ALBANY -- Isaiah Cousins recently cut his list of colleges down to five – Xavier, Oklahoma, UConn, Dayton and Virginia Tech made the cut – and on Saturday, Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino said the star senior would pick a school by mid April.
Cousins, who along with his Mount Vernon teammates take on Boys & Girls Sunday at 2 p.m. in the New York State Federation Class AA final, will take official visits to all five. He will visit Oklahoma on Monday; the other four visits haven’t been scheduled yet.
“I’m trying to go to the school with the right fit and my style of play,” said the electric 6-foot-3 guard known for his defensive prowess. Cimmino said new Rhode Island coach Danny Hurley reached out to him about Cousins, but the standout doesn’t want to add any schools to his final five.
Cousins said all five schools are even, but he would like to go away to school and distance himself from the “obstacles of living in Mount Vernon.” He also said the uncertainty at UConn, which may not be eligible for postseason play next year, could factor into the decision.
Cimmino said Oklahoma and Virginia Tech have been putting on “full-court pressure,” and UConn with assistant Kevin Ollie has been right there as well. Xavier head Chris Mack is expected to be in attendance on Sunday along with coaches from Dayton and Oklahoma.
Whatever school Cousins choose, his future seems bright. His recruitment has been somewhat odd. In the summer, he only had low-to-mid major offers.
“I never had a player who became such a hot commodity,” Cimmino said. “Usually it’s a gradual rise. It started in the fall when Tom Konchalski rated him as a Big East player, then he played like one. He’s correctly valued now.”
I have a couple sources that used to be in the loop on all things OU basketball (esp during the latter Sampson and Capel years), and one of them has said he heard Blair was leaving, but he might have just seen the other message board. 
