An internet report indicated The Family's Sharon Houston might have given a verbal commitment to Purdue. We called and spoke to Miss Houston this afternoon and she denied giving a commitment to Purdue. We followed up by asking if she was being recruited by Purdue, to which she replied "I don't know." Houston is a 6'3 post player who has transfered from Gary Lew Wallace (IN) and play for Merrillville (IN) this coming season.

Word from Chicago

As the summer rolls along, several 2007 Chicago area players are getting Big Ten attention.

Amy Jaeschke has a broken bone in her ankle and was unable to play with Full Package at the adidas Summer Slam in Indianapolis this past weekend. Jaeschke, who is on the wish list of many Big Ten programs, is seeing strong interest from Duke, who has reportedly been following her around this summer.

Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern have all extended scholarship offers to Fenwick's Devereaux Peters, with Illinois and Wisconsin awaiting visits from her. Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan State, Marquette and Stanford are also showing interest.

Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Illinois and Wisconsin have already offered Fenwick's Alison Jackson. Penn State and Michigan State are also showing interest, as are Vanderbilt, Marquette, Kentucky, and Kansas.

Bolingbrook's Brittany Thomas is gaining a reputation of being an athletic prospect capable of playing upper Division I basketball. So far she has taken visits to Tennessee and Illinois.

Tatiana Ortiz has offers from Kansas and Marquette, and is getting continued attention from Purdue, Minnesota and Vanderbilt. She reportedly has turned down a scholarship offer from Northwestern.

Meshia Reed is one of Northwestern's top recruits for 2007, and has rejected an offer from Northern Illinois. She has interest in Wisconsin, Vanderbilt and St. Louis and plans to visit all three this summer.

Fenwick transfer now at Bolingbrook, Sam Woods, has offers from Northwestern and Marquette, with rumored interest from Texas Tech.

Big Ten Commitments

Northwestern has picked up a commitment from Rockford Jefferson (IL) scoring guard Lakhiyia Hicks. Hicks is described as a 5'7 wing guard whose athleticism allows her to play much bigger. She was named first team All-NIC9 as a junior last season, averaging 15.3 points in 22 games. The last NIC9 conference player to go to a Big Ten school was Aminata Yanni to Illinois.

The University of Wisconsin has nabbed a Minnesota point guard. Sarah Ingison, a 5'8 guard who plays for the Minnesota Stars AAU program, attended the Wisconsin Elite Camp last week and took a scholarship offer when Wisconsin head coach Lisa Stone called with one on Saturday. The rising senior averaged 13 points, six assists and three steals per game last season for Concordia Academy, and is heralded as a defensive stopper.

Wisconsin has also received a commitment from rising senior Mariah Dunham, a 6'1 wing player from Watertown, WI. Dunham chose Wisconsin over Marquette. She will join AAU teammate Caitlin Gibson at Wisconsin. As a junior, Dunham averaged 16 points per game and was named the Little Ten conference MVP. As a sophomore, she helped Watertown to the Division I state championship game.

Michigan landed their second commitment from the Class of 2006 when Traverse City West’s all-time leading scorer Kalyn McPherson accepted a scholarship offer. At 5'8 she's still versatile enough to play power forward and guard positions in high school, averaging 29.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game as a junior. She holds 11 school records and boasts a 3.89 grade point average.

READ MORE: Big Ten Recruiting: Commitments