Effectively running the Knicks, the Continental Basketball Association and now FIU have all proved beyond his capabilities.

Thomas was fired by FIU on Friday after going?26-65 in three seasons.

"It's a conflict [of interest] either way, from college or from the NBA, I just don't understand why it wouldn't be," Boeheim, the head coach at Syracuse and an assistant with Team USA, said after Tuesday's practice at John Jay College. "You know, you're a college coach involved with kids and the NBA wants your players or evaluations of your players.

"It seems like it's kind of a conflict a little bit that you're coaching kids and then recommending them to pro guys."

The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Turner is currently considering seven schools as options for 2011.

"I'm at seven schools," he said by phone from the Nike Global Challenge in Portland, Ore., where Team USA lost to France Friday night.

As first reported here Tuesday, Christmas and his aunt, Amira Hamid, visited Rutgers earlier this week.

Now it appears that the 6-foot-8 Christmas, who had earlier cut his list to five schools, is wide open in his recruitment.

The Scarlet Knights hosted Rakeem Christmas, a 6-8 center ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2011 at his position; Jermaine Sanders,? a 6-5 wing from Manhattan Rice; Greg Lewis, a 6-9 center from Baltimore St. Frances ranked No. 10 at his position; Kevin Smith, a 6-1 point guard from Baltimore Huntington Prep; and Aaron Brown, a 6-5 wing from Penn Wood (Pa.) High.

Christmas, out of Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, Pa., visited with his aunt, Amira Hamid, from 11-2 p.m, but did not run with the team.

The Pirates are involved with Torgrim Sommerfeldt, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Norway, and Ozan Dilik, a 6-4 point guard from Turkey.

Sommerfeldt visited the South Orange, N.J. campus last weekend and will likely choose from among Seton Hall, Rutgers, FDU and Florida International in the coming weeks.

Sterling Gibbs, a point guard out of Seton Hall Prep pictured at left, Myles Mack of Paterson (N.J.) Catholic and Tyler Harris of Half Hollow (N.Y.) Hills West were all behind the Pirates bench at the Prudential Center.

"It was a good game," Mack said. "Seton Hall pulled it out. I love the atmosphere but when the student body gets back it's going to be better."

Grasso landed a double-dip of guards Monday night when Jayon James, a?6-foot-5 guard?from Paterson (N.J.) Catholic, and 6-2 guard Sean Armand, a Brooklyn native spending a postgrad year at Central Jersey Each One Teach One (CJEOTO) in Jersey, both orally committed to the Rams.

"I feel?I had the best relationship wth Coach Grasso and the players that's already there," said James, who comes off the bench for the No. 9 team in the PrepNation.com poll. "I've been keeping in contact with them the most out of any other schools that?I had."

Is Brandon Knight next in line at Kentucky?

The 6-foot-3 Knight, the top prospect in the Class of 2010,?has narrowed his list to four schools -- Kentucky, Kansas, UConn and Florida -- and will sign in the spring.

Florida International, Florida, Georgetown, Oklahoma and Texas are still in the running for the No.?1 center and No. 4 overall?prospect in the Class of 2011.

Baylor, Villanova, Indiana and Ohio State were cut from the old list, and Florida International, coached by Isiah Thomas, was added.

"He probably won't sign until the spring. I can't say for 100 percent sure," Lisa Leslie, C.J.'s mom, said Saturday in a phone interview.

The 6-foot-8, 205-pound Leslie out of Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Academy is the No. 4 power forward in the nation, according to Rivals.

"The list is three schools: Louisville, Pittsburgh and St. John's," said Gary Charles, Moore's AAU coach with the New York Panthers. Moore made the trip with Charles and Moore's mentor, Hunt Bresky.

Charles said Moore, ranked No. 23 among small forwards in the Class of 2010,?is tentatively slated to take an official to St. John's the weekend of Oct. 30 and to Pitt the weekend of Nov. 6.

"C.J.?is still wide open with his recruitment. He doesn't have a strong leader," Raleigh (NC) Word of God coach Erasto Hatchett said Friday. "He's still entertaining about 10 schools as of right now. He's completed some home visits. He just had his last visit?[Thursday] night with Georgetown. Seton Hall was there the night before."

Hatchett said the 6-foot-8, 205-pound Leslie is considering Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Arizona State,?Georgia Tech, Oregon, Florida and Florida International.

The U.S. 2010 team is undefeated at 3-0 with victories over USA 2011, Latin America and Africa.

Here are some quick updates on Brandon Knight, Marquis Teague and Cory Joseph.

Sterling Gibbs of Seton Hall Prep, Deshaun Wiggins of Wings Academy, Winston Graham of Lee Academy and Ryan Rhoomes of Cardozo all played well for the Panthers.

Wiggins had a team-high 20 points in the final, Graham scored 18, Gibbs tallied 15 points and Armani Cotton added 12. Rhoomes added 10 points.

Villanova's Jay Wright, Kentucky's John Calipari and Florida's Billy Donovan were all in the stands trying to catch the eyes of some of the best high school players in the land.

But one coach stood out even among that heady company.

Here are some quick notes.

***UPDATE***

Bryant was suspended because of his involvement in a traffic accident outside of Morgantown early Wednesday, after which he left the scene, according to the Charleston Gazette. He was charged with four misdemeanors, including leaving the scene of an accident. No one was injured in the accident and Bryant is free on bond.

Coach Bob Huggins didn't specify Bryant's violation in announcing the suspension Wednesday. Huggins didn't respond to a text message seeking comment.

Attorneys for both sides huddled briefly before Judge Alexander Jeong said, "We will meet on July 15."

Jeong had previously adjourned the case once, to Monday from May 19.

Just over 24 hours later, the NBA Draft will take place just 10 miles away at Madison Square Garden.

Had Stephenson graduated in 2004 instead of 2009, he likely would be hearing NBA commissioner David Stern utter his name from the podium Thursday night and preparing for life as a young multi-millionaire.

Andy Katz is reporting that a source close to the Florida International program says they are no longer recruiting the 6-foot-5 Stephenson.

Actually, I reported this more than a month ago when I quoted Latavious Williams saying he had spoken to Isiah Thomas, who said they were out.

The story examines a number of factors complicating Lance's recruitment, from his father to his pending sexual assault case to the BornReady.tv website to his academics to his on-court demeanor.

At this point, Florida, Kansas, Maryland and St. John's have all bowed out. Arizona may or may not still be in it, and Memphis is interested but hasn't been in direct contact of late.

Williams, a 6-foot-8 combo forward out of Humble (TX) Christian Life Center, plans to announce in the next few days among Memphis, Georgetown, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Florida International.

"I'd say Memphis is the favorite," Williams said Wednesday by phone. "More likely, it's Memphis right now."

Stephenson, the 6-foot-5 McDonald's All-American out of Brooklyn Lincoln High School, and one of his teammates, Darwin "Buddha" Ellis, are charged with the misdemeanor of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old female student last Oct. 3 outside the school.

They are to appear in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Tuesday.

The latest rumor is that Isiah Thomas, the new coach at Florida International, has reached out to Stephenson.

?Thomas is going after Lance hard,? a source told blogger Zach Smart.

Williams initially planned to choose from among Memphis, Georgetown and Kansas State. But he took a weekend official visit to Isiah Thomas' news stomping grounds at Florida International and that school is now in the mix.

"I'm going to decide by next week," Williams said Sunday night by phone. "I'm down here visiting Florida International now."