New Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins lost arguably his top recruit to his former school.

Christ School (N.C.) senior power forward Miles Plumlee, whose younger brother, Mason, committed to the Blue Devils earlier this year, is headed to Duke after getting his release from the Cardinal earlier this week.

The news was first reported by Scout.com’s Dave Telep, who feels that the eldest Plumlee (there’s also a talented brother, Marshall, in the Class of 2011) could see extensive minutes as a freshman in Durham.

NO VIOLATION WITH OBAMA

North Carolina’s pick-up game earlier this week with presidential candidate Barack Obama did not break an NCAA rule.

NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson, director of public and media relations for the NCAA, said in an e-mail to the Charlotte Observer: "This was a unique situation and not an NCAA issue. It certainly was a great opportunity for the student-athletes to interact with a presidential candidate."

The rules stipulate that college coaches aren’t allowed to watch pick-up games during the offseason.

UNC spokesman Steve Kirschner told the newspaper that Tar Heels coach Roy Williams was aware he wasn’t supposed to be in attendance, but that these were “extraordinary circumstances,” and with the number of secret service personnel on site, the coach wanted to be on hand to make sure that everything went OK."

GILLISPIE AT IT AGAIN

Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie wasted no time a year ago shortly after he took over in getting verbal commitments from young kids.

But Gillispie has taken it to a new level with the pledge on Thursday from 6-foot-4 wing Michael Avery – an eighth-grader.

``It’s a dream school for him,” Avery’s father, Howard, told Scout.com’s Evan Daniels. “That’s where he wanted to play.”

RANDOM NOTES: Memphis landed long and talented wing Wesley Witherspoon, one of the top remaining uncommitted seniors. Now it appears highly unlikely that the top unsigned player, Devin Ebanks, would commit to the Tigers with the recent pledges of Tyreke Evans and Witherspoon. … Don’t be shocked if Florida State transfer Julian Vaughn lands at George Mason. … If you haven’t seen the picture by now, check it out of Tyler Hansbrough jumping off a frat house balcony into a swimming pool - http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b252/DukeDevils
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I took my dad down to Durham, N.C., for his 65th birthday to watch Duke pull away from Georgia Tech last night.

This is a man who grew up in the Celtics heyday with Bill Russell and Larry Bird. He’s been to the Red Sox-Yankees wars.

But he was absolutely blown away after taking in a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

In addition to the atmosphere in the building, he got a chance to see all the students who had been sleeping outside in tents outside Cameron since mid-January for the opportunity to get free tickets to the North Carolina and Maryland games down the stretch.

Duke’s brand-new practice facility, which opened a few weeks ago, is state-of-the-art and will make it even more difficult for schools to beat the Blue Devils on the recruiting trail. In fact, 6-foot-11 junior Mason Plumlee committed to Duke yesterday after taking a couple of recent unofficial visits to Durham.

LAWSON MAY SEE LIMITED TIME

North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson didn’t participate in any contact practice yesterday and Tar Heels coach is hopeful he’ll be able to get Lawson in for limited minutes in Saturday’s game at Boston College.

Lawson has missed the past six games with a sprained ankle. Williams said the decision won’t be made until after Friday’s practice.

Williams also said that sophomore forward Deon Thompson is getting treatment for a back injury and may not play against the Eagles. Honestly, it won’t matter.

Tyler Hansbrough could play by himself against the entire BC frontline and still dominate.

GONZO GONE WILD

No surprise at all that Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez took a swing at his assistant coach, Scott Adubato, a few weeks ago during halftime of the West Virginia game.

Numerous sources told us of the incident, the latest in a long line of crazy stories we’ve heard regarding Gonzo over the years.

WOOD EMBARRASMENT

There’s no way that referee Mike Wood should have been on the court in the Duke game on Wednesday night.

The guy could barely get up and down the court. He was limping and could barely do his job.

CHICAGO – It’ll be difficult to match the atmosphere in the Dean Dome last night for Duke’s win against North Carolina, but there should be plenty of intensity tonight when Eric Gordon makes his first – and probably only - appearance in Champaign.

The Tar Heels fans booed Gerald Henderson Jr., when he stepped onto the court at 7:38 p.m. for pre-game warmups and throughout much of the game, but my guess is it’ll be nothing compared to the reaction Gordon, Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson and even Gordon’s father receive tonight.

Remember, the Illini would be near the top of the Big Ten right now if Sampson hadn’t lured him to Bloomington despite being committed to Illinois.

