Leading off today: While you and I were referring to 2009 and '10 when throwing around the phrase "ring out the old, ring in the new" this week, New York's most coveted football recruit gave it an entirely new meaning.

   Scout.com is reporting that Dominique Easley has scratched Penn State off his list of schools and will commit to either Oregon or Miami to continue his football career.

   Easley, a defensive lineman from Staten Island Curtis, made the disclosure yesterday following practice for the Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, Fla. He had made a verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions early in his senior season and then began to waver last month, electing to make an official visit to Oregon.

   Easley indicated that he felt Penn State was too close to home. He met face-to-face with Penn State assistant Kermit Buggs to deliver the news and appears likely to announce his final decision on Saturday.

   All-state football: Compilation of the NYSSWA all-state football team is right on schedule, and we will announce the sections for Classes B, C and D on Wednesday, with the large-school classes to follow a week later.

   I have restored recent all-state picks (2004-08) to the RoadToSyracuse.com reference section in preparation for the announcement. The info used to reside on our main Web site but was initially a casualty of the migration when we unveiled the football-only site back in August.

   Department of Oops: Sometimes you need to step back

and ask yourself a simple question: If it's such a good idea, why doesn't anybody else do it?

   Benjamin Banneker girls basketball coaches and school officials really needed to have that conversation this week before bringing down a whole bunch of trouble on themselves.

   The team broke a PSAL rule by playing two games in one day on Monday, PSAL girls basketball co-commissioner John LoSasso told The New York Post. The Warriors beat Truman at the Baseline NYC Holiday Madness Tournament in the afternoon and then blew out Lafayette from the PSAL in the Big Apple Recruiting Christmas Classic at Bishop Ford in their ill-advised nightcap.

   PSAL rules say that a team can only play one game in a 24-hour period, though the more practical interpretation is that players must have a full night's sleep between games -- which allows for playing a tournament semifinal at 8 p.m. on a Friday and then the consolation round at 6 o'clock on a Saturday.

   But two tip-offs six hours apart on the same day isn't going to fly under any interpretation.

   Banneker assistant coach Edwin "Munch" Lopez, filling in for head coach Moreno Fernandez, told the newspaper he had the OK from school AD Francie Johnson."

   Banneker is 1-3 in PSAL Brooklyn AA Group 1 and 4-3 overall.