Raleigh Word of God boys basketball standout C.J. Leslie said Wednesday that he is most interested in Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, N.C. State and Oregon.
Leslie said this was not a final list and that he may take visits elsewhere. So far, his only official visit was to Kentucky, where former Word of God teammate John Wall is leading the Wildcats.
"I still plan to sign near the start of the spring signing period," said the 6-foot-8 forward. "I am still deciding on which place will be the best for me. I'm not sure yet. I'm just trying to see which school would be the best for me."
Leslie recently was chosen for the McDonald's All American game in Columbus, Ohio. He will leave for practice on March 27.
"It was a great honor and a great thrill to be selected," he said. "I'm looking forward to playing with the top players in the country."
Leslie helped Word of God to a 20-8 record during his senior season. He missed the Rams' final two games with an ankle injury. Word of God defeated Statesville Christian 98-50 without him but lost to Wilson Greenfield 71-55.
Word of God coach: Coach Erasto Hatchett is no longer at Word of God. Dr. Frank Summerfield, the founder of the school and the pastor of Word of God Fellowship, said Hatchett had been terminated as a guidance counselor at the school.
"It had absolutely nothing with his basketball coaching abilities," Summerfield said. "Our principal [Anesha Pittman] assessed his performance as a guidance counselor and recommended he be terminated. End of story."
Hatchett said his written job evaluation of three weeks ago tells a very different story. He said every evaluation he had received had been positive. He said he had been given no reason for his termination.
"I have been in education since 1998, and I was the teacher of the year last year [at Cannon School in Concord]," he said. "My professionalism and my work in education has never been questioned. I have had no dialogue with the school about my performance. I was completely blind-sided by this decision.
"But I know it is the school's decision."
Summerfield said Hatchett had not been hired to coach and the school's thrust is academic.
Hatchett said he had relocated his family to Raleigh because he had been hired as the school's basketball coach and guidance counselor.
"I want to take the high road here," Hatchett said. "I will look back on the year and be pleased with the impact I had on the young men. I think I planted some seeds that will bear fruit eventually."
Summerfield said he was not at liberty to discuss a possible successor.
Last year, Word of God's John Wall was the top-ranked basketball recruit in the country. Leslie is among the tops in the country this year.
Cothron no longer committed: Luke Cothron, a 6-8 basket ball forward at Red Springs Flora McDonald, is no longer committed to N.C. State but still likes coach Sidney Lowe, the school and its fan base, according to Dearrick Bond, his Flora McDonald coach.
"Basically, his concern is playing time," Bond said. "He and C.J. Leslie [of Word of God] basically play the same position. They have some different skills, but they play the same position.
"If State gets C.J., he isn't going to get a lot of minutes."
Bond said Cothron, who is from Huntsville, Ala., had mentioned a State lineup next year of freshmen Lorenzo Brown and Ryan Harrow plus veterans Tracy Smith and Scott Wood plus possibly Leslie.
"I know that Luke still likes N.C. State a great deal and is watching the program very closely," Bond said. "He watched every minute of its game on Tuesday night [a 57-56 NIT win over South Florida] and was sitting on the edge of his seat."
Bond said he wasn't sure which other schools Cothron is interested in but thinks he will speak with Kentucky, Alabama and Texas A&M.
"All of them could use a player with Luke's skills," Bond said. "Luke wants to go somewhere that needs a player with his skill set. I tell him the more competition the better, but I also tell him he needs to make what he thinks is the best decision for him.
"But I'll tell you, if C.J. were to commit to Kentucky tomorrow, you'd probably see Kentucky come off his [Cothron's] list and N.C. State at the top again."
Athens Drive soccer: The Athens Drive girls soccer team has won five straight games since losing its opener 2-0 to Green Hope, including four consecutive shutouts.
"We're doing a good job on defense," Jaguars coach Travis Seese said. "Rachel Collins is doing a nice job in goal and Danielle Gaal is controlling a lot of things from center back."
On Monday, Athens topped Cary 4-0 as Casey Burcher scored two goals. Hannah Eghraghi leads the club with eight goals.
North Carolina all-stars: Tashawn Mabry, who led Rocky Mount to the N.C. High School Athletic Association state boys basketball championship on Saturday, is among the players who will represent the state in the North Carolina/ South Carolina All-Star Game on Saturday at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Socastee High.
The girls game, which will include Athens' Keisha Gatling, Williamston's Katie Paschal, Northern Durham's Nakisha Williams and Wake Forest-Rolesville Rena Wakama, tips off at 6:30. Blair Watkin, who helped Charlotte Butler beat Green Hope in the 4-A title game last weekend, also is on the North Carolina squad.
Mabry, Garner's Stephon Drane, Enloe's Emaneul Chapman and teammate Melvin Tabb are on the North Carolina club.
Brittany set: Twenty-eight girls high school soccer teams will compete in the sixth annual Brittany Showcase in Wilson on Friday and Saturday. The showcase will use seven fields at the J. Burt Gillette Soccer Complex in Wilson.
