Stepheson down to six

Alex Stepheson, one of the most heavily recruited big men in the class of 2006, has taken a step forward in his recruitment. After conducting in school visits with eight high major programs throughout the month of April, the 6-foot-9, 210-pound power forward from Harvard-Westlake High School in Studio City, Calif., has trimmed his list of schools and only six remain.

"There was a time when Alex was focused on eight schools that he was really interested in," said Harvard-Westlake Head Coach Greg Hilliard. "After meeting with all eight schools in April, Alex decided to trim his list of schools down to six.

"Connecticut, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Arizona, Washington and UCLA are the schools that Alex is considering at this time," he added. "This has been a difficult process for Alex, and choosing what schools to focus on was tough. These are the six schools that he is going to focus on at this time."

Stepheson, the No. 22 ranked player in the class of 2006, is looking forward to taking some official visits in the fall. He took an unofficial visit to Arizona during the weekend of Midnight Madness and has already made several trips to UCLA.

"I know that Alex and his family are going to plan some official visits for the fall," said Hilliard. "He needs to visit the schools that are further away from California. I also know that he wants to visit Washington. I do know that his mother took a visit to Georgia Tech while she was in town for a wedding.

"Alex has already taken unofficial visits to Arizona and UCLA, so he is familiar with those programs," he added. "He just needs to take some visits, get a feel for each of the schools on his list and then make a decision after that."