Kelly nearing a decision

Five-star prospect Ryan Kelly is fresh off his final visit, and will soon compare the six schools left on his list after a few more in-home visits.

Kelly, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound power forward from Raleigh (N.C.) Ravenscroft School, began this week spending a couple days in neighboring Durham getting an in depth feel for campus life at Duke.

"The visit went well," said Kelly. "I was able to play with the players, go to some classes and hang out with some of the players."

Now Kelly is expecting visits from North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, Georgetown head coach John Thompson III and Wake Forest head man Dino Gaudio. Once those visits are in the books, Kelly will formally compare the schools in hopes of deciding on a school some time this month.

"Now I have all the information I need about the schools I'm considering," he said. "I have a few more coaches coming in to visit me in the next week or so. After those visits, I'm going to shut it down and weigh out the pluses and minuses. Whether I trim it down to two or three schools then or make a decision, I'm not sure. I don't really have a time table or a date set for a decision, but I'd like to get it done before practice starts on October 27th."

There has been rampant speculation that certain schools have worked their way to the top of Kelly's list, but Kelly, who is considering Duke, Georgetown, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest, maintains that this isn't the case.

"I've tried to go into every visit looking at each school individually and not compare them," he said. "I really haven't compared them yet, and I don't have a favorite at this point."

Ryan Kelly scouting report:

An extremely skilled face up four man, Kelly does his best work in the high post area. Defenders have to respect his ability to knock down three while Kelly also has the ability to beat defenders off the bounce with his pull up jumper in the midrange being his most dangerous weapon. He is also an adept passer and can score in the low post. Defensively Kelly moves his feet well, but he does need to add strength to become a better low post defender and rebounder.