LJWorld.com

The recruitment of Rivals.com’s No. 1-rated prospect appears to be heating up with a week left in the spring signing period.

John Wall, a 6-foot-4 senior point guard from Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C., has a final list of Duke, Kentucky and Miami, according to SI.com.

Wall’s adviser and former AAU coach, Brian Clifton, told SI.com that Baylor, Memphis, Florida and North Carolina State were out. Kansas University stopped recruiting Wall on April 23 after the Jayhawks awarded their 13th and final scholarship to guard/forward Xavier Henry, and added another lead guard in non-scholarship player C.J. Henry.

Zagsblog.net believes Wall’s recruitment is actually a “two-horse race between Miami and Kentucky.”

Kentucky recently signed five-star point guard Eric Bledsoe, while Duke has a clear opening at the point guard slot. Miami also is a serious option, SI.com reports. Coach Frank Haith has signed blue-chip shooting guard Durand Scott to go with soph guard/forward DeQuan Jones.

Thomas on top of NBADL: Former Kansas University shooting guard Billy Thomas is an NBA Developmental League champion for a second time.

The 33-year-old Thomas, who won a D-league title with the Greenville Groove in 2001-02, led Colorado to a 34-16 regular-season record and two-game sweep of Utah in the playoff finals in late April.

Thomas scored 27 points in an opening-game victory over Utah and followed that with 14 points in the championship game.

“Hopefully this is my last one. My career is kind of winding down. I’d love to finish it up in the NBA,” Thomas told the Denver Post.

Thomas, who had stints with the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers, averaged 16.1 points a game off 43.5 percent shooting during the NBADL regular season. He averaged 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.

In the playoffs, he averaged 17.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists.

Pauley renovations won’t affect KU-UCLA: KU’s basketball team, which played one of the first games in UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion back in 1965, will be playing one of the last nonconference contests in the building prior to a $185 million renovation.

The Jayhawks will meet the Bruins in a Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Challenge game on Sunday, Dec. 6 at a yet-to-be-determined time on Nell and John Wooden Court. Construction work, which will include a new entrance, locker rooms for the men’s and women’s teams and 1,000 additional seats, will begin sometime in February.

The Bruins, who will return the game to Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse the following season, have not yet decided where to play their home games in 2010-11.

Michigan rumors not confirmed: KU officials had no comment Tuesday on Internet rumors of a possible home-and-home series with the University of Michigan. The Jayhawks, who reportedly will play the University of California next year in Allen Fieldhouse and return the game the following year, are looking for one more high-major team to play in a home-and-home that would start next season in Allen.

KU senior associate athletic director Larry Keating said he’s talked to numerous schools about possible home-and-homes.

KU officials don’t discuss matchups until contracts are signed.