We have UConn at No. 3 in the nation in our preseason poll, but it’s dependent on the knee of A.J. Price.

Price tore his ACL in the first half of the Huskies first-round loss to San Diego in the NCAA tournament and seriously contemplated giving it a go in the seconds half.

Instead, he was the team’s biggest cheerleader and instead of sitting on the bench with his head down, Price was limping around the huddle and trying to keep his teammates upbeat.

It’s been a little more than a month since Price had surgery and he’s out of the brace and off crutches.

"I’m just working on strength of the knee and range of motion,” he said. “Everything’s looking positive.”

Price said they told him the recovery should be approximately six months, which would put him back on the court in September – which gives him plenty of time to get ready for the start of the season.

"I’d sign up right now for being back in six months,” Price said. “Without a doubt.”

If Price returns at 100 percent, the Huskies return all five starters now that Hasheem Thabeet opted to return to school. They would go from a team that was heavily and rightfully criticized for failing to live up to expectations two years ago to one that could content for a Final Four this season.

"The only question mark right now is me at point guard,” Price admitted. “But hopefully I’ll come back stronger than I did last year.”

"All along, I felt we had the pieces,” Price added. “We have a unique piece that no one else has in a 7-foot-3 player. That alone puts you in a different plateau that everyone else. But the biggest part was the point guard. I struggled so badly two years ago and last year I did a pretty good job and turned it around.”

KENTUCKY NO. 1 IN 2011-12

I’m getting it on the record: I’m already putting Kentucky as my Preseason numero uno in 2012.

Dominique Ferguson and Dakotah Euton will both be juniors, Vinny Zollo will be a sophomore and Michael Avery will come to Lexington as a standout freshman.

I’m just kidding, of course.

But Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie is stockpiling young kids at an alarming rate. In the past week, he added a kid who hasn’t even chosen his high school in Avery and yesterday got a verbal pledge from the 6-foot-8 Zollo, an Ohio native who spent his freshman season at Greenfield McClain High.

EBANKS VISITING MEMPHIS THIS WEEKEND

Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier-Journal said a source told him Devin Ebanks will wind up at Rutgers. Other feel that Ebanks will wind up at Memphis.

The most talented uncommitted player in the senior class has visited West Virginia, Texas and Rutgers over the past month and will finish his visit schedule this weekend with a trip to Memphis.

Ebanks told me shortly after his visit to West Virginia how much he loved his visit to Morgantown and I’m not discounting Bob Huggins in this equation.

Just imagine Joe Alexander and Ebanks on the wings.

RANDOM NOTES: Duke has promoted Blue Devil Nate James to replace Johnny Dawkins on the staff. James was an assistant strength and conditioning coach last season. … Scoring point guard Bobby Maze visited Cincinnati last weekend and is headed on a visit to Tennessee today. … Patterson School (N.C.) guard Varez Ward appears to be headed on a visit this weekend to Texas. … Bud Mackey, the one-time Indiana commit (under Kelvin Sampson), is back in jail. He was arrested last year for being caught with cocaine in his shoe. He was attending school in Cincinnati and living with his grandmother under terms of his bail, but dropped out of school and returned back to Scott County, Ky., without informing the court. His trial is slated to begin in late-August. … New Indiana coach Tom Crean continues to add bodies with the latest being the commitment of unsigned senior Verdell Jones, a long and lanky Illinois native. … We forgot to mention that Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan has secured two commitments from the Class of 2010 in the last week – 6-foot-11 forward Evan Anderson and fellow in-stater Vander Blue, a 6-foot-3 guard.

SUMPTER READY TO GO

Villanova senior forward Curtis Sumpter, who missed all of last season after tearing a knee ligament for the second time in less than a year, has progressed so well that he doesn't even want to wear a knee brace.

"He's doing everything," one source said. "He's ready to go."

Sumpter initially tore his ACL in March of 2005 against Florida and re-injured the left knee on Oct. 19 in practice. If he's healthy, the Wildcats have a chance of getting back to the Sweet 16.

BIG EAST ASSISTANTS POW-WOW

Nearly all of the top assistants in the Big East have been asked to attend a meeting on Friday in Philadelphia at the Airport Marriott.

The idea came about back in May, when all of the head coaches convened at an annual meeting.

"They want to make sure everyone's on the same program," one head coach said. "It's a way to get all the assistants together and make sure they know they aren't just representing themselves, but also their head coaches."

"It's not a big deal and isn't about one particular thing," he added. "The league just thought it would be a good idea."

Another source said that it comes in the aftermath of the UConn-Doug Wiggins saga and also is about the abundance of negative recruiting that is ongoing throughout the conference.

"It's about negative recruiting and tampering with kids," the source said.

FRESHMEN UP IN AIR

Seton Hall freshman point guard Eugene Harvey hasn't gotten cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse, but his former coach at St. Benedict's, Dan Hurley, isn't worried.

"He'll qualify," Hurley said. "He's already qualified, but the holdup is over one course he took after he finished his fourth year."

Harvey isn't the only one still waiting the official word.

Marquette's Lazar Hayward and UConn big man Hasheem Thabeet haven't gotten through the clearinghouse, either.

According to a source, the problem with Hayward stems from the fact that his old high school, Buffalo Traditional, closed down and some records haven't been able to be found.

The Clearinghouse still needs more info regarding the 7-foot-2 Thabeet, who is expected to be the "X" factor for the Huskies this season.


PADG-INATION

Louisville big man David Padgett is making progress, but don't expect the 6-foot-11 forward to put up numbers such as the 27-point, 8-rebound performance he did against UConn anytime soon.

Padgett had significant surgery on both knees on March 6 and while he is participating in individual workouts, he isn't close to being able to make an impact. In fact, it's unlikely that he'll be anywhere near what he was last season until the middle of conference play in February.

Padgett averaged 11.8 points and 6.1 boards in 26.8 minutes per game a year ago after transferring in from Kansas.