Kyle Singler, a 6-foot-8 forward who's one of the most talented and versatile seniors in the nation, announced Friday that he has committed to play basketball at Duke.

Singler made the announcement at South Medford (Ore.) High, where he averaged 20.5 points and 5.4 rebounds as a junior. He comes from an athletic family; his father, Ed, was a football player at Oregon State, where Kyle's mother, Kris, played basketball.

All-Star Sports recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons ranks Singler No. 4 in his class behind center Kevin Love of Lake Oswego, Ore.; guard Eric Gordon of Indianapolis; and guard O.J. Mayo of Huntington, W.Va.

"He's probably the best all-around player outside of Kevin Love," Gibbons said. "He's quicker than Love and can play on the perimeter."

Defending national champion Florida was a near-unanimous pick for No. 1 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches poll released on Friday.

The Gators, who return all five starters, claimed 30 of the 31 available first-place votes and 772 points. They are 44 points ahead of the No. 2 team, North Carolina, which lost in the second round of last season's NCAA Tournament but adds a highly touted freshman class to star sophomore forward Tyler Hansbrough and a handful of returning upperclassmen.

Widely regarded as one of the top boys basketball players in the Class of 2007, South Medford High senior Kyle Singler is expected to end months of speculation by announcing his college of choice at 3 p.m. today.

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound senior forward has been wooed by a who's who of national programs, settling on a list of finalists that includes Duke, Kansas and Arizona.

Today's announcement in the Panthers' gymnasium expects to make one of those head coaches extremely happy.

Most accounts have Singler leaning toward joining Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils in Durham, N.C., but the unassuming player has not budged from his stance that it could be any of the three.

Simeon senior Derrick Rose, the top-rated point guard in the country, has reconsidered and will take an unofficial visit to Illinois.

Rose and his older brother Reggie will be in Champaign on Friday and will attend the Blue and Orange game, a scrimmage by the Illinois basketball team.

''Sometimes you have to step back and re-evaluate the whole process,'' Reggie Rose said. ''We don't want to look back after it's all over and too late and realize we made the wrong decision.

''We have discussed it with some close confidants and believe Illinois is a great place. The school has a great [basketball] program and it is in our home state. And no decision would be valid without giving Illinois a serious look.''

Kyle Singler could be the next big-name prospect to announce for an Atlantic Coast Conference school.

Ranked No. 5 among the country?s high school seniors by prepstars.com, the 6-foot-9 forward is leaning toward Duke over Kansas and Arizona.

Singler, who is from Medford (Ore.) High School, recently eliminated UCLA. He reportedly will make a commitment before November.

Highly rated men?s basketball player Bill Walker is closer to clearing all the hurdles needed to play for Bob Huggins at Kansas State.

Walker, who was high school teammates in Cincinnati with another touted prospect in O.J. Mayo, has been admitted to the university, but as of Wednesday morning he had not enrolled in classes, said Pat Bosco, associate vice president/dean of student life at K-State.

K-State athletics director Tim Weiser said Wednesday he has been in Indianapolis this week, meeting with the NCAA at its offices about Walker.

Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of the Duke Blue Devils, says Greg Paulus' foot injury will keep him out of action for weeks and not months.

Paulus aggravated an old injury when he injured his left foot on the second day of practice. Krzyzewski says Paulus stepped awkwardly on the foot of teammate DeMarcus Nelson during a drill. He's wearing a protective boot with a "bone stimulator" to improve healing.

High school freshman guard, Dwayne Polee Jr., has made a verbal commitment to USC, even though he has yet to play in a high school basketball game and is only 14 years old.

Polee, expected to start as a freshman for City Section champion Westchester, said USC Coach Tim Floyd offered him a scholarship Monday and he accepted. Polee has been spending time working out at USC on his own.

"I fell in love with it," he said. "It's close to home, they have a new basketball arena and I like Coach Floyd."

On Sunday, The Kansas City Star published a story that has been the hardest I've ever had to write. It was done because I believe it was very necessary.

I specifically cover the Kansas State, Kansas and Missouri women's basketball teams for The Star. But we've focused more attention on K-State the last five years because of the Wildcats' success.