Here’s how the story goes … or, at least how Yosef Yacob tells it.

Yacob took a seat at the barbershop earlier this week, beside Rondae Jefferson. The All-Delco seniors – Yacob at Archbishop Carroll, Jefferson at Chester – struck up a conversation while they were getting a trim.

Yacob told Jefferson he had made his choice and would commit verbally to Binghamton. That’s when, Yacob said, Jefferson spilled the beans.

“He told me he was going to pick Arizona,” said Yacob, a Chester native. “I was all smiles. I said, ‘That’s great.’ He was smiling, too.”

That’s because Jefferson knew he had made his decision, too.

Jefferson narrowed his choices, from an innumerable stack of letters to seven schools. Thursday, in his home, he met with Arizona coach Sean Miller, to whom Jefferson gave his verbal commitment to join the Wildcats for the 2013-14 season.

Jefferson has been out west a few times this summer, visiting the training ground for USA basketball in Colorado Springs, Colo., and playing in the Under Armour Elite 24 event in Venice Beach, Calif.

So he’s at least comfortable with the surroundings, which justified his visit to the Tucson, Ariz., campus earlier this month.

Jefferson picked Arizona ahead of Florida, Memphis, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple and Texas.

“I just feel like, when I get there, it’ll be my team,” Jefferson said. “I’m going to be the big piece on a team that’s going to win the ‘chip.”

Jefferson’s star shined brightest last season, his talents coinciding with one of the most historic seasons in Chester High program history.

Jefferson averaged 12.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.7 blocks per game for Chester (32-0), which finished the season having claimed consecutive PIAA Class AAAA championships and with a top-five ranking nationally according to three publications.

The Daily Times’ Player of the Year, Jefferson also was PIAA Player of the Year, after having directed the Clippers to their first perfect season in school history. They picked up their eighth state title – the most among Pennsylvania schools – established a school-record with a 58-game (and counting) winning streak, as well as winning the District One and Del Val League crowns.

That’s largely thanks to Jefferson, the lanky, multi-talented point guard stuck in a forward’s body.

So at the end of last season, and the start of the summer recruiting stretch, Jefferson reduced his list of suitors to seven. He didn’t want any excess phone calls. That left seven schools as his potential college destinations.

An argument could have been made that Temple was the most-suitable spot, being that his brother – Chester All-Delco Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson – has had three strong seasons there. Same could be said for Rutgers, with coach Mike Rice demonstrating such a dogged recruiting bid Jefferson for the last three years. Or even Memphis, with one of Jefferson’s friends, three-time American Christian All-Delco Tyreke Evans, having spent one season there.

Instead, it was Arizona. It’s where Jefferson said he felt at home.

Like a mid-range jumper, Yosef Yacob liked one of his college offers … so he took it.

The Archbishop Carroll senior Tuesday night gave Binghamton University a verbal commitment. Yacob, a 6-0 All-Delco guard, chose the Bearcats out of five programs that had offered scholarships.

“That’s a great fit for him,” Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk said. “Of course, I believe in Yosef as a player and there might have been one or two schools that intrigued him. But he felt so comfortable (at Binghamton) on his unofficial visit that he made it his official visit. “

Yacob averaged 12.9 points, 4.1 assists and 3.0 rebounds for Carroll, a Catholic League semifinalist which ended its season in the quarterfinal round of the PIAA Class AAA tournament.

He considered offers from Rider, St. Francis (Pa.), New Hampshire and Albany.

Yacob is the third player from Carroll in the last four years to commit to a Division I program, joining All-Delcos Juan’ya Green (Niagara University) and D.J. Irving (Boston University). The first season of Yacob’s college career with Binghamton, which competes in the America East Conference, will overlap with the final season of Irving’s at BU, in 2013-14.

Romanczuk said Yacob is the latest among that D-I trio to follow a successful formula at Carroll – get playing time as a freshman and develop gradually.

“I think Yosef came under ideal circumstances,” Romanczuk said. “No. 1, he got time as a freshman but didn’t get thrown to the wolves in having to do a lot because he had guys like D.J. and Juan’ya. He didn’t have a lot of pressure. He just had to knock down shots.

