Basketball season is still three months away - at least. So I usually don't track down any of the coaches until late October/November for this reason: bothering them on vacation.

Archbishop Carroll's Paul Romanczuk is a good sport, though. He was out on the West Coast last week when I reached out to him. Nonetheless, Romanczuk gave me an update on his two recently graduated seniors:

D.J. Irving, a Boston University commit, was in Beantown for most of the summer taking classes during the summer session. He recently came back to the area to participate in an open-gym exercises with the 2010-11 Carroll Patriots.

"He looks good and, from what I hear, he's going to get a real shot to play a lot at Boston University," Romanczuk. "I've heard that from Brian (Daly, BU assistant coach and former Monsignor Bonner head coach) and I've heard it from Pat (Chambers, BU head coach and former Villanova assistant). D.J.'s got a really good shot. I think Matt Griffin, the St. Joe's Prep grad, is the only guy he's got to beat."

Ben Mingledough, who had a fantastic senior season that bolstered his recruiting stock, is going the prep-school route this fall. He still has his scholarship to the University of Delaware. But, according to Romanczuk, the Blue Hens were caught in a numbers game and they'd rather not burn up Mingledough's red-shirt option.

"He's going to the Phelps School and I think that's best for him," Romanczuk said. "He's going to get bigger and stronger and, rather than have a wasted year, he'll make the most of it."