RECRUITING: Joseph among locals weighing options

Joseph, one of the nation’s top unsigned seniors, is offering few clues to his next move. Speculation has swirled since last summer, but little has changed as the spring signing period opens Wednesday.

He’s holding five cards — UNLV, Villanova, Texas, Connecticut and Minnesota — and not tipping his hand.

“It’s definitely going to come down to the wire,” Joseph said Tuesday. “All of the schools in my top five are great programs. It’s going to be a hard decision. I don’t have a timetable set, but it should be soon.”

There is no leader among his final five, Joseph said, and Findlay Prep coach Michael Peck said he believes that to be true.

“I’ve talked to him about it, and he doesn’t give anybody a whole lot,” Peck said. “He hasn’t given me any indication, and I don’t know if he knows, to be honest.”

Joseph, ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 7 player in the class of 2010, has long been the primary recruiting target for Rebels coach Lon Kruger. If he opts to sign with UNLV, Joseph would be Kruger’s highest-rated catch.

The 6-foot-3-inch Joseph grew up in Canada and attended Findlay Prep the past two years, helping lead the Pilots to a 65-2 record and all the while keeping his options open.

“We talk pros and cons about every one of his choices,” Peck said. “He has a hard time making decisions sometimes because he’s a pleaser. He doesn’t want to disappoint his family, he doesn’t want to disappoint his friends and he doesn’t want to disappoint us as coaches.”

Joseph and Peck leave Wednesday for New York, where Peck will coach Joseph in the Jordan Brand Classic all-star game at 5 p.m. Saturday at Madison Square Garden. After that event, Peck said, Joseph plans to meet with his family in Toronto and try to reach a college conclusion.

Joseph has had plenty of insight into the Rebels’ program since arriving at Findlay Prep in Henderson. Not only has he developed a relationship with Kruger and several UNLV players, but Peck is a former member of Kruger’s staff.

“This is an area Cory’s familiar with and he’s got a built-in support system here,” said Peck, who indicated that UNLV, Villanova and Texas, in no particular order, are probably Joseph’s three most attractive options.

Joseph averaged 18.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists for the Pilots last season, and he shot down a recruiting effort by Kentucky coach John Calipari in early March. The crush of attention, Joseph said, has not been a burden.

“Who wouldn’t like it? Everybody wants to be pursued by high-profile programs,” he said. “I’ve been focusing on the basketball season, so it hasn’t been on my mind every day. But I’ve got to focus on it and think about it more in-depth.

“Living in Vegas has been great. I’ve had a lot of support here.”

Cimarron-Memorial guard Kevin Olekaibe led the state in scoring last season at 34.3 points per game. Olekaibe, who did not receive an offer from UNLV, will announce his college intentions at 10 a.m. Wednesday. He is expected to sign with Fresno State.

The Rebels also passed on Johnathan Loyd, a 5-9 point guard from Bishop Gorman, but he has attracted a lot of late out-of-state interest. Loyd visited Northwestern, and said he recently added Florida, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Washington State to his list.

“Those are the four that offered me in the past week,” Loyd said. “It’s real flattering. It’s getting hard to decide, but I’d rather have this problem than not.”