Here are some highlights of Gilchrist:

The two are also best friends that are considering the possibility of playing together in college. UK is thought to be in excellent shape for Gilchrist, but may be behind Indiana for Irving, even though Irving’s godfather is UK assistant Rod Strickland. Even so, UK is the one school that the two really have in common, so it has the best shot of nabbing both.

ZagsBlog has an article today about this very subject:

Kyrie Irving and Michael Gilchrist have already teamed up to lead Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title.

Could they be pairing up together in college, too?

“We’ve considered it. We’ve talked about it,” Irving said in a recent interview. “We’re trying to do it but right now we’re just open in our recruiting process.”

And what school might the dynamic duo wind up at?

“Me and Mike, we talk about Kentucky mainly,” Irving said. “Coach Cal [John Calipari], he’s a great coach. And the whole coaching staff when I got to know them at Memphis, I have a great relationship with them. It’s just a top program.”

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Irving is the No. 4 point guard in the Class of 2010 according to Rivals.

He transferred to St. Patrick from Montclair (N.J.) Kimberley prior to last year and helped the Celtics win the New Jersey TOC. He and Gilchrist became fast friends.

“We became best friends when I transferred in,” said Irving, who along with Gilchrist, will be at the LeBron James Skills Academy beginning Sunday. “When we played in the first tournament together, I just got to know him and things developed from there.”

Irving’s complete list looks like this: UConn, Georgia Tech, Duke, Indiana, Seton Hall, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Florida, Marquette and Kentucky.

He has taken unofficials to UConn, Indiana and Texas A&M and says he plans to take more in August.

Kentucky has connections to both players. Assistant Rod Strickland is Irving’s Godfather and William Wesley, aka “Worldwide Wes,” is a very close family friend of Gilchrist and his parents, and is also close with Calipari.

The 6-6, 190-pound Gilchrist is the consensus top player in the Class of 2011.

His mother, Cindy Richardson, emphasizes that her son is still young and not thinking about the recruiting process.

She said in a text message that it’s “not true” that Irving and Gilchrist are thinking of playing together.

St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle confirmed that Gilchrist is still open.

“I’ve talked to mom about Mike and the recruiting recently,” Boyle said. “When he was young he said he was going to Memphis and a lot of people automatically have him going to Kentucky now.

“She’s adamant that that’s not true and that he’s open to schools of high quality who have interest in him. It’s a little early I think.

“Now you have a lot of people calling, asking ‘Do I have a shot? Obviously, anybody would take him if they can get him.”

Boyle said Villanova coach Jay Wright, Georgetown coach John Thompson III and West Virginia coach Bob Huggins are among those who have expressed the strongest interest in Gilchrist and Boyle said he also needed to speak more with North Carolina coach Roy Williams.

Kentucky remains a strong player as well.

“Kentucky and Coach Cal, without question, are going to make a strong play for him,” Boyle said.

Could Kentucky land both players?

“I don’t know,” Boyle said. “Kentucky is recruiting both of them so that’s not an impossibility there. I do think Kyrie does want to go somewhere that he’s going to have a chance to get the ball and run the offense his freshman year.

“Will Kentucky have that available? I don’t know. You might have John Wall there a year or two.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. – UK head men’s basketball coach John Calipari announced his three assistants on Tuesday, naming Orlando Antigua, John Robic and Rod Strickland to his basketball staff.

All three men were on Calipari’s staff at Memphis last season, where they helped lead the Tigers to a 33-4 record, the Conference USA title and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.

Antigua, a standout player at the University of Pittsburgh, enters his second year on Calipari’s staff, having coached with him last season. Prior to his stop in Memphis, he spent five years at his alma mater, who he helped lead an overall record of 132-40 (.767 winning percentage) and a Big East Conference mark of 55-27 (.670 winning percentage). Pittsburgh recorded five straight, 20-win campaigns and won 10 or more league games five-consecutive years. The Panthers had just as much success in the postseason during Antigua’s years. Pitt won the 2003-04 Big East regular season crown and advanced to four Big East Tournament championship games in his five years on staff, claiming the 2008 league postseason title.