“No. 2, he learned from them and went against them in practice. He even got to play with Juan’ya another year and now he’s been the man. Last year, he carried us down the stretch. He broke out and became that player for us. I just see even better things for him next year.”

Haven't yet heard from Yacob, but awaiting his call. For more on the verbal, pick up Thursday's copy of the Daily Times.

The Haverford School's Tao Xu, a 6-11 center, has given a verbal commitment to the University of San Francisco.

Xu, who has completed his studies on Lancast Avenue, has qualified through the NCAA's Clearinghouse and will be eligible to compete for the Dons next winter.

“They want him yesterday,” Fords coach Henry Fairfax said of USF.

Xu averaged seven points, three rebounds and two blocked shots in his first and only season at Haverford School, to which the Chinese U-19 national team player transferred at the start of the 2011-12 school year.

Fairfax said Xu kicked around offers from Tulane, Mississippi State and Drexel, before deciding upon San Francisco.

“Tao told me he considered every offer he got,” Fairfax said. “He said to me, 'Coach, I came 7,000 miles to get here (to Haverford School). What's another 2,000 for college?'”

NOTE: Haverford School rising sophomore Sammy Foreman already has gotten more than a few Division I looks. The point guard turned heads in his first year at the high school level. He even earned MVP honors last week in the freshman game of the All-City Classic, at Community College of Philadelphia. Said Fairfax: "His team was down 20 with four minutes to go, and I said to my wife, 'Watch this.' Then he goes off for 20 in the final four minutes to send the game to overtime." According to Fairfax, Foreman recently received his first non-form letter, a hand-written piece of correspondence from a PAC-12 team.

Here's what I know about the recruitment of Rondae Jefferson: A lot of teams have come calling. Here's what I don't know about the recruitment of Jefferson: Everything else.

A Chester junior and one of the nation's top recruits for the Class of 2013, Jefferson has told me he has made no decisions – not even narrowing down the list of schools that have offered. And if he has, Jefferson isn't telling anybody.

I asked Jefferson Friday night, following Chester's 81-31 thumping of Norristown, a few questions about the process:

Who has offered a scholarship?
Jefferson: “I don’t even know. I’ve got a couple offers. I can’t think of them right now. My head’s spinning right now.”

Not even one name?
Jefferson: “I don’t want to say somebody and leave somebody out.”

Temple could join the Big East. What does that mean to you?
Jefferson: “I mean, the Big East is fine. I like the Big East. It doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t think about that.”

Chester coach Larry Yarbray told me another school threw its hat into Jefferson's ring.

“(There's) too many right now. Ohio State called me (Friday),” Yarbray said. :He’ll have more (offers) moving into next year, if we continue to win and he keeps playing like he is, plays good on the (summer) circuit, works on his weaknesses, all of that.”

Jefferson's recruitment seems to be one of those wait-and-see things. So you better find a cozy spot on the couch. This could take awhile.

(Times staff photo / ERIC HARTLINE)

Providing this blog post is my colleague, Matt DeGeorge, who covered St. Joseph (Metuchen, N.J.) vs. Penn Wood Wednesday at the Jameer Nelson Classic:

St. Joseph’s (N.J.) got quite a scare from Penn Wood Wednesday night in the Jameer/Pete Nelson Holiday Classic at Widener University, eking out a 58-57 win.

But for Temple signee Quenton DeCosey, it was an introduction to the Philadelphia basketball season that the 6-5 guard/forward cherished.

DeCosey, a native of Metuchen, N.J., who said he had only played in the Philadelphia area “once or twice” in AAU ball, enjoyed the atmosphere.

“I wanted to try to show Philly what it’s going to be like next year,” he said. “It’s a great atmosphere, it was really exciting.”

DeCosey’s game got off to a slow start, as he picked up two fouls in the game’s first 90 seconds and sat for the rest of the first half, a somewhat surprising hiatus given that the Falcons only use around six players in their regular rotation. He finished with 13 points thanks to a strong second half in which he was a calming influence on the Falcons in withstanding the Patriots' late charge.

In the third quarter, when Penn Wood cut the lead to five, it was a spinning, off-balance jumper by DeCosey that briefly stemmed the tide of the Patriots’ run. He had three baskets in the final six minutes of the game, including a three that stretched the lead to nine with 2:01 to play.

