[OSU_Buckguy]

Coaches flock to watch pair of prospects

fox sports

Roy Williams stood in the corner next to Al Skinner. Tom Crean was in the doorway alongside Duke assistant Chris Collins and John Groce ? Thad Matta's top aide at Ohio State. Littered through the stands were another 40 or so coaches ? including two-time defending national champion Billy Donovan and his two assistants from Florida, UCLA's Ben Howland, Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt, Virginia's Dave Leitao, Notre Dame's Mike Brey, Michigan's John Beilein, Rhode Island's Jim Baron and Providence head man Tim Welsh. Georgetown was represented. So were Villanova, UConn, Louisville and Maryland.

This wasn't a coaching clinic, either.

They were all there to watch the skilled St. Mark's (Mass.) tandem of forwards Erik Murphy and Nate Lubick play a handful of pickup games in a small town about 25 miles west of Boston.

It was almost ridiculous.

...

But Murphy wanted to play well enough to see where the likes of UNC, Duke and Ohio State stand before he trims his list to about eight schools before his junior season starts.

"THE Ohio State offered," Murphy texted me at 9:40 p.m. on Monday night. He still hadn't heard anything from North Carolina or Duke, but the growing list of offers was approaching 20.

Continued...