Roy Williams made the correct move in holding out his point guard, Ty Lawson, due to a sprained ankle. There’s no chance that the Tar Heels can go anywhere in the postseason without their jet-quick floor leader and that was clear last night.

I’m not sure much would have changed from a defensive standpoint if Lawson had been on the floor, anyway. Sure, he’s quick – but he rarely shows any interest in trying to lock anyone up. Duke does a nice job spreading the floor and the Tar Heels haven’t shown they can defend on the perimeter this season.
 
Wayne Ellington was more affected by the absence of Lawson than anyone else. Ellington benefits by Lawson’s ability to penetrate and kick. Last night, Ellington was forced to have to create off the dribble – which isn’t his strength.

COOLEST SIGHT: Roy Williams throwing T-shirts into the crowd just prior to the start of the game. You just don’t see that often – especially from a future Hall of Famer.

WORST SIGHT: Seeing Tar Heels reserve guard Bobby Frasor in a shirt and tie. He’s one of the most underrated players in America and has had tough luck the last two years with foot injuries last year and a torn ACL in December.

STRANGEST SIGHT: Danny Green’s dance on the sidelines before the opening tip. I’m not sure there’s a name for it, but it’s downright entertaining.
  
 ARIZONA’S DEPTH TAKES HIT

You wouldn’t think the loss of Nic Wise be a crushing blow to Arizona, but Wildcats coach Kevin O’Neill has no frontcourt depth whatsoever and now he has none in the backcourt, either.

Wise will miss 4-6 weeks after yesterday’s surgery on his left knee. Now the Wildcats will be forced to move Jerryd Bayless to the point and move someone into the lineup who just isn’t good enough to be a Pac-10 starter.

If there was ever a three-man team, it’s Arizona.

Bayless, Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill.

The Wildcats are 5-4 in league play, which is tied for third place. However, Arizona is also just one game from being in eighth place.

RANDOM NOTES: Franklin Street, the place to go after North Carolina games, was a virtual ghost town after the Tar Heels loss. … I haven’t seen it yet, but one coach told me Pat Knight looked downright giddy in the post-game news conference despite losing his first game at the helm. ``He looked like a college kid,” the coach said. ``It was embarrassing.” … Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel isn’t ruling out the return of Longar Longar, who broke a bone in his lower leg Saturday against Texas A&M. Longar has had a stress fracture since the loss to Kansas and it will depend on how much pain he’s experiencing whether he can come back later this season. ... Here’s how unpredictable and balanced the ACC is these days: All four road teams won last night, including Maryland’s victory at Boston College that gave Gary Williams his 600th career win. … St. Joe’s was without star forward Ahmad Nivins in the loss to Duquesne because of a sprained ankle.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Just landed in Raleigh, where I’ll check out arguably the biggest surprise and disappointment in the ACC when Virginia Tech plays N.C. State tonight.

Tomorrow night is the matchup between No. 2 Duke and No. 3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill and then I’ll catch a flight on Thursday morning and finish up with Indiana at Illinois – where Kelvin Sampson and Eric Gordon may need bodyguards in Champaign.

I’m just hoping that Tar Heels sophomore point guard Tywon Lawson guts it out tomorrow night despite a high ankle sprain he suffered on Sunday night. However, I’m guessing Greg Paulus isn’t on the same page – as the Duke floor leader would much rather see Quentin Thomas.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has been upset recently about the fact that there are so many media members that are anti-Duke, so he’s tried to make it a point to be media-friendly.

He got back to me earlier in the season on a story I did on Gerald Henderson Jr., but I figured I’d call him on his cell phone last night after the Lubbock newspaper broke the news that Coach K’s mentor, Bob Knight, was retiring.

I dialed his number at around 9 p.m. ET and this was the dialogue that followed:

JG: "Coach Krzyzewski, this is Jeff Goodman from FOXSports.com. I was just hoping to get a quick comment if you had a minute on Coach Knight retiring earlier today?”

Krzyzewski: "This is not the appropriate time or number. Thanks for your interest. Click.”

I completely understand he’s extremely busy, but this is just one reason why media members aren’t exactly enamored with Krzyzewski. He’s an elite coach, maybe the best in the country now that Knight has retired, but he’s also one of the few who is basically inaccessible.

TERP TURNAROUND

Maryland coach Gary Williams will go for his 600th career victory this weekend at Boston College.

We’ve taken shots at the Terps this season after a rough start which included a trio of consecutive home losses to Boston College, Ohio and American. However, you’ve got to give Williams credit for the Terps recent success.