And on the Falcons’ final possesson, it was DeCosey’s hands in which head coach Dave Turco placed the ball, allowing him to create his own shot and draw a foul from Quardiar Sewell. He made one of two from the line, enough for the win.

“I just tried to come out in the second half and be aggressive,” DeCosey said. “I wasn’t able to help my teammates in the first half, so I was just trying to get good shots.”

“Q’s a gamer,” Turco said. “He knows that for us to win, he has to do the little things. He’s getting better at trusting his teammates and getting them the ball in the right positions, and he knows not to force it.”

(Photos: By The Star-Ledger)

Penn Wood hadn't played a game in its home gym since Dec. 15, so it was peculiar that fewer than 200 were on hand for the Patriots' 71-60 win Tuesday over Glen Mills.

But one spectator in particular drew a stir: Tyree Johnson.

The Patriots' point guard for three seasons, Johnson was back in Lansdowne Tuesday night. He left the San Jacinto (Calif.) Junior College team, for which he became a starter as a freshman.

Johnson said it wasn't because he was homesick, but declined to comment any further.

The move is peculiar, much like his decision to de-commit from the University of Hartford last year. Basically, when Hartford's coach, Dan Leibovitz, jumped ship to become an assistant at his alma mater, Penn, Johnson was in limbo. Ultimately, he left a Division I offer for a junior college.

But not just any junior college - San Jacinto, which this week ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA Division I poll ... and for which Johnson was sixth in the nation in steals per game.

So why leave? Nobody had an answer Tuesday. Not Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones. Not Johnson himself, who departed before he could be pressed any further on the decision.

Johnson went from being a highly recruited point guard, who won a pair of Del Val League titles, a PIAA Class AAAA championship in '08, a District One Class AAAA crown in '09 and finished state runnerup in '09 ... to becoming an athlete who walked away from his junior college team in midseason.

Until Johnson offers up an answer, the move will remain a bewildering one.

Archbishop Carroll coach Paul Romanczuk, who has sent three players from his 2008-09 state-championship team to Division I programs, talked Thursday about the most recent to make the leap: Juan'ya Green.

Thursday, Green - an all-state and All-Delco 6-4 combo guard - gave Niagara University a verbal commitment. He joins D.J. Irving (Boston University) and Ben Mingledough (Delaware) as members of the Patriots' PIAA Class AAA championship team to accept D-I scholarships.

Here's what Romanczuk had to say about Green.

On choosing Niagara:
"Obviously he got recruited by a bunch of different levels. There was A-10 interest, Big East interest. ...When all is said and done, this is the best fit for him. I feel he's in great hands with (head coach and La Salle alum Joe) Mihalich and (assistant coach Phil) Martelli. They're good people and they'll take care of him."

On playing point guard at the college level:
"I feel like point guard is his best position. He sees the floor better than most I've seen while around our program. He sets up defenses, knows the pace of the game, gets guys involved, all of that. I think he's well suited for point guard. He's big enough to play off the ball, but I think you get the most out of him at point guard. At the high school level, you don't get a 6-3 point guard often. He's a luxury for me to have. I can post him up if they put a smaller guy on him. They could probably get away with that a little at the college level. Juan'ya is a tough matchup."

On moving from the city to the 'burbs:
"I think it'll be a little bit of a culture shock. It'll get a little colder and there will be a little more snow than he's used to seeing. I think it always is for a freshman. He's probably 6 or 7 hours away by car. He's very close with his mother. I just know having a little taste of Philly helped him out. ...They always have Philly area kids up there."

On his interest from Villanova, which went from hot to cold:
"Villanova has gotten to the point where they are not just a top-25 program; they're a top-10, top-15 program. Coach (Jay) Wright has done a wonderful job in making it a national program that they can get a little picky and the way coach Wright put it to me was that they want to get it right with a Philly-area kid. They don't want a Philly-area kid not to play as a freshman or as a sophomore. It's tough on a Philly-area kid to go to Villanova and to have the spotlight on him and be a success early. (Wright) was a little apprehensive. They went in a different direction, but I think Juan'ya could have figured it out there."

