Travis Releford played a prank on his mom Tuesday night.

“He called me from practice and said, ‘Mama, I committed,”’ related Venita Vann, mother of Releford, the 6-foot-4 high school senior-to-be from Roeland Park Miege.

“I said, ‘Give me the news. What school did you choose?’ I said, ‘Go ahead and tell me.”’

What followed was a pause.

A long pause.

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“He took a good minute. He said, ‘Uh, are you ready mama?’ I said, ‘Travis, quit playing with me.’ I was ready to hang up the phone. He said, ‘I chose KU.’ I started screaming, jumping up and down.”

Releford’s mom had made no secret during the recruiting process that she preferred KU over the blue-chipper’s other finalists – Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas State.

She desperately wanted him to attend school close to her Kansas City home and received her wish Tuesday when Releford orally committed to KU.

“I miss him when he’s away, when he goes on a visit, spends the night away from home. I’ve always had my kids close by, always on the right path near to me and in good hands. I believe at KU he’s in better hands and will be on the right path to get an education,” Vann said.

She had a talk with Travis before he headed to Portland last weekend for practices with the Adidas Nation team.

“It seemed like he was getting a lot of calls from coaches. He said it seemed like they were pressuring him,” Vinita Vann said. “I sat him down and said, ‘You don’t have to feel pressure. It’s their job. They need good players and are coming after you.’

“I said, ‘We can sit and talk to people (coaches). I will do that with you.’ But I said, ‘Mom is comfortable with KU only.’ I said, ‘I love KU, but it’s your choice. Wherever you go you will get a good education.”’

Vann was sold on KU’s coaches.

“We got real close with Mr. Self and Mr. Jankovich,” she said of KU coach Bill Self and former KU assistant Tim Jankovich, now head coach at Illinois State. “Mr. Self is a good coach. I have a lot of respect for him.”

Also, it didn’t hurt that Vann grew up a KU fan. Her mother worked as nanny for a pair of KU graduates.

“We’d go to their house many years ago. It’d be KU everything. Travis as a little boy said, ‘I will go to KU.’ Who would have thought that would happen?”

He might not be the only Releford to play hoops at KU.

Travis’ brother, Trevor, is a sophomore guard at Miege.

“He’ll be up at KU with his brother. He plays with Pump N Run (AAU) as well. He’ll be at KU. No doubt about it,” Vann said.

In a phone conversation, Vann fielded questions about Travis’ ability – with the help of Trevor.

“How good is Travis? I don’t know how good my son is. Trevor said, ‘He’s good,”’ Vann said.

Travis, in fact, averaged 19.6 points and 6.7 rebounds last year at Miege.

“I think he is a great defender. Trevor says he needs some work on his dribbling skills, needs to shoot a little more. I’d love to see my child shoot a little more. He is not selfish at all in that sport,” Vann said.

Basketball is not Travis Releford’s only sport. For a while, he played youth football.

“He’s thinking of going out for football this season at Miege,” Vann said. “He’s a quarterback and defensive end.”

She long has been an advocate of her children playing sports. Raising her six children in a tough neighborhood, she demanded they stay off the streets.

“I never let the kids run the streets except to (run to) practice,” she said. “Fifth and Woodland had a program for basketball. As a single mom, I was working. The kids were able to go play there.”

She said she believes Travis learned a harsh lesson from the life of his dad, Tracy, who has been in a Missouri prison 15 years serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.

“I never said anything bad to Travis about his father,” Vann said. “His dad is where he is for whatever he did. He did talk to Travis and told him, ‘This (prison) is not a good place to be. This is not where you ever want to be.”’

Tracy Releford wants the best for his son, who transferred from Central High to private school Miege for his junior year.

“When he comes down here and sees these chains and these doors locking behind him, that puts fear in his heart,” Tracy told Rise Magazine. “I tell him, ‘Trouble is easy to get into, but it’s hard to get out of.”’

Tracy Releford is eligible for parole in 2010.

“By the time he gets out, I should be in the league,” Travis told Rise Magazine. “When he gets out, I don’t want him to have anything to worry about. We can just start from there and get to know him a little bit.”