Cole Aldrich, a 6-foot-10, 245-pound high school senior center from Bloomington (Minn.) Jefferson High, will sign a national basketball letter-of-intent with Kansas University on Wednesday.

There’s a chance one other blue-chipper will do the same on the first day of the weeklong signing period.

James Anderson, a 6-foot-6, 190-pound small forward from Junction City (Ark.) High., has scheduled a news conference for 1 p.m. Wednesday at his high school.

Anderson will announce for either Kansas or Oklahoma State at the press session, which will be broadcast live on www.gregswaim.com and on Oklahoma radio stations 1020 AM, 1580 AM and 105.1 FM.

“I think it’s as close to 50-50 as I can imagine,” said Swaim, a recruiting analyst/radio host based in Oklahoma. “Obviously, Kansas tradition is such a draw that you never want to diminish the chances of a kid going to Kansas and playing in Allen Fieldhouse. But Oklahoma State … on their side, they’ve been recruiting him longer. Their tradition has been good the last 15 years, too. I don’t think the kid can go wrong whichever school he picks. I’m just glad I get to watch him the next four years. He’s a great player and great kid.”

Rivals.com’s No. 34-rated player has visited Florida and Arkansas as well as his finalists. He also considered Kentucky but never made a trip to Lexington.

“James took a visit to Kansas by himself, and his mother went with him to Oklahoma State. There is nothing to read into that,” Junction City coach Joe Hammett told rivals.com. “This is a decision James is going to make. It’s been quite a process for James, but he is ready to make his announcement. He wants to focus on his senior season.”

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Rose to Memphis: Chicago Simeon High guard Derrick Rose orally committed to Memphis on Saturday at a ceremony attended by 140 guests and six TV stations at the Martinique Banquet Hall in Chicago.

The 6-4 Rose, who at one time had KU on his list of schools, chose John Calipari’s Tigers over Illinois and Indiana.

“After all my visits, me and my family sat down,” Rose said at his news conference. “They asked me what school I wanted to go to, and after I told them, I was looking sad – I was like, man, this is a life-changing decision. And if I messed it up, it could be my career. I prayed, I asked God to help me, because I was so scared. The next morning, my fear was gone.”

A recent trip to Illinois nearly swayed Rose. Fans chanted his name at a U of I scrimmage.

“The recruiting changed. It went from ‘Derrick, you’re a regular recruit’ to ‘Derrick, you’re a program-changing recruit,'” Rose’s brother and AAU coach, Reggie Rose, told the Chicago Tribune. “If you (Illinois) would’ve had that setup from the get-go, things could’ve been different. The atmosphere last weekend … it was like he was a rock star. Every other recruiting visit we went to, Derrick was a rock star. But the first visit we went to Illinois, it was just, ‘Hey, Derrick, how you doing?'”

Memphis “told me if I came I’d be able to start at point guard and I’ll be able to play my game,” Derrick Rose told the Tribune.

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KU vs. Hornets on tap: KU will meet Emporia State at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Allen Fieldhouse, in the Jayhawks’ final exhibition game of the preseason. Emporia State fell to Wichita State, 87-62, last Wednesday. KU thumped Washburn, 99-69, on Thursday.