Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

The latest member of Kentucky’s Kiddie Corps of basketball recruits may move to Lexington. Vinny Zollo, a ninth grader from southeast Ohio who committed to UK on Monday evening, is considering switching high schools.

His mother, Robyn Curry, said Tuesday that among the schools under consideration are Lexington Catholic, Scott County and Dunbar in the Lexington area. Zollo is also thinking of about Culver (Ind.) Academy, Oak Hill Academy and Wayne High in Dayton.

Zollo, a 6-foot-9 forward, has several ties to Lexington and Kentucky. His god parents live in Lexington. One of his mother’s brothers graduated from UK Law School. His mother parents and her husband all graduated from Morehead State.

Zollo committed after visiting UK. His mother noted the positive impression made in a 30-minute meeting with UK president Lee Todd.

The visit was one of several made by Zollo. He had also visited West Virginia, Ohio State, Dayton, Xavier, Tennessee, Ohio U and Miami of Ohio.

Zollo had attended UK summer camps since the fourth grade.

Chris Johnson of the Hoop Scoop recruiting service rates Zollo the seventh best player in Ohio in the high school class of 2011.

Zollo became the second prospect of a tender age to commit to UK in recent days. Late last week, Michael Avery, an eighth grader in the Los Angeles area, committed to the Cats.

Forward prospect Nicola Kecman committed to Ohio State over Kentucky, his junior college coach said on Tuesday.

Kecman, a forward with three-point shooting range, had been targeted by UK.

Tim Walsh, his coach at Eastern Arizona College, cited academics as a reason for the decision. He also noted how Kecman felt a greater sense of excitement with Ohio State, where he visited last weekend.

“I think when he left there, that’s where he wanted to go,” Walsh said. “When we rode back from the airport, I had a feeling that’s where he’d go.”

When asked what gave him that feeling, Walsh said, “The way he spoke of the team, the coaching staff. With everything, there was an excitement in his voice.

“I didn’t get that same sense when he came back from Kentucky. He enjoyed the visit (to UK). Who wouldn’t? But I didn’t see that excitement and energy.”

Ohio State apparently also had an advantage academically. Walsh noted OSU’s aviation engineering program as key.

“That really settled it,” the junior college coach said. “That’s what he wants to get into and he was very impressed with what Ohio State had to offer.”

Kecman, a 6-foot-9 player from Serbia, averaged 13.3 points and made 46 percent of his three-point shots this past season. He became the second prospect to get away from Kentucky this week.

On Monday, big man Ater Majok, a native of Sudan via Australia, committed to Connecticut.

Kentucky remains involved with at least two big men: junior college strongman Josh Harrellson of Southwestern Illinois College and high school senior Maurice Sutton of Largo, Md.

Junior college prospect Josh Harrellson I feeling “quite confused and torn” about his college choice.

Harrellson, a 6-9 power player for Southwestern Illinois College, visited St. Louis this past weekend. He has also visited Kentucky.

“When I went to Kentucky, I loved it,” he said on Monday. “I was ready to commit.

“When I went to St. Louis, I loved it a lot.”

So Harrellson said he planned to “do research” on the two programs this week before making a decision.  He said he’d look at such factors as the coaches, playing time and what players the programs might try to recruit next year.

“It will come down to the coaches,” he said before adding, “Distance might play a key factor.”

St. Louis is about a 30-minute drive from his home. UK is about five hours away. Harrellson cited “family problems” that might cause him to stay closer to home.

Tradition and status clearly weigh heavily in Kentucky’s favor.

“I would love to be able to tell my kids that I played for Kentucky,” Harrellson said. “That would be great.”

Harrellson averaged 14.8 points and eight rebounds last season.

Point guard prospect Paul McCoy has narrowed his college choices to Kentucky and Virginia, his high school  coach said on Friday.

“He’s still in the middle of making his decision,” said Tony Broadous, McCoy’s coach at Grant High in Portland, Ore.

McCoy enjoyed his visits to UK and Virginia, Broadous said.

When asked  what factors McCoy would weigh in making a decision, Broadous said, “I don’t know. I tried to get as much information from him as I could because I knew I’d get phone calls. He just said he liked the visits, had fun, played with the guys. He just didn’t know which one to choose.”

Earlier in the recruiting process, McCoy had been linked to Washington State, SMU and Southern Cal.

UK Coach Billy Gillispie was expected to be in Weatherford, Texas, Wednesday night to meet with junior college All-American Roderick Flemings.

Flemings, a 6-foot-7 wing, averaged a double-double — 20.6 points and 11.7 rebounds — for Weatherford College this past season. He also averaged 2.7 steals and 1.5 blocks while making 56.2 percent of his shots.

Weatherford Coach Mark Osina said Flemings was the best player he had coached in 18 seasons at the school.

“He’s a great natural talent,” said Osina, who noted Flemings as a long and athletic player.

Flemings was named the conference’s Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year this paset season. He became Osina’s first junior college All-American.

Flemings, a native of DeSoto, Texas, visited Hawaii last weekend. Osina said that Flemings planned to make a recruiting visit to Kentucky.

When asked what schools had expressed interest in Flemings, Osina said, “I can’t think of a school which hasn’t called. He likes Kentucky. I keep hearing that from the kids. Who wouldn’t?”