On sending Carroll players to Division I programs:
"Back when I first started coaching, I had a Division III college coach who I knew very well and respected, and he said to me, 'What do all great coaches have in common?' I'm 23, 24 at the time and I feel like I know nothing. I also feel like I'm going to learn the lesson. And he says to me, 'All great coaches have great players,' and that pretty much sums it up. I've had some very good players in recent years. I think it's just a great thing for Carroll. It makes a coach's job that much easier to have that kind of talent to continue to come through our school and represent our program."

####

For more on Green's decision, check out Friday's edition of the Daily Times.

Before Thursday, only three people had known where Juan'ya Green planned on continuing his basketball career: his mother, Octavia Green; his AAU coach, Lonnie Lowry of Team Philly; and his coach at Archbishop Carroll, Paul Romanczuk.

Now, Green wants everyone to know - he's heading to Niagara University.

"As soon as I get off the phone with you," Green told the Daily Times Thursday afternoon, "I'm calling the coaches to let them know I'm committing."

An all-state, all-Catholic and All-Delco, Green chose Niagara ahead of higher-tiered programs that had extended offers. Boston University, Temple and George Mason were top candidates, and Saint Joseph's and Maryland were in the conversation, too.

Villanova, for a time during Green's freshman and sophomore years, had plenty of interest in Green. Wildcats coach Jay Wright was a staple at Carroll's games.

Playing time - and immediate playing time - carried plenty of weight for Green, a 6-4 combo who has been assured that he could be the Purple Eagles' starting point guard for the 2011-12 season.

Green averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists for Carroll, which advanced to the PIAA Class AAA playoffs in the Catholic League's first seasons of PIAA eligibility. The Patriots won the state title in 2008-09 and made state quarterfinals last winter. Green improved his scoring averages during both state-playoff pushes.

A big-game player, Green said he doesn't expect any hitch playing under the not-so-bright lights of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. He said he likes how a city boy like himself will fit into Niagara's rural setting.

"I think I'll adjust real well," he said Thursday by telephone. "The players like me and I like the campus and the school. It'll be a great fit."

For more on Green's decision, check out Friday's edition of the Daily Times.

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."

West Catholic rising senior Aquil Younger announced Wednesday that he's given Drexel University a verbal commitment to play with the Dragons' men's basketball team in 2011-12.

Why is this news in Delaware County? Because Younger told a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer that he plans on spending his senior year at Penn Wood.

According to a Penn Wood source, Younger - a Lansdowne native - has not completed the transfer paperwork that would make his move from the Philadelphia Catholic League to the Del Val League official.

A 6-footer who had played point guard with the Burrs, Younger averaged 18 points per game en route to Second-Team All-Catholic Blue Division honors. He had batted around offers (according to the Inquirer report) from Niagara, La Salle, Temple, Charlotte and St. Mary's.

Penn Wood would certainly welcome Younger, should he transfer to his neighborhood school. He would easily fit into one of the Patriots' two starting spots in the backcourt vacated by graduated seniors Tyree Johnson and Will Brown.

If and when Younger transfers into Penn Wood, the Daily Times will be on the story. Until then, just be happy that another local kid has a Division I scholarship. Other than that, it's not what you'd call newsworthy in Delco.

Now, it's official.

A couple days after a premature report hit the Web, announcing his college destination, Penn Wood's Aaron Brown has his mind made up: He's headed to West Virginia University.

Brown had kicked around a number of notable Division I offers, before the Daily Times' reigning Player of the Year decided upon the Mountaineers. His second choice: Temple. The other schools that had a shot to land the rising senior: Saint Joseph's, Florida and Rutgers.

When asked about West Virginia's recent pedigree of landing the nation's best players, Brown said it meant "a lot to me."

"It means that if they're the best, you're going to have to be the best to play with them," said Brown, a 6-5, 205-pound guard-forward (who plays like he's at least three inches taller.) "It means that I'm going to have to be at my best to play there."

Brown said he thinks he's one of "Coach Huggy's type of players," referring to West Virginia coach Bobby Huggins.

The decision wasn't without strife, however. Brown said he really considered Temple before choosing WVU. Temple coach Fran Dunphy was a fixture at Penn Wood's games throughout the District One and PIAA Class AAAA playoffs. Huggins - by this reporter's count - was seen at only one.

