Youth basketball teams from 14 states will gather in Lawrence this weekend for the fourth-annual Sport2Sport Jayhawk Invitational Tournament.

In all, 60 squads representing California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas will compete at the tournament, to be held Friday through Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse, Horejsi Center and Robinson Gymnasium.

“This is by far the most teams we’ve had, and they are from all over the country,” said Sport2Sport’s Roger Morningstar, who will co-coach Kansas City Pump N Run.

That team, which advanced to the quarterfinals of last month’s national AAU tournament in Las Vegas, will feature K.C. Piper’s Leo Criswell, Free State’s Brady Morningstar, K.C. Schlagle’s A.J. Randle and Shawnee Mission West’s Chris Balham.

Names of other possible college prospects who will be competing will be released later in the week by hoopmasters.com recruiting analysts Bob Gibbons and Van Coleman, who also sponsor the event.

The tournament was created four years ago by Morningstar, a former KU player who wanted to showcase KU’s campus and Lawrence to high schoolers who someday might want to attend KU.

“Nobody understands what the university is like and what Lawrence is like when they live in Mississippi and Southern California,” Morningstar said. “Once they get here, they understand what makes this such a great place.”

The portion of the tournament for youths 17 and under will run from 7:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. Friday; 8:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. Saturday; and 12:15 p.m. until the title game at 2:45 p.m. Sunday. There also are 16-and-under and 15-and-under age divisions.

¢

Downs favors Jayhawks: Micah Downs, a 6-foot-8 high school junior shooting guard from Bothell, Wash., who will visit KU on May 14-15, has trimmed his list of schools to KU, Duke and Gonzaga.

KU is his heavy favorite.

“Kansas is still the leader. It’s going to be tough for the other schools to overtake that lead,” Downs told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com.

¢

Malik’s highlight: Malik Hairston’s dad, Richard, tells theinsiders.com that a phone call from former KU coach Larry Brown on Monday was “the highlight” of the recruiting process involving his son. Brown coaches the Detroit Pistons; Hairston plays for Detroit’s Renaissance High and will choose either KU, Michigan, Ohio State, UCLA, Oklahoma or Oregon.

¢

Galindo to visit Georgetown: Alex Galindo, a 6-6 senior from St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J., will visit Georgetown next week after this weekend’s visit to KU. Galindo has a final four of KU, Georgetown, Rutgers and Pitt.

¢

St. John’s aides: Former KU associate head coach Norm Roberts soon will name Iowa State assistant Fred Quartlebaum and Drexel assistant Jose Martin to his St. John’s staff, the New York Daily News reports. He already has named former Monmouth coach Glenn Braica to his staff.

¢

Bruins want Padgett: UCLA has received permission to talk to former KU player David Padgett about a possible transfer. Trevor Ariza recently declared for the NBA Draft, leaving the Bruins an open spot on the roster.