson parted ways with the Hoosiers. Ebanks will now hit the road and visit four schools officially.

The St. Thomas More (Conn.) star will travel to West Virginia on Friday for his first trip of the spring. From there, Ebanks will visit Texas on April 25 then Rutgers (May 2) and Memphis (May 9). Ebanks has been to Rutgers before unofficially but has not been to any of the other schools before.

Ebank's AAU coach Lawrence McGugins, who will accompany Ebanks on his visits, said the list is solid and not likely to expand to any other schools.

"It's come down to those four," McGugins said. "We'll go through all four visits and give everyone a fair shot and then assess it at the end of the day."

McGugins said Ebanks, the second best small forward in the nation, will look at each situation closely and keep a close watch on who goes pro and who doesn't by the April 27 deadline.

"It's pretty much back to square one in a condensed time period. Some stuff has to play out too to see what situation is the best. It depends on who leaves. Like if D.J. Augustin leaves, does it make a difference for [Devin]? If Joe Alexander leaves, does it make a difference? We'll look at those situations, too. It's going to have some weight into to but I can't really say a percentage."

Coming after the year of the freshman in college basketball, McGugins said Ebanks would like to find a situation where he can have plenty of opportunities to shine on the national stage.

"It has to be similar to Indiana if not identical. But you're not going to get identical," McGugins said. "It will have be [darn] near close to it."