"It was a toss-up," said Clyde Jones, Brown's coach at Penn Wood. "I think the challenge of being away from home and playing in the Big East Conference did it for him. He wanted to be close to home because of the support of his family and playing for one of the best coaches (Dunphy) in the area, but I think the personal challenge Coach Huggins' extended to Aaron outweighed all of that."

For more on Brown's college choice, pick up Tuesday's edition of the Daily Times.

Penn Wood's Aaron Brown, a rising senior, is not headed to West Virginia University. At least not yet.

The reigning Daily Times' boys basketball Player of the Year still considers the school among his top college destinations. But, according to his high school coach, Brown has not given any college a commitment.

A report published Saturday spread across the Web quicker than wild-fire, declaring that Brown had given West Virginia a verbal commitment. Penn Wood coach Clyde Jones confirmed to the Daily Times moments ago that the report is "a rumor" and that it "is untrue. Aaron has not committed to West Virginia."

Jones said he got the word directly from Brown's family, so you know it's coming from a qualified source.

A 6-5, 205-pound combo guard, Brown has offers from West Virginia, Temple, Saint Joseph's, Maryland, Drexel, La Salle, Rice and Richmond. It's believed Brown has narrowed the field to two suitors and that a decision could be coming soon. But, as was written above, he hasn't done so just yet.

An all-everything (all-state, all-league, all-county) during his junior year, Brown ranked second in Delco with 18.7 points per game, while also averaging 6.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals and shooting 55 percent from the floor. He helped Penn Wood crack the USA Today top 25 poll twice while advancing it to the PIAA Class AAAA championship game in back-to-back seasons. (The Patriots won it all in 2008, but fell to Plymouth Whitemarsh in 2009.)

As you can see, the posts onGettin' Schooled have been few and far between since Brown's Patriots lost at State College back in the spring. But stay close to the blog for the latest on high school news and notes over the summer. The posts will be more frequent, I can assure you.

Tyree Johnson finally knows where he'll play his college basketball.

Penn Wood's senior point guard gave Hartford coach Dan Leibovitz a verbal commitment by telephone late Wednesday night. How late? Try 10 p.m.

"I wouldn't call it late. I wanted to weigh my options," said Johnson, the 2008-09 Daily Times Player of the Year. "I had to make the right decision and the right decision was to play for him. I had talked to my coach (Clyde Jones) earlier and I told him I was thinking about it. I told him that, most likely, I was going to do it (Wednesday) night."

Johnson had interest from a bevy of Atlantic 10 schools and had offers from Siena and Northeastern before committing to Leibovitz and the Hawks. Johnson plans on being academically eligible next fall. He said he's taking the SAT again just to make sure.

As for his first game after giving his verbal, well, Johnson was just trying to have fun. He did just that in Penn Wood's 57-40, Del Val League-clinching win over Chester. He couldn't help but smile after the Clippers' Maurice Nelson picked Johnson clean on one possession and then Johnson returned the favor on Chester's next trip up the court.

"It's basketball. I love it," Johnson said. "You've got to have fun with it."

Next season, Johnson will be having fun at Hartford.

No matter how many games Penn loses, Cameron Gunter isn't budging. The senior center at Ridley, who last fall made a verbal commitment to the Quakers, has not altered his stance regardless of how poorly they have played this season.

Consider that Penn has a 1-10 record and its only win came against Maryland-Baltimore County (1-13). In a rare midseason move, the Quakers fired coach Glen Miller and hired assistant coach and former Penn standout Jerome Allen as his replacement in the interim. Despite so much turmoil, Gunter is staying put with his choice of attending Penn.

"I think I can offer some assistance, give them some help, you know?" Gunter said after Thursday's 47-38 win over Harriton. "I know with the whole coaching staff thing, that's been tough for them. I mean, getting off to a bad start and then the coach being fired, that's tough. But we'll bounce back."

The Green Raiders' schedule, beginning next week, takes on a distinct Ivy League look, with Ridley playing on back-to-back days in three straight weeks. Gunter has tickets for Penn's home game next Wednesday at the Palestra against No. 21 Temple.