Sometimes, in the world of college recruiting, no news is good news.
In a telephone interview with The Chronicle Thursday afternoon, top point guard Shaun Livingston reiterated that he had no favorite despite the recent commitment of one of Livingston's closest friends, heralded forward J.R. Smith, to North Carolina. Duke, North Carolina, Illinois, and Arizona are all vying for the services of the spindly 6-foot-7, 174 lb. Peoria, IL native.
"Right now the schools are even," Livingston said.
The point guard also hinted that recent commitments, including Duke's recent verbal promise from Greg Paulus, would not affect his college decision. In addition to the Paulus commitment, Arizona received word from power forward Mohammed Tangara and North Carolina received verbals from Smith and junior guard Marcus Ginyard in the past eight days.
"It could [affect my decision], but I doubt it," Livingston said about Paulus' commitment. "[Paulus, Tangara, Smith, and Ginyard] are great kids for each school, but I'm still deciding on my decision for me."
Livingston confirmed that he and Smith are friends and that he will be making an official visit to Chapel Hill with him this weekend. In addition to Smith, North Carolina has received a verbal commitment from top power forward Marvin Williams, who is also friends with Livingston. Livingston did confirm, however, that he had met Duke commitment DeMarcus Nelson and current Duke guard Sean Dockery, although he did not personally know anyone else on Duke's current roster.
"Me and [Nelson] were real cool," Livingston said. "I developed a pretty good friendship with him." He also had high praise for Coach Krzyzewski and the Duke program.
"[Duke's] got Coach K, one of the best teachers in the game," Livingston said. "I love the way their guards play, the freedom they give to the guards."
Last year Shaun Livingston averaged 16 point per game, eight rebounds per game and seven assists per game en route to leading his Peoria Central high school team to a 31-1 record and a state championship.
He is ranked as the third best player in the class of 2004 by Rivals.com, and is considered by many to be the best point guard in the class.
"Shaun Livingston is the best passer I've seen in 40 years," Livingston's coach Chuck Buescher said in an interview with The Chronicle last week. "Shaun has the ability to make everyone around him look better because of him."
Buescher, however, would not speculate on Livingston's college choice.
"I don't know if Shaun knows [where he's going to commit]" Buescher said.
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