Maryland has won eight of its last 10 to put itself in the mix for third place in the ACC.

The Terps have done it with a healthy Eric Hayes and the emergence of a few young guys – including wing Landon Milbourne.

JAYHAWK BALANCE

One of the most difficult decisions is which Kansas player to include on the National Player of the Year list.

I decided to go with Mario Chalmers because of his ability to take care of the ball and also defend. Darrell Arthur has impressive numbers (13.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Brandon Rush has come on lately and is averaging 12.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and is shooting 43 percent from long distance, but I’m going with the top shooter and defender on the team.

North Carolina is No. 1 in the country and the Tar Heels also have no peer when it comes to recruiting.

Not too long ago, Michael Jordan might have been the top recruiter in college basketball. Nine out of every 10 high school kids listed UNC as their dream school.

For the last few years, you add Roy Williams – one of the hardest-working head coaches in the business - into the equation and there’s literally nowhere that the Tar Heels can’t go to land a player.

Here’s some recent evidence: The Tar Heels went into the Lone Star state last week and got a commitment from one of the top juniors in the country – John Henson.

A day later, they got a pledge from the Wear Twins - a pair of skilled forwards out of the Los Angeles area.

That means North Carolina beat Texas in its home-state and then followed it up by beating a UCLA team that has been to consecutive Final Fours in their own backyard.

"When they show up, you might as well pack it up and go home,” said one high-major head coach. “You can’t beat them anywhere right now.” 

MAYS BREAKS HAND

Clemson coach Oliver Purnell doesn’t feel as though James Mays will miss any game action despite suffering a broken left (non-shooting) hand last night.

Purnell wasn’t certain when and how Mays suffered the injury, but he thought it happened in pre-game warmups when a ball jammed his finger.
 
The 6-foot-9 senior missed five games earlier in the season due to a hip injury and he has slowly worked his way back. Mays played 32 minutes and finished with nine points and eight rebounds in a 90-88 overtime loss to top-ranked North Carolina on Sunday night.

"We think he’ll be able to play with a splint,” Purnell said. "He played most, if not all, of the game with the fracture last night.”

Clemson’s next game is Wednesday against Charlotte at home.

STEPHESON SLATED TO RETURN TO CHAPEL HILL

There were plenty of rumors swirling when North Carolina reserve forward Alex Stepheson returned home to California.

One was that he was considering transferring out of the program.

However, UNC coach Roy Williams said that the 6-foot-9 sophomore is expected back to Chapel Hill today and plans to practice on Tuesday.

Stepheson’s presence in the lineup is essential, especially with the up-tempo style that Williams and his team plays. UNC was forced to go primarily with six players in the overtime win against Clemson and Mike Copeland, who took Stepheson’s place off the bench, logged just three minutes.
 
WATERS RUNNING

Nice to see former Rutgers coach Gary Waters doing well out at Cleveland State.

In fact, Waters and the Vikings (10-5) are in first place and are the lone undefeated team in the Horizon League at 3-0.

Butler’s lone loss came at Wright State, where Cleveland State will play on Saturday.

The Vikings five losses have all come to Top 100 teams in the RPI: Ohio State, Kent State, George Mason, Georgia Southern and Cal State Northridge.

RANDOM NOTES: Expect Louisville sophomore Earl Clark to be back in the lineup after he was suspended for the win over Kentucky. … Georgia Tech sophomore forward Mouhammad Faye is transferring. The 6-foot-10 Senegal native played in five games and averaged 2.2 points per game. …Redshirt freshman forward Jacob Green is leaving West Virginia. … Memphis got a commitment from talented California native Matt Simpkins, a 6-foot-8 forward who is spending the year at Patterson School (N.C.). … Illinois continues to get things done on the recruiting trail. Former Illini star Luther Head’s little brother, Rich South (Ill.) High shooting guard Crandall Head, verbally committed to Bruce Weber & Co. … According to sources, Harmony Prep will add Bud Mackey, the former Indiana commit who was arrested on drug charges, and also talented wing Jason Henry. Don’t be surprised if Mackey winds up at Cincinnati. Henry is a former Bearcats commit who has re-opened his recruitment. … Check out this video of Bishop McGuiness High (Okla.) big man Daniel Orton shattering the backboard with Florida coach Billy Donovan in attendance: http://www.newsok.com/video/brightcove/?bctid=136
6496459&bclid=1111450866. … UNC Greensboro will retire senior Kyle Hines’ No. 42 on Feb. 28 prior to the game against Chattanooga. Hines is already the program’s all-time leading scorer.