[DaKCMan AP]

Austin Rivers recruiting: Winter Park's Austin Rivers chops Gators off his final four

By Buddy Collings, Orlando Sentinel

As a 15-year-old coming out of his freshman year, Austin Rivers orally committed to Billy Donovan and Florida, saying nothing could be better than playing college basketball two hours from home for a program coming off two NCAA titles.

But much has changed in 26 months, with Rivers rising to No. 1 on national prospect charts and UF slipping to fourth in the SEC East last season. Rivers, a 6-foot-4 senior scoring machine for Class 6A state champ Winter Park, said he has chopped the Gators out of his final four and is down to Duke, North Carolina and Kansas.

Rivers' sister, Callie, is a UF senior volleyball standout, and Austin praised UF as "probably the best all-around college sports school, period." But he wants a hoops hotbed.

"The three schools on my list are the most prime time you can get," Rivers said. "Basketball is a huge tradition, and they're on ESPN all the time."

Duke coaches are scheduled to dine at the Rivers household Tuesday night, following home visits last week by UNC and Kansas.

Rivers, the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, said he will decide after taking official visits to UNC (Oct. 8), Duke (Oct. 15) and Kansas (Oct. 22).

Read Buddy Collings' Varsity blog at orlandosentinel.com/varsityblog and e-mail him at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.