Rotnei Clarke, a 6-foot, 180-pound guard from Verdigris High in Claremore, Okla., pared his list of prospective colleges to 10 before heading to Las Vegas for this week’s Main Event Tournament.

Clarke’s finalists, which he revealed to the Tulsa World newspaper in alphabetical order, are: Arizona State, Arkansas, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oral Roberts and Tulsa.

He has decided to make official visits to KU, ASU, Gonzaga, Kentucky and New Mexico and sign a letter of intent in November.

“I want to play my senior season without all of the stress,” Clarke told the Tulsa paper. “I want to focus on trying to win a state title. At some point soon, I’ll know where I’m headed. I’ll know who really wants me. Wherever I go, I want to compete for a starting job right away. I don’t expect it to be handed to me. But I would like to get a lot of playing time as a freshman.”

He’s a good friend of Texas blue-chipper Willie Warren, who last week said his leader was Oklahoma, followed in order by Texas, KU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Marquette and Arizona.

In April, Clarke’s dad, Conley, was hired as director of basketball operations at Oral Roberts. Rotnei has said his dad’s hiring will not necessarily steer him to ORU.

Three-point bomber Clarke averaged 37.6 points a game last season. He has scored 2,534 career points, needing 1,086 to break the Oklahoma high school scoring record held by Maud’s Ty Harman, who completed his career in 1989.

¢Under 19 team falls: Host Serbia defeated the United States, 74-69, in the FIBA Under 19 world championship final Sunday.

Kansas State’s Michael Beasley scored five points off 2-of-7 shooting with three rebounds in 14 minutes. Beasley made one of two free throws for the U.S., which made 11 of 24 to Serbia’s 16 of 24.

“We obviously lost the game at the free-throw line,” said U.S. coach Jerry Wainwright of DePaul University. “We missed 13 free throws in a five-point game. But rather than say anything about what we did, I commend Serbia, their players, their coaches.”

Serbia’s Mladen Jeremic led all scorers with 24 points. North Carolina’s Deon Thompson scored 16 points, while Arkansas’ Patrick Beverley had 15 and Michigan State’s Raymar Morgan 10 for the U.S.

KU forward Darrell Arthur made the U.S. roster but was unable to travel to Serbia because of a stress fracture in his leg.

¢Henry likes seven: Terrance Henry, a 6-9 senior forward from Carroll High in Monroe, La., has a list of KU, LSU, Arkansas, Mississippi, Baylor, Miami and USC.

“I’m just trying to take it one day at a time,” left-handed shooter Henry told the Monroe News-Star. “I’m trying to keep my focus and choose a school that would be best suited for me.”

Henry, who averaged 22 points and 11.2 rebounds his junior season, says he plans to narrow his list to five schools by this fall, but he’ll probably wait until spring 2008 to announce his decision.

“I want to play on the perimeter,” Henry said. “And distance isn’t really a factor.”