Robic will be in the fourth year of his second stint as part of Calipari’s staff. Prior to his three years on Cal’s staff at Memphis, Robic was an assistant under Calipari at UMass from 1990-96 where he helped lead the Minutemen to an average of 26 wins a season and the 1996 Final Four. While in Memphis, Robic helped lead the Tigers to more than 34 wins per season and a spot in the 2008 National Championship game.

Prior to 2005-06, Robic directed the Youngstown State program from 1999-2005, and during his time there, he and his staff faced a huge challenge as the Penguins moved from the Mid-Continent Conference (Mid-Con) to the Horizon League, one of the nation’s premier basketball conferences. Robic’s Penguins best finish in the Horizon League was a sixth-place showing in the 2002-03 campaign, the program’s second year in its new conference.

Strickland is in his inaugural season as an assistant coach after serving as the Director of Basketball Operations at Memphis the last three seasons. A 17-year NBA veteran and two-time All-America, Strickland averaged 13.2 ppg and 7.3 assists. in his NBA career. He ranked among the NBA’s top 10 in assists seven times in his career, leading the league in the ’98 season

John Robic and Orlando Antigua, who were assistant coaches for the Tigers, and Rod Strickland, who was director of basketball operations at Memphis, have joined Calipari’s first UK staff.

Calipari has at least one more position to fill. Job titles have not yet been determined, UK spokesman DeWayne Peevy said.

Even though UK missed out on having Josh Pastner on staff when he was named Memphis head coach, I still have no doubts that John Calipari’s staff will be among the nation’s best. Let’s take a look at the three announced members:

John Robic-Robic has known Calipari since Coach Cal was an assistant at Kansas and Robic was a graduate assistant. Robic was then an assistant under Calipari at UMass, where he played a key role in the Minutemen’s success during the mid-90′s. He parlayed that success into a head coaching role with the Penguins of Youngstown State, where he coached from 1999-2005. After parting ways with Youngstown State, Calipari immediately brought him on as an assitant at Memphis, where they outdid their success at UMass in their four seasons together.

Robic grew up in Pittsburgh, and played for Denison, earning Division III All-American honors. Robic is married with three daughters.

Orlando “Hurricane” Antigua-Antigua is most famous for playing as the first non-black Harlem Globetrotter since 1942. Antigua grew up in the Bronx, and is sure to utilize his New York City connections to the Bluegrass. Antigua was the victim of a drive-by shooting in 1988, taking a slug to the head. Doctors could not retrieve the bullet, but Antigua was unfazed, playing only two weeks later. Antigua overcame a difficult upbringing to become a McDonald’s All-American and earn a scholarship to play for Pittsburgh starting in 1991.

As a Panther, he earned the USBWA Most Courageous Athlete Award, and his name can still be found in the Pittsburgh record book in categories like three pointers and blocks. He signed a deal with the Globetrotters after graduation, and played with the team until 2002.

He coached high school and held a regular job as a sales rep in 2002-2003, but in 2003, Jamie Dixon named him as Director of Basketball Operations, a position that he retained until being promoted to assistant coach in 2006.

When two Memphis assistants left to take head coaching positions in 2008, Antigua was hired by John Calipari. Antigua is used to being a part of winning staffs, and he knows how to relate to kids. He will be invaluable on the trail.

Rod Strickland-Strickland was the Director of Basketball Operations at Memphis, and I really can’t say what his position will be at UK. He may be in line for a promotion to assistant coach, but many think that will be filled by a former UK player (Scott Padgett is a popular choice.

Regardless of what position he fills, his presence will be valuable. Any time you have a former All-NBA point guard on the staff, it’s attractive to blue chip recruits. Strickland had a highly successful NBA career with 9 NBA teams over a career that spanned 2 decades (1998-2005).

Strickland was never named an All-Star despite ranking in the top 5 in the NBA in assists and averaging over 13 points per game for his career.

Once his NBA career had wrapped up, John Calipari offered him essentially an entry level position on his staff, which Strickland took and excelled at, eventually earning a promotion to director of basketball operations in 2008. As the DBO, Strickland monitored players academic progress, assisted in travel plans, and coordinated on-campus recruiting visits. Someone needs to remind John Wall that Strickland is on staff and show him some of his tapes from the NBA.