Though he had given a verbal commitment earlier this year to play lacrosse at Johns Hopkins, the Corning standout has changed his mind and instead plans to sign for a scholarship at Illinois.

   Frysinger took an official visit last weekend and committed afterward. Though he had mind-numbing stats as a running back this fall, Illinois coaches reportedly envision using Frysinger as a wide receiver.

   “Basically, I went in knowing that if I really liked the school, then it wasn’t going to be hard to make the decision,” Frysinger told The Leader. "I basically went down there and loved everything about it. The academics part of it is great, it’s a Big Ten program, they play a lot of tough teams. They bring 80,000 people to their games, the campus is awesome and the team’s cool and I just really like the coaches. There wasn’t anything really not to like about it."

   Frysinger ran for 1,686 yards and scored 31 TDs as a junior, but that didn't attract much attention beyond the scope of Ivy League and Patriot League programs. That changed toward the end of a senior season in which he averaged 15.4 yards per carry. Frysinger had an in at Illinois because the uncle of a friend is on the coaching staff there. In became an easy sell once the rest of the coaching staff started breaking down his film.

   "This is an awesome thing for our athletic programs as a whole,” Corning AD Tim Decker told the paper. “Jordan is a great kid and deserves every good thing that happens to him.”

   Volleyball award announced: Eden setter Heather Feldman has been selected Gatorade's New York player of the year in girls volleyball.

   Feldman signed a letter of intent last month with Gardner-Webb University. The 5-foot-9 senior has racked up numerous honors during her career at Eden. She'll be joining a program that is expected to return all 15 members of is 2010 squad next fall.

   Feldman is the ninth Section 6 player to win Gatorade's New York honor since the award program for volleyball began in 1995. Eden's Ashley DoEpp was the recipient in both 2001 and '02.

   Touring New York: The boys and girls basketball teams from Prince Alfred College, a private secondary school from Adelaide, Australia, are on a tour of Western New York this week, which concludes with contests scheduled tomorrow at St. Francis and Friday at Cheektowaga.

   Prince Alfred is on its fourth Buffalo-area tour since 2000. It began when Western New York Steven Johnson, now a science teacher at Chautauqua Lake, spent 12 years there as a teacher. Players from Fredonia are hosting the visitors this week, with the Australians attending classes at different schools each day.

   The teams will spend several days in New York City and Philadelphia, with more games scheduled, and then stay

Road To Glens Falls boys hoops site

over in San Francisco before the flight home.

   Charting a new course: If the presence of private schools in the NYSPHSAA tournaments gets your basketball shorts in a bunch, then charter schools will probably really drive you nuts in the coming years.

   The number of charter schools has grown steadily and will continue to do so as New York accepts federal "Race to the Top" money that is partly contingent on the state allowing more of these special schools, which are essentially public

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schools operating outside the rules and regulations of the local school district.

   In Albany, Times Union blogger Eric Medved took a look this week at Green Tech, where 270 boys in grades 9-11 attend classes. Already, the Class B team has defeated Class AA Columbia and lost in triple OT to Class AA Queensbury.

   Medved broaches the issue of the Albany school potentially being moved up to a higher class in future seasons based on it having no geographic boundaries (a frequent complaint about private schools).

   What makes it a particularly touchy subject is that charter schools are tuition-free. On the other hand, some private schools charge tuition in excess of $10,000 a year.

   In one of the great ironies, Green Tech coach Jamil Hood's son, Jamil Jr., plays for nearby Albany Academy, the other independent school in town.

   Poll updates: We expect to launch our first polls of the winter season -- basketball, wrestling and hockey -- next Wednesday.