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BRONX, NEW YORK -- Chris Taft, the burly banger from Brooklyn's Xaverian High School and the borough's Juice Crew AAU program, has seen his recruitment explode of late.

Taft lists North Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Syracuse, Miami, Arizona, and Kansas, "and there are many others."

"Basically everyone has offered except for Duke and North Carolina," said Taft. "North Carolina is waiting to see my transcript."

Taft has one unofficial visit lined up. "I'm going to visit North Carolina next month."

Taft was bullish in the Juice Crew's (aka Brooklyn Bridge) opening round win over Lancaster(PA) Elite on Friday night at the Rumble in Bronx. Chris hammered down a Couple of emphatic dunks, and even showed considerable agility, at one point driving to the hole and angling in for the bucket off glass while drawing the foul.

Taft roused the crowd with a hellacious second half stuff off a feed from teammate Ramel Bradley, as Bradley flung the ball off glass off the break, Taft swooping in for the two-handed flush.

Lancaster offered little in the way of a physical post presence, but Taft's mettle will likely be tested in the Juice Crew's match-up with the Albany City Rocks on Saturday, as Jim Hart's crew has a handful of bigs who can bang, not the least of which is sophomore manchild Dayshaun Wright.

Taft will participate in the Adidas ABCD Tournament in July, as well as the Las Vegas Big Time Tournament. A tournament in California is still a possibility.