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Three of the Top 10 recruits in the Class of 2009 according to Rivals.com -- No. 1 John Wall, No. 3 Xavier Henry and No. 9 Stephenson -- are keeping college coaches and fans sweating until they make their final decisions.

"It's unusual that that many of the elite players are still available," said Queens-based recruiting expert Tom Konchalski. "Part of it is due to the dislocation and movement in the college coaching ranks. Xavier Henry would've been all settled [at Memphis] had John Calipari stayed. ... Some of them like to be the last guy [to pick a school] because that gets them into print more."

The 6-foot-5 Stephenson, who led Lincoln High School to four straight PSAL city titles and finished his career as New York's all-time scoring leader, was seemingly all set to commit to Kansas at the McDonald's All-American Game in Miami on March 31.

Instead, he held off and at the last minute announced he would wait and choose from among Kansas, Maryland and St. John's.

"My family and I have decided that we are going to wait it out and I'm going to make the best decision for me and my family," Stephenson told SNY's Brooklyn Sal at the McDonald's All-American media day.

Sources said Kansas coach Bill Self asked Stephenson to hold off on his decision in part so he could look into whether or not the BornReady.tv website -- which promotes the Born Ready reality show about Stephenson and his family -- violated NCAA eligibility guidelines. Yet Kansas is apparently satisfied that the website, which is not owned or operated by the Stephenson family, is not a problem.

So why hasn't Kansas taken Stephenson's commitment already?

Self's other motivation is related to Henry, a 6-6 wing out of Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City. Henry is a tremendous jump shooter who initially chose Memphis over Kansas in November.

Once Calipari left Memphis to sign an eight year, $32 million deal with Kentucky, it opened the door for the Memphis recruits to leave as well.

Henry and his older brother, C.J., a walk-on at Memphis who played minor league baseball in the Yankees organization, have both received their releases from Memphis and are now considering Kansas, Kentucky and Memphis. Xavier will be in New York this week for the Jordan Brand Classic at Madison Square Garden, and C.J. will fly here from Memphis so the family can huddle and talk about their plans.

"Xavier and I did spend a little time talking before he left for New York," Carl Henry, the boys' father and a former Kansas player, told JayhawkSlant.com. "He told me that he wants to take a visit to Kentucky before he decides. Nothing has been scheduled yet, but Xavier did tell me he would like to visit Kentucky before making a decision."

That visit likely would not happen until the weekend of April 25, meaning this whole saga will play out for at least another week.

"We're all waiting to see what Xavier wants to do," said Carl Henry.

Calipari already persuaded DeMarcus Cousins, a 6-10 forward from Mobile (Ala.) LeFlore High School to commit to Kentucky after he had initially made an oral commitment to Memphis. Cousins is ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2009 by Rivals.

Wall, a 6-4 point guard from Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Christian, had previously listed Memphis as his favorite but now says he's considering Kentucky along with Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Memphis, Miami, North Carolina and N.C. State. Wall will also be in New York for the Jordan game.

In the meantime, Self flew up to visit the Stephensons at their Coney Island home last Friday and Stephenson then took an official visit to St. John's over the weekend. He had previously visited Kansas and Maryland officially, but not St. John's.

Stephenson and his family have repeatedly said that he wants to get out of New York and go to school somewhere else.

"It's scary, I don't like to be here," Stephenson said of Coney Island in a Born Ready episode in which a man was shot dead on a local sidewalk. "But this is where I'm from. I don't want to leave here but it's dangerous out here, so I think I gotta leave."

Still, the visit to St. John's went well, by all accounts.

As Stephenson was leaving the campus, one St. John's player asked him, "Alright man, so I'll see you at practice?"

"No doubt, no doubt," Stephenson replied with a smile.

Still, Stephenson has yet to make an official announcement on his future and Konchalski believes Lance is waiting to see what happens at other programs.

"My guess is that he's waiting to see what shakes out," Konchalski said. "Let's say Xavier does go to Kentucky; then Kansas is an option. If he doesn't, then maybe Calipari recruits [Stephenson to Kentucky]. Maybe with Josh Pastner [the new head coach] at Memphis, with Sean Miller at Arizona, maybe he's waiting to hear if they're looking for players like him."