Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland continued his recruiting roll on Wednesday by landing Mario Kegler, a 6-foot-6 wing guard from Oak Hill Academy (VA) who is a Mississippi native.

Kegler also considered Indiana and Maryland after cutting Arizona State and Baylor from his list.

Howland has already lined up a loaded class of Schnider Herard, a 6-10 center who committed last week, along with point guards Lamar Peters and Tyson Carter and shooting guard Eli Wright, giving Mississippi State the No. 3 recruiting class in the nation according to Scout.com.

Ferguson also considered?Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, and North Carolina, among others.

According to McShay, New York will look to bolster its defensive backfield by adding Mississippi State cornerback Johnthan Banks.

"The Giants have been successful under general manager Jerry Reese going with the best available athlete on the board, but in this case they find one of the top players available at a priority need area," McShay writes. "Banks is not elite in man-to-man coverage, but he has good length and is solid in press coverage, shows instincts in zone, supports the run and is a ball hawk with 16 career interceptions."

?Obviously, we are disappointed in Rodney?s decision,? head coach Rick Ray, who was hired one week ago, told The Associated Press. ?I was looking forward to getting a chance to develop and coach him. This decision, unfortunately, was made before my hire. The Hoods were forthright and honest about where they were when I met with them, and I appreciate their honesty.

?I look forward to putting together a team with the current members, rolling up our sleeves and recruiting new Bulldogs.?

But who will take him?

"I would think [he would get chosen] at some point in the second round but his stock is really low," one NBA scout told SNY.tv. "He needs to get to the Chicago Pre-Draft camp somehow."

Sidney, a 6-foot-10 junior who has battled weight and attitude issues for most of his career, will likely seek a professional paycheck although it's possible he could transfer.

When asked if he would be chosen in the 2012 NBA Draft, one veteran NBA scout said flatly, "No."

Overweight.

Enigmatic.

After decommitting from the school, the 6-foot-1 Gray told SNY.tv he plans to sign with the Bulldogs this week.

"I love the coach and staff," he said by text. "I'm from the South. It's only six hours away from home. And they have good players.

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury opted not to bring Sidney, a 6-foot-10 junior forward, on a tour of the Netherlands, Belgium and France during the first two weeks of August.

Instead, Sidney, who has battled injuries, weight issues and off-the-court concerns, will return to Houston to work out with the former NBA player and coach John Lucas.

?Elgin told me of his plans to transfer, and we wish him the best as he moves on,? MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. ?Elgin has had to deal with some very tough injuries, but he?s worked very hard to get to where he is now. Wherever he ends up, I hope he?s able to have a lot of success.

?As for this team, it?s time to move on and learn from these mistakes. Hopefully, by sending Sid and Elgin home following the incident, a strong message was sent that this type of behavior is unacceptable.?

Sidney and Elgin Bailey, who are roommates, were caught on camera fighting in the stands after Thursday's game at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. The fight lasted for several minutes before it was broken up by teammates and coaches. Both players have been sent home from Hawaii.

The fight came three days after Sidney was initially suspended one game for an incident at practice Monday.

?At this time, Sid is suspended for conduct detrimental to the team,? head coach Rick Stansbury said. ?That?s all I?m saying. That?s all that needs to be said.?

The Bulldogs play Washington State Wednesday at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. Team spokesman Gregg Ellis told ESPN.com Sidney won't be sent home from Hawaii but could miss the Bulldogs' Dec. 29 game against Saint Mary's in Las Vegas.

Thomas, the No. 14 point guard in the Class of 2012 per Rivals, called Johnnies head coach Steve Lavin Tuesday night to commit.

Asked what he liked about the Johnnies, the 6-foot, 175-pound Thomas said by text, "Coaching staff and I'm just trying to bring NYC basketball back!!"

Bolden said Hood will choose from among Florida State, Mississippi State, Louisville, Marquette and Alabama.

"At this point it's pretty much him doing some soul-searching deciding what he wants to do," Bolden said.

The same week that Kadeem Jack unofficially toured campus, 6-foot-8? forward LaQuinton Ross of Burlington (N.J.) Life Center came to Piscataway.

"I took a visit out there," Ross said Friday by phone on his way to Los Angeles for the Pangos all-american camp. "It was good. I liked the campus a lot and the new coaches over there.

"Yes I am comeing (sic) back to?b a bulldog next year :)" Sidney put on his Facebook status Friday night.

Sidney, a 6-foot-10 Mississippi State ?freshman who?has not played this season while the NCAA investigated his case, was declared ineligible for the rest of this season and 30 percent?of next?year and fined $11,800 for "benefits received from preferential treatment."

Alex Kline of BoxofMess.com continues to put in work interviewing many of the top high school prospects in the New York metropolitan area.

In this piece, Kline gets Burlington (N.J.) Life Center stars Dion Waiters and LaQuinton Ross talking about their future goals and plans.

Dempsey and the Rider Broncs pulled off the biggest win in program history Friday night when they went into Starkville and beat defending Southeastern Conference champion Mississippi State, 88-74.

The win happened on the same night the No. 18 Bulldogs raised the banner from their 2008-09 SEC championship.

The 6-foot-8, 205-pound Leslie had an in-home visit Wednesday night with Seton Hall head coach Bobby Gonzalez and assistant Dermon Player.

"It was good. It was real good," Leslie said.

"I'm pleased for Gary that he met the competitive and academic benchmarks of his contract," said Maryland AD Deborah Yow. "The 2009-10 season has the potential to be one of the best in recent memory."

Williams, recently voted onto the board of directors of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, is the winningest coach in Maryland history and enters the season with a 418-229 mark in his previous 20 seasons in College Park.

Thompson said the following schools are recruiting his son and would have in-home visits: UConn, Duke, UCLA, Maryland, Georgetown, Florida and Kentucky.

?I?m going to pick out the school that I?m going to commit to going on the middle of my Oak Hill season,? Roscoe, the No. 31 player in the Rivals150 and the No. 6 SF in the Class of 2010, told me earlier this month at the Boost Mobile event in New York.

About 12 hours before Rick Pitino held a defiant press conference in which he took aim at the media and Karen Sypher, former Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie was arrested and charged with drunken driving.

Here's the video, courtesy WLEX-18 in Lexington, Kentucky.

Although he isn't yet eligible to compete, the 6-foot-10, 260-pound forward/center out of Fairfax High School in Los Angeles is allowed to participate in individual and conditioning workouts.

"We are happy to get Renardo academically admitted," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "But we know this is just the first step. Now, he has to get his amateurism status resolved."

Sources say Pettis, a Philadelphia native, is considering La Salle, Temple and Rider. Pettis' older brother played at Rider several years ago.

?Earl and I had a meeting in which he expressed his desire to return home to Philadelphia,? said Rutgers head coach Fred Hill. ?After discussing the matter with Earl and his family, we support his decision and will aid the process. Earl is a tremendous young man who has been a valuable member of the program for the past two seasons. We wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.?

Like the 7-foot-3 Thabeet, John Riek hails from Africa. And like Thabeet, Riek stands over 7 feet tall.

But Dan Barto, Riek's coach at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., says Riek is ahead of where Thabeet was at this same point in his career.

John Riek,? a 7-foot-2 native of the Sudan, has chosen to play for the Bulldogs over Cincinnati and Providence. Riek initially committed to Cincinnati last August.

"I just talked to him today he said he went and visited the school," Winchendon (Mass.) School coach Mike Byrnes said. "He liked it. He felt very comfortable with Mississippi State's ESL program and is hoping to start summer school in early June."

The 6-foot-11, 250-pound Sidney, a native of Jackson, Miss., is rated the No. 5 power forward in the Class of 2009. He verbally committed to USC in February but never signed a Letter of Intent.

"It's good to be coming back home," said Sidney, who averaged 23.4 points and 10.6 rebounds this past season at Los Angeles Fairfax High. "A lot of my family hasn't been able to see me play the last three years and it will be good to be around them again. Mississippi State is a great school with a great program, and I"m coming in to help them win a national championship and build a bond with my new teammates."