Vaughn is back to square one

Deonta Vaughn had the hot hand last week at the NEAA NIT in Atlanta. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound point guard from Indianapolis was the shooting spark that his Harmony Prep team needed. The former Indiana commitment might just be a hot recruit if he continues to play the way he did last week.

Whenever Harmony Prep needed a bucket from the perimeter, Vaughn was happy to oblige. The barrel-chested scoring guard was the beneficiary of Harmony's high-octane offense and with a trio of guards around him, he was able to find ways to score in the offense.

Now the three-star guard is trying to find a way to catch the attention of more schools. So why exactly did he back out of his verbal commitment to IU?

"I wanted to open things back up and look at my options and see where I'd be," Vaughn said. "I feel like I had a great summer in AAU and opening things back up lets me look and see if any other schools are interested. I wanted to back away and not sign too early. I feel like that if I signed early, I'd be slacking in my work so it would be best if I just waited and looked at all of my options."

Vaughn said either he or his coach have heard from Eastern Illinois, Georgetown, Illinois, Michigan State, Pepperdine and South Florida since he's opened up his recruitment. With no plans to sign early, Vaughn said he'll play the season out and see what schools are serious.