Controversy is no stranger to Antonio Lawrence. In case you are behind, this is the same Top 100 player who previously lived in Florida.

Having changed schools a remarkable number of times (official count not available) over the years, in addition to speaking his mind, the 6-foot-5 senior has left one coast for another, but did not leave the controversy behind in this mass multimedia age.

However, there are plenty of reasons behind the moves and not the usual ones you would expect with a top player. According to his club coach, Darren Matsubara, in the state of Florida, being on public assistance a lot of the time meant Lawrence's mother had to change her residence several times and that meant a different school and/or district.

And the big move to San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, Calif.?

Do you really think Antonio Lawrence, who has been one of the most hyped players in America since he was a freshman, needed to make the move for more exposure? Nah!

Lawrence's mother saw an opportunity to get him out of Jacksonville. Now personally, we don't know Jacksonville, Fla., from Jackson, Miss. When we think trouble, we think urban: Washington D.C., Chicago, Detroit, etc. Rightly or wrongly, those cities have that image.

But it turns out Jacksonville has some things going on too, and with Lawrence's major male figure being Matsubara, it made sense to her to head west where he could get into a good high school, be close to his coach and club team as well, and find herself a decent job -- all of which she accomplished with the move to California.

Despite all the moves and turbulence in his past, Lawrence currently has a 2.82 core GPA. He is as close as you can get to a qualifying ACT score and will make it easily.

Although Lawrence wants a basketball scholarship, it turns out that he also played football this year at his new high school and was good enough to receive honors as a wide receiver. Good enough, it seems, for UCLA to check him out for the gridiron as well as the hardwood.

In basketball, Georgia, Fresno State, Auburn, Pittsburgh and West Virginia are all interested, among others, and UCLA has even shown some curiosity.

Lawrence is wide open though, and as schools find out his academic numbers, his recruitment figures to get really interesting. Lawrence will start taking his first official visits in a few weeks.

JUCO ranks
Junior college is where players can go and practically "re-invent" themselves to recruiters. Players who were not considered good enough, skilled enough; didn't have enough body, couldn't qualify, etc., etc., or, just plain didn't get seen.

In the hidden gem category we find 6-1 off guard Kevin Turner (Fullerton CC, Calif.), who attended Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, Calif., but didn't attract any attention.

Turner is currently fifth-leading scorer in California's junior college ranks, putting in about 23 points a game, and shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc, with the highlight being a 9-of-10 performance from the 3-point arc a couple weeks ago.

According to his head coach, Dieter Horton, in addition to shooting it, Turner can create his own shot and is athletic. Horton went on to say that, "Turner is the best off guard I have ever had," and he has had three Division I guards come out of his program in the past five years.

Texas A&M came to watch Turner two weeks ago, while Baylor, Cal State Northridge and East Carolina were in town last week. Portland, Drake and TCU have already checked out Turner, whose stock is rising faster than a dot.com in the 90s.

Spears draws Illini interest
We have been talking about 6-9, 240-pound Aaron Spears (Dunbar H.S./Chicago), as one of the best unsigned low post prospects left on the board. In that vein, we have mentioned some of the schools that have been recruiting him the hardest or have shown strong recent interest. We inferred that Illinois was kind of keeping their hand in but hadn't been recruiting Spears that hard based on information from a source in the state of Illinois.

But we now have a much more reliable source who has indicated to us that Illinois is and has been all over Spears for the last several months.

The hangup is that Illinois cannot take a prop, so Spears must be a full qualifier for them to give him a scholarship. But it appears that Spears, who has been working hard to make the grade, has a very good shot to be a full qualifier. Therefore, count Illinois in strong and deep with Louisville and Connecticut, in what could shape up as a real WWF battle for Spears.

Louisville W's & L's
You win some and you lose some. That's if you are talking about Marvin Stone and Brandon Bender, both of whom go around 6-9 and upwards of 240 pounds.

For Louisville, taking in Stone for one year and then "losing" Bender was a no-brainer/win-win trade.

When you are talking about resurrecting a basketball career, Rick Pitino is probably the first name that comes to mind. Stone may only have one year left in college, but it will be a full one, worth two year's development at most programs.

For Bender, who left Louisville earlier this month, the baggage he will leave with is greater than what he came in with -- and it's apparent that he just doesn't get it.

Like so many young big men (see: Josh Moore) that you hear about, Bender has talent and of course, he has the proverbial "upside." What he lacks is the self-discipline it takes to develop that talent into something that approaches consistent production and efficiency every time he steps on the floor.

A lot of people didn't fall in love with Bender's lack of hustle, questionable attitude, and lack of work ethic while he was still in high school. Under the aegis of Pitino, Bender had his best -- not his only, but his best shot to not only develop as a player, but to do so under a coach who is well-respected by what he does and what he says.

Like any other player in this day and age, Bender has NBA aspirations. Matriculating through Camp Pitino would have helped him greatly, as it would have helped him dispel all those tales of 'tude.

In other words, Bender could have checked his baggage at the door and would never have had to hear someone say, "Mr. Bender, is this your baggage in the hall?" All of that would have gone away if he had just put his faith in Pitino.

Reading between the lines of Pitino's curt, polite comment about Bender's departure indicates that he had gone as far as he could in trying to get Bender to do the right things and it just wasn't going to work out.

If you are scoring at home give Louisville a "W." Bender? He now needs a wheelbarrow to tote that heavy baggage.

David Benezra and Mark Mayemura cover the national college basketball recruiting scene at their Recruiting USA (www.recruitingusa.com) website. E-mail at: hoopsusa@mindspring.com or call (818) 783-2244 or (818) 783-2212 for subscription information.