Recruiting heats up as Ebanks commits to Indiana

	St. Thomas More Prep forward Devin Ebanks (in white) announced his plans to attend Indiana during last weekend's Rumble in the Bronx AAU tournament. Greg Nelson/SI

BRONX, N.Y. -- By the time the games at Fordham University's Rumble in the Bronx AAU basketball tournament had commenced on Saturday morning, the recruiting was already on the wall.

Just inside the doorway at Rose Hill Gym two pieces of paper were hanging. One outlined a listing of the day's games, and the other, in equally prominent position, informed all in attendance of the day's marquee event. Devin Ebanks, a 6-foot-8, 185-pound forward from St. Thomas More Prep (Oakdale, Conn.), was to announce his college decision in a press conference at noon.

"I want to let everyone know that I am committing to Indiana University," said Ebanks, the 11th-ranked player in the Class of 2008 by Rivals.com, as he stood in front of six reporters with the ongoing games being relegated to white noise. "I want to thank all of the other coaches for recruiting me, but I made up my mind and Indiana is the best situation for me."

Though his official announcement came at 12:30 p.m., Ebanks said it was not because of cold feet. In actuality, like many other top recruits in the rising senior class, his decision came before the summer circuit encompasses their lives. "The recruiting was a bit overwhelming at times with all of the calls and mailings coming from coaches and the schools," said Ebanks, who also considered Miami and Rutgers. "I was comfortable with coach Sampson and I think you should go with what makes you feel that way."

Ebanks is not the first star recruit in the class of 2008 to commit early. Last week St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.) forward Samardo Samuels, the nation's No. 6 player, returned from an unofficial weekend visit to Louisville and made his commitment public two days later. Speaking of his recruitment and why he decided to commit in June, Samuels said, "I was just tired of all the attention with the calls and all."

Of Rivals.com's top 12 rising seniors, six have already given oral commitments to top programs, and the growing attention given to recruits via the Internet and coaches themselves is driving prospects to relieve themselves of recruiting-based attention sooner rather than later. "Kids are happy to have everything done with and there is a sense of relief in being able to focus on basketball for their final summer as a high school guy," said Louisville assistant Steve Masiello, who helped land Samuels. "It's a lot for a 16-17-year-old kid to handle with the rankings and recruiting gurus everywhere."

The trend of committing early comes on the heels of the recruitment of Florida-bound Jai Lucas and Kentucky signee Patrick Patterson just last month. While Patterson was a top 10 recruit in the class of 2007, Lucas became a recruiting rock star as he decided not to decide until the final month of the spring signing season. "It's not brain surgery that requires over analysis in most cases," said Masiello. "When kids find a school that they like and a coach that fits their plans, then a kid can be at ease when he commits early."

An hour before Ebanks made his decision public, Kemba Walker, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound point guard from Rice (Harlem, N.Y.) held court for an impromptu press gathering. Word had spread via his high school coach, Moe Hicks, and others to reporters that he would be announcing his choice, which turned out to be UConn. "I was growing tired of the recruiting process," said Walker, who was playing at with the New York Gauchos.

An hour later, Ebanks was wearing an Indiana hat and Indiana jersey, already emblazoned with his personalized No. 3. On the back of the jersey still hung the tags.

"I can take these off now since I'm committed," said Ebanks.

Evans takes his time

When Samuels made his commitment, he mentioned to reporters that he felt No. 14 recruit Tyreke Evans, a star shooting guard from American Christian (Aston, Pa.), was also considering Louisville. Almost instantaneously, message boards and sites dedicated to college basketball, took it as a silent nod toward Evans inking with the Cardinals as well. When contacted by SI.com last Friday, Reggie Evans, Tyreke's brother, said that Tyreke had not committed and that the Web sites were getting ahead of themselves. The family has set no timetable for Tyreke to commit.