I'm (hopefully) headed to Italy for my 10-year anniversary with my wife – Rome, Venice and the Amalfi Coast. Right now, there are still travel delays in Europe due to the volcanic ash, so we'll see if we actually get there or not.

If anyone has any suggestions for me in Italy, feel free to e-mail them to me at jngoodman@aol.com.

Yes, I will have my phone with me, but for the sole purpose of calling my daughter while we are gone.

However, I think the blog may actually take it a notch up without me around.

I've come up with a dozen or so guest bloggers while I am away. One person called my idea lazy. However, I'm terming it brilliant – and if this works well, I'll integrate guest bloggers more even while I am around.

The initial guest blogger is a heavy hitter:

Austin Rivers isn’t the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers. The Winter Park (Fla.) rising senior guard is also Scout.com’s No. 4 Player in the Class of 2011. Rivers committed to Florida back as a freshman, but now he’s back on the open market – and talks about adding a pair of new schools to his list.  

Austin Rivers
Special to FOXSports.com

I committed to Florida way back when I was a freshman in high school. I had been going to the Florida team camp since I was 10 or 11 years old and had always been a fan of the program.

They offered me my first year of high school. It was early, but it was one of the schools I always wanted to go to. I felt it was somewhere I could play, develop my game and my style fit – they get up and down, play aggressive defense and shoot a lot of 3’s. They let their guards play and it’s beautiful weather.

I was playing last summer at Disney and our game was packed with coaches. There were probably more than 40 coaches at our game – including Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) from Duke and it hit me that I had never been recruited before. I got back and told me coach, T.J. (Therion Joseph) that I might be interested in looking at Duke. It was kind of random.

It was tough for a while because I was committed to Florida, but I wasn’t completely committed – and I knew that. I wanted to look at other schools, but I have so much respect for Coach (Billy) Donovan and the program that I felt it was wrong to do that. But then I realized that this is my life and I only get one chance to make this decision – and I need to make the right one.

I ended up de-committing and then other schools started recruiting me. Word spreads quickly and it’s gotten crazy. There were schools that were uncomfortable recruiting me when I was still committed, so de-committing just made everything easier for me.

It’s been crazy and I’m hoping to make a decision before my high school season starts.

I went down to the Duke banquet a few weeks ago. It was my second time going up there, but this time I took my coaches up.

I know some people don’t know whether I’m a two-guard or a point guard, but I see myself as more of a two. I can set guys up, but I think I’m more of a scorer. But I think I’m kind of like Tyreke Evans – he was a scorer in high school, but did both in college. He played the point and also scored, now he’s back to his normal position in the NBA.

I’d like to go to North Carolina and visit in the next couple of weeks once I’m done with school. That’ll be easier for me – once exams and everything are done. I’m also looking at Kansas. They’ve gotten in the picture lately and have been talking to my coaches. I might also look at Kentucky with the success that (John) Calipari has had with his players.

But I want to take four visits so I can look at a variety of schools and get as much info as I can before making a decision.

I still like Florida and am definitely still considering them among the five schools I’m thinking about right now.

I’m looking forward to this summer playing with T.J. and Team Stat. We lost Brandon Knight and James Bell from last year’s team, but we’re still going to be good with guys like Trevor Lacey and Devin Langford.

I’m going to Houston this weekend for the Nike tournament league and going out in two weeks to L.A. for the final Nike league tournament. After that, I’ll take a couple of weeks off and then I’m going to try out for the USA team. The tryout is for three days and there will be some really good players there: Brandon Knight, Kyrie Irving and Harrison Barnes will all be there.

After that, it’s off to the LeBron James Camp, the Peach Jam and then the Disney Showcase at the end. Then I’ll probably go to the Boost Mobile game at the end of the summer.

I’m just looking to improve my skills this summer. The rankings are nice and all, but that’s not really a goal of mine. Would I like to be number one in the class?  Sure, but that’s not what motivates me.

My focus this summer is to become a defensive stopper. People know I can score and do the flashy stuff like dunk, but I want people to see me as someone who can do everything. I watch Kobe and LeBron and that’s where they separate themselves – guys that work hard on both ends of the court and that’s something I want to do.

I’m not just saying that, either. Starting this weekend in Houston, I’m going to guard the best player on the floor.

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