Who Will Land Vernon Goodridge

The story of Vernon Goodridge has taken every angle. There was a reported favorite. Then he was to officially schools. Coaches have made in-home visits. An announcement, according to his mother, even close to being made regarding where the nation’s top center would go. We caught up with the 6-foot-9, 215-pound big man and got the latest.

“I’m down to three schools - Mississippi State, Georgetown and Pittsburgh. It’s that simple,” Goodridge said. “All I’m looking for is the opportunity to play and the relationships players have with their coaches.”

What about the visits? He was supposed to officially visit Mississippi State earlier in the month. What about the possible announcement? His mother told a couple of team site publishers on the Rivals.com network that a decision could be coming this week. Nothing doing, says Goodridge.

“Not at this time. I’m taking my time,” he said. “There is just a lot going on right now. I’m trying to figure it out.”

Fair enough. Goodridge’s head coach Daryl Schofield of Philly Lutheran, says one of the reasons why there hasn’t been a lot of activity can be pointed to the classroom. The recruiting process has taken a toll on the class of 2005’s attention to the books.

“His main focus is school. He needs to finish up and worry about that first. That’s what he’s doing right now,” Schofield said. “A lot of schools are trying to recruit him but he’s not concentrating on his schoolwork. When he does that, then he can consider everything else.”

Goodridge, the No. 24 ranked player in the nation by Rivals.com, has talked to each of the three schools quite a bit over the last couple of weeks, he said. He still has not visited Mississippi State or Pittsburgh and he’s seen Georgetown on an unofficial visit. Seeing the campus and the team in it’s own setting is important, Goodridge said, but he’s looking at other things, too.

“I don’t want to go somewhere where they argue all the time. You can’t be arguing and be successful. I’m looking for a place where I’m going to be happy,” he said. “Plus, seeing how they develop big men is something, too. They gotta fit that mold of making big guys better.”

He’s right. There is a lot to figure out.