Wall confident about grades, hopes to narrow list by Monday

According to a blog posted by sportswriter Tim Stevens of the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer, much-ballyhooed point guard prospect John Wall expressed confidence about gaining his academic eligibility for college. He also said he wanted to narrow his list of seven schools by Monday.

Here’s an edited version of the blog:

Point guard prospect John Wall said he was not sure if he has a college board score that is high enough to allow him to play as a freshman at an NCAA major college.
“I have great confidence that I’m going to get the score I need if I don’t have it already,” he said.
Wall plans to trim his list of potential schools to three or four by Monday. He currently has seven schools on his list — N.C. State, Duke, Baylor, Kansas, Miami, Kentucky and Memphis.
Memphis was the leader for Wall until Coach John Calipari resigned and went to Kentucky.
“There is no leader,” he said. “No leader at all.”
Others may say he is ready for the NBA, but he is talking about playing college basketball. He plans to have his list of schools down to three or four by next Monday.
“The amount of money you hear [for high picks in the NBA draft] is pretty impressive,” Wall said Tuesday. “But I really think I need one, two, three years of college to prepare me to play in the NBA. I don’t think I’m ready to play in the NBA right now and I want the college experience. Going to college would be good for me.”