Hood picks Kentucky along with 8th- and 9th-grader

Jon Hood recently became Kentucky's third basketball commitment in a week. However, there's such an age gap Hood may never play with some of the other would-be Wildcats.

Hood, a 6-foot-7 swingman from Madisonville, Ky., can sign with Kentucky in November and play in 2009-10. He also had offers from Tennessee, Ole Miss and Georgia.

Hood may be long gone before Michael Avery ever gets on the court in Rupp Arena.

Avery, a 6-4 guard from Lake Sherwood, Calif., is in the eighth grade.

He has, in fact, picked a college before he picks a high school. The 15-year-old is still trying to decide whether to play his prep ball in California or Indiana.

Vinny Zollo, a 6-9 high school freshman from Ohio, also gave Billy Gillispie a commitment.

Zollo made unofficial visits to Tennessee, Xavier, Ohio State, Dayton and West Virginia before giving a pledge to Kentucky, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The three new commitments join four others Gillispie had already landed in his first year in Lexington.

G.J. Vilarino is a point guard from Texas who joins Hood in the 2009 class.

The 2010 class has commitments from guard K.C. Ross-Miller and forwards Dakotah Euton and Dominique Ferguson.

Defending Tipton: Lexington Herald-Leader editor Linda Austin had to come to the defense of Kentucky basketball writer Jerry Tipton this week after receiving calls and e-mails about interviews he conducted with the parents of two Kentucky recruits.

"It is important to understand that Jerry does not work for the University of Kentucky, nor is he a recruiter for the university," Austin wrote on the newspaper's Web site blog. "His job is to report the news, and sometimes that includes asking tough, serious — but fair — questions of newsmakers. That is what occurred